Hello my dear Steemit friends. Last time I posted about my travels I was exploring Apo Island and Dumaguete. This post is all about what happened when I left Dumaguete for another island.
I only had a small amount of time left in the Philippines and was debating what to do in my few remaining days. The name Siquijor kept popping up whenever I asked people for advice, so I decided it was the place to check out.
Siquijor is located in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines and only a short ferry ride away from Dumaguete. It is a small island known as a place of sorcery, witchcraft and mystic healers. While I did not explore that part of the island's history I did get a chance to check out Siquijor's natural beauty.
From Dumaguete Port it is easy to catch a ferry to Siquijor. The length of the trip and the cost varies depending on what company you book with but expect to pay between ₱100 to ₱150 with a travel time between 60 to 90 minutes.
From Siquijor Port it is just a short tricycle ride to San Juan, where you will find the majority of accommodation on the island. We decided to stay at JJ's Backpackers Village.
They offer a mix of dorm rooms and smaller two person bungalows, or if you are feeling in the mood to enjoy the beautiful beach, they also have the option to sleep in a tent.
What to do in Siquijor?
While Siquijor is a small island, there are no public buses and only a few jeepnies, so you will need to arrange some sort of transport if you want to explore the island. You can rent a tricycle driver to take you around the island at a cost of ₱1000 to ₱1500 for a whole day.
The other option is to rent a scooter and drive yourself around the island. My Belgian sidekick was in a pretty bad scooter accident in Thailand last year and has been pretty reluctant to get back on one ever since. The Provincial Road, the main road that circles Siquijor, is well paved and there is not a lot of traffic so it seemed like a good place to get reacquainted with the scooter.
Preparing for a practice run before I jump on the back.
We rented the scooter directly from JJ's at a cost of ₱350 for 24 hours. We started our day heading to the Old Balete Tree. The tree is said to be over 400 years old and is the oldest balete tree on Siquijor Island. It is believed that supernatural or mythical beings reside in the trees at night - a perfect place for visitors to sit and reflect on the mysteries of Siquijor.
At the base of the tree is a natural spring that flows into a man-made pool. The pool is home to garra rufa fish - aka the fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet! For ₱10 you can dip your feet in the pool and the fish will clean your feet. After spending months walking around in flip flops the fish loved my feet!!
After having the fish munch on our feet for 15 minutes we decided to head to our next destination - San Isidro Labrador Parish Church in Lazi. This stone and wood church was built in 1857 and was a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage Seal.
We took a quick walk around the outside of the church and then decided it was time to cool off in the water at Cambugahay Falls. To reach the falls we walked down a set of stone stairs - I didn't count but my guess is somewhere around 100 steps and they are well built so it is an easy walk down.
There are three tiers to the waterfall. At the first tier there are two ropes or Tarzan swings that you can use to jump into the water.
This tier was the busiest with a lot of people swimming and jumping. There were still some people swimming at the second tier, but not as many as the first.
The second tier
The third tier is the smallest area with no swimming area. Although there is no large drop to Cambugahay Falls, I found the three tiers made it a beautiful place to visit.
Our last stop of the day was at the Mangrove Reserve Area or Guiwanon Spring Park. There is a walkway over the water built of bamboo and wood.
How do those stilts hold everything up??
Back at JJs we grabbed a well deserved beer at sat on the beach to watch the sunset. I had been told that the sunset in Siquijor was worth checking out and I could not agree more. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.
If you look way off into the distance you can see the outline of Apo Island where we had visited the day before. I could spend every night watching the sun go down in Siquijor.
Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoyed my post! Make sure to check back for more stories soon.
Chantelle