Category: Philippines

Before we had to leave the Philippines, we decided to get closer to Manila before our plane. So we decided to go to Lipa, a city 1 hour of bus from the capital, next to a massive volcano (which has a lake inside the crater, a lake that itself has a volcano island in the middle).

We tried to get to this island in a lake in a volcano, but unfortunately, a few years ago this volcano erupted, and we quickly understood that it was not allowed to get on this island anymore. Volcanic activity is not always helpful to plan your itinerary !

In this town, the first thing we noticed that shocked us was the transports. The first one is a rickshaw, that can fit MAXIMUM one Filipino. As you are well aware, we are slightly larger than them, which led to very long ride, not able to move once in this small cabin. The next time we did it, Gosia instead sat on the back of the motorcycle directly, Amazon style of course!

But that was not all! Another type of transportation was these very special buses, often with a big (fake) Mercedes logo in the front, that stops here and there in a completely confusing system. We haven’t figured out how to take them, and where it would take us anyway !

But enough with vehicles! Our first activity in this city has been to visit an old house of a famous Filipino poet, who married a rich doctor whose family was in the coffee business. Together, they built Casa Segunda in 1860 for them and their 11 kids. In there was still a lot of the original furniture to better understand the life at that time. Also, the day we visited, some students were filming a class project, with old costumes (all the young guys in women’s dresses seemed a bit shy next to us visiting)

The next day, we decided to move our asses, and went on a big hike in the neighboring mountains of Mount Manabu. It took us about 4 hours and 7 km to go on the top of this mountain, through a path that sometimes was barely a path, but the final view at 769m was incredible !

After these two days, we finally had to left Philippines. But don’t be disappointed, as pointy hat country is coming next !

In the morning we set off for the port 30 minutes away from our hotel, where it turned out that our ferry (the only ferry that runs towards Bohol island), broke down, has not been running since yesterday, and it is not known when it will be repaired. Together with a group of people who were in an identical situation, we spontaneously decided to look for another way. We went to a second port from which we could sail in the opposite direction, and after 24 hours of many buses and ferries, we arrived on Siquijor Island. Or at least Gosia arrived, Raphaël additionally sailed to the town of Dumaguete to fix his laptop and go to the doctor, but without success.

Our first night’s stay was at the paradise cottage “Islanders Paradise Beach” on the very beach in the northern part of the island. Surrounded by lush greenery, sand and water. Due to the fact that we lost one night through a transportation problem we stayed in the paradise cottage only one night, but we managed to enjoy the beach and a very good restaurant “Ayans Local food”.

The next day we moved to the south end of the island to the cottage “Thornton’s Sea View Cafe,” where we spent a few days and found it to be an ideal place to enjoy sunsets and remote work and play Mancala.

We started from the observation tower in Mt. Bandilaan National Park. Many stairs were rewarded with a view of the entire island. On the way back we stopped at a butterfly sanctuary. The owner participate in the rescue and preservation of butterflies, their care and a large number of them are released back into the wild.

The next day was mostly spent at Tubod beach, where there was a marine sanctuary. At the entrance to the beach, we were greeted by a Filipino man who offered to rent snorkeling equipment for a nominal fee. Raphaël unfortunately couldn’t dive due to ear problems, but Gosia managed to see a lot of the underwater world and even a sea turtle.

The next day we visited the Lugnason and Cambugahay waterfalls and stopped to admire the Old Enchanted Balete Tree, where an additional attraction was the fish, large fish acting as a foot spa (eating your feet that you put in the water). On the way along the coast, we stopped at the famous Pitogo cliff, which reminded us a bit of Portugal.

After exploring the entire island full of smiling Filipinos, amazing nature and crystal clear water, it was time to leave the island. We took a ferry to the island of Bohol to the port of Tagbilaran and stayed one night at the charming hostel “Peaceland”. We met a couple of people traveling solo in the Philippines and exchanged our impressions so far.

First thing in the morning, we had a flight from Panglao to Manila, our last stop in the Philippines.

After spending a week on Siargao, we set off for the next island of Camiguin. The road to the seemingly inaccessible island took us all day, but provided plenty of beautiful views. In the morning we reached the town of Dapa, with which we took a ferry to Surigao. The whole trip was completely spontaneous, as we couldn’t find any bus schedule, so we counted on a bit of luck. Luck actually got us here, because just as we arrived at the station, our bus was leaving. The bus traveled 100 km in just 4 hours, and we were already in Butuan, where we waited for the next bus. Another 100 km and many hours later, we arrived in the small port town of Balingoan. Since it was already 10 pm and the last ferry to Camiguin Island was at 4 pm that day, we had to find accommodation in Balingoan. When we arrived at the place where we had planned to spend the night, we found that the hotel had gone bankrupt, and no longer existed for some time. Eventually we managed to find a room at the port itself, which was made for travelers like us 🙂

The next morning, just 24 hours later, we arrived on the island of Camiguin. From the very beginning we noticed that the island is different from Siargao. The island is home to the active Hibok-Hibok volcano, 1,332 meters above sea level. A more diverse vegetation changed our usual palm trees landscapes.

We started with breakfast at the restaurant next to where we slept. Both places were located around the lagoon. We then rented a scooter and went on a small tour. The weather was immediately much better than on Siargao. We reached a lookout point from which we could see the neighboring islet of Mantigue, which we planned to visit the next day.

Mantigue is a small, uninhabited island with paradisiacal beaches and, above all, surrounded by a coral reef. We started the day by renting snorkeling equipment and after a 15-minute boat ride we were already in paradise. We were surprised at how few people were there. Although we quickly noticed that Camiguin is a much less touristy island compared to Siargao. We immediately grabbed masks and fins and headed for the water. Just a few meters away, we were shown a beautiful coral reef with countless multicolored fishes.

After returning from the island, we still didn’t have enough, so we headed to the south of the island where there was a marine sanctuary with giant clams. Unfortunately, the sanctuary turned out to be temporarily closed due to the protection of the area. For that, the snorkeling at the beach next to it was still very successful.

Unfortunately, it turned out that not everything marine benefits us. We both got food poisoning after eating shrimp, which unfortunately happens relatively often in this part of the world. Fortunately, a first-aid kit prepared by Gosia’s mother helped us pull ourselves together, and the next day we were slowly getting back on track. We even managed to visit the beautiful Tuasan waterfall and the Katunggan park full of Mangroves growing by the sea coast.

The next day, we checked out of our hotel and drove to the port to take the ferry to the next island. On the spot it turned out that this was the only ferry running in this direction, but unfortunately it broke down the previous day, and it is unknown when it will be repaired. Thus, we began another many hours of adventurous journey.

After a very long journey, we finally landed on Siargao Island in east Philippines. Siargao is famous to be a surfer’s dream place. You can see people on scooters with surfboards on their side, heading to the beach to catch perfect waves. But even without surfing, you cannot get bored on this island. There are many paradisiac beaches, crystal clear water, millions of palm trees, boat trips on the river, island hopping, and many great restaurants and cafés to discover.

Thirty minutes on a tricycle from the airport, we finally made it to our accommodation ARAW, in the main town of the island – General Luna.

We rented a scooter and started exploring the island.

During our stay, we had, unfortunately, a few rainy days, but it didn’t stop us from enjoying the island. We took a boat on the Maasin River, did Tri Island Hopping; Naked, Daku and Guyam, took surfing and yoga classes, discovered new boarding games and Filipino cuisine.

One evening, on our way home from a restaurant we noticed a small local shop with people sitting outside on plastic chairs so we stopped to ask if it was possible to buy a beer. The owner of the shop said that unfortunately shop is closed but they are celebrating her birthday right now and we should join. It turned out that her name is Elaine and she introduced us to her family and friends. They told us all the stories and secrets of the island.

We stayed in Siargao for 6 days, and then we moved to our second destination, Camiguin Island.