Siquijor, The Philippines
Today is Nico’s 33rd birthday! I often wonder what he’d be like, where he’d be living and what he’d be doing.
We were in Regina because Nico was awarded the Canadian Cancer Medal for Courage-
Jane and Nico almost always got along. Maybe I’m delusional but they rarely fought-
We went on a two week camping trip every summer. Nico and Jane had to help-
Erin was his best friend. They used to get into some shit-
Nico’s last birthday cake. He died 104 days later-
I stayed in my room until 11, enjoying every minute of the luxury. Finally I went to the restaurant to eat and ordered crab with steamed vegetables-
There were about 2 tablespoons of crab in the shell and it took a lot of work to get that! My hands were a mess and so was the table. Anyway…. another food strikeout.
I hopped on my scooter with the intention of going around the island counter clockwise. I stopped at the red dots-
Along the way-
A car wash-
A poorly maintained cemetery-
Corn drying on the side of the road-
They grow rice here too-
The roads are excellent and drivers are respectful. Siquijor reminds me of all the other third world tropical islands I have visited- pretty much the same vegetation, same type of buildings always next to the highway and always lots of people milling around.
I took a side road down to the ocean. It was as bad as Murray Lake with all the green stuff-
I went by a few school - it appears they have elementary, middle years and high school as separate buildings-
Most students wear a uniform-
My first stop was the balete tree which is a fig tree. It’s over 400 years old and gigantic. Strangler figs start growing around a main tree entrapping them entirely and eventually they kill the host tree. They start as air plants growing hanging roots that eventually touch the ground, then encircle and suffocate the host-
It’s spring fed and in the pond are fish of all sizes that nibble at your legs and feet-
I think all the fish in the pond were munching out on my feet!
My next stop was at San Isidro Catholic Church in Lazi. It became an independent parish in 1857 and this edition was built in 1884 of coral stones. It’s in the neoclassical style with wood floors-
There was a funeral happening when I visited-
There is also a huge convent across the street which is now a museum-
North of Lazi are the Cambugahay Falls. There are 3 tiers, rope swings, bamboo rafts and lovely warm water. It’s a very popular spot-
There are a lot of waterfalls on the island but this one is the biggest.
After this, I carried on to the Salagdoong cliffs where there’s a nice beach and people jump off the rocks-
The beach is crushed coral-
The beach is not nice all around the island but the north east side looked okay-
There are preparations already for the Sinulog Festival that I will get to see in Cebu on Sunday-
And that is Siquijor.
Back in San Juan I moved to Angel Wishes, aptly named because it’s next to a graveyard-
The first room I had smelled really badly. At first the second one smelled okay but after the fan blew and the air freshener went out the window, it is almost as bad. There’s no AC but there’s a fan which will be fine. The wifi is very weak so I’m not happy, especially when I paid the same for this as I paid last night-
I wandered down the street and bought half a chicken for supper-
Tomorrow I hope to snorkel and get a massage. It will be a slow day.
No comments:
Post a Comment