Siquijor---finally!

January 27, 2013

Siquijor---finally!

the board you can jump off from. It's higher than it looks, believe me.

The fact that I visit Negros Oriental, my mom's home province, regularly makes it particularly unforgivable that I have never been to Siquijor, a province that is just less than an hour by ferry from Negros, before.

So when we went home last December, I made sure that I would finally be able to visit the "mystical island" of Siquijor.

Unlike my other trips, finding someone I could drag along with me on this trip was particularly tricky. It wasn't because it was December and it wasn't exactly beach season. It was because when I said Siquijor was "mystical," I did not just mean that the province has this enchanting and ethereal beauty (which of course it had), I also meant that Siquijor has a reputation for being home to the supernatural---think wood nymphs, fanged creatures, women who could both cure and put a curse on you.

Luckily, I was able to convince one of my Negros-based cousins to go with me by bribing her with the promise that she would not have to spend a single cent on the trip.

So off to Siquijor we went.

Dumaguete was our jump off point. From there, we took a ferry to Siquijor. The 1-hour ride ferry will cost you anywhere from 170-250 pesos, depending on which ferry you take. The more expensive ones have, of course, nicer seats and are a bit faster.

The first thing that you will notice once you get off the boat when you get to Siquijor is just how lovely their port is. I have to say, the cleanliness of the water and the nearby beach makes it one of the best I've ever seen. The turquoise waters of the pier is tempting enough to make you want to forego exploring the rest of the island province and just stay there and swim. We didn't, of course.

Now, exploring Siquijor could mean two things. One, you could hire a guide/tricycle driver who could take you around the most popular spots in the island for 1000 pesos, or you could do what we did and rent a motorcycle for 250 pesos/ day and explore the island by yourself.

If you have a valid driver's license and a sense of adventure, I suggest you go with the second option. Sure you'd get lost and would have to stop a few times for directions, and then when it starts getting dark and you still haven't found your resort you'd start thinking about those scary stories you've heard about the province and start to hyperventilate a little, but that's always half the fun, right? Who knows, you may even find a "treasure" when you get lost (like us).

Also, when you're on your own, you can stop any time you like to just relax and just take pictures of the beautiful scenery, which we did.

Siquijor is tiny, with a circumference of just about 80 km and during our 24-hour stay in the province, we pretty much were able to get to all the noteworthy sites in the island. But if you do decide to visit the place, I suggest you stay longer to really be able to take in everything the province has to offer. The beautiful, beautiful Cambugahay Falls alone deserves a long (i.e. more than half a day) visit.

These were our trip's different stops:

the public pool in San Juan, a huge spring pool that is open to anyone who wants to escape the heat
the more than a century old Lazi Convent and the San Isidore de Labradore Church, which we only stumbled upon when we got lost looking for the Enchanted Balete Tree
the huge Enchanted Balete Tree
the Sta. Maria Church in Maria, where the statue of Santa Rita de Cascia (or the Black Mary as the locals call it), the scariest-looking statue I have ever seen, is.
the Salagdoong beach resort. I loved this resort because (1) to get to it, you have to go through this beautiful forest; (2) rooms only cost P900 a night; and (3) it has a cliff, complete with concrete diving boards, people can jump off from---a heart-stopping but still truly awesome activity.
the Cambugahay Falls

Because, like many Filipinos, I was brought up inundated with stories about the magical and mystical creatures and people of Siquijor, I have to admit that, for all my "This is the age of Science! You can't believe in that supernatural nonsense" pronouncements, I traveled to Siquijor accompanied by a feeling of apprehension. The province's beautiful sights and friendly people (who patiently guided us when we got lost and stopped for directions---all thirty times of them) quickly expelled that fear though.