Siquijor

For most Filipinos, Siquijor is an island filled with witchcraft and the island is filled with mountain-dwelling "healers" who brew traditional ointments for modern ailments. For the non-traditional believes it is a small island filled with cheap accommodation and great diving and snorkeling. Renting a scooter is a must here and you can easily cover the island in a day. Take two or three and head into the mountain region. It is full of small villages with smiling and waving locals, incredible jungle roads and no traffic, except for the odd passing scooter, local or tourist.

The Monkey Republic was a great place to stay. My single room with a bathroom was $10 a night. There was an onsite message, a kitchen that I could use to cook or make coffee and a huge open common area. The staff was great and they arranged my scooter rental, which I kept for three full days. Finally, it was less than a five-minute walk to Last Frontier Diving. Are you seeing a pattern on this trip to the Philippines?

I stayed in San Juan and from what I gathered the entire island is this chill. No pushy touts trying to sell tours or scooter rentals. It was as laid back a place as I have been in a long long while. There was very little traffic. In fact, scooters outnumbered cars by quite a bit. In fact, there were more tricycles than cars. Last Frontier Diving was right on the beach and we could walk out to the boat. I have four dives with them over two days. The dives here are famous for turtles and I was not to be disappointed. My Dive Master was excellent at pointing out so much interesting reef life. As per usual, I was more infatuated with the fish. We played a great game of "who can piss off the clownfish". They actually attacked my mask a few times. 

I sat at the local bar, I sat at the local bar, Get Wrecked (stupid name for a bar), on a few nights This one afternoon this chatty older Dutch dude started talking. He taught me about Jimmie Nicol. A drummer who replaced Ringo when he got sick with tonsilitis. He was with the Beatles starting on June 4, 1964, in the Netherlands. Nicol played a total of eight shows until Starr rejoined the group in Melbourne, Australia, on 14 June. This was the height of Beatlemania and I suspect that not many people, aside from insane Beatle fans know this little fact. He was telling me this bit of trivia because he was at the concert in Copenhagen that first show. It was such a great conversation.   on a few nights This one afternoon, this chatty older Dutch dude started talking. He taught me about Jimmie Nicol. A drummer who replaced Ringo when he got sick with tonsilitis. He was with the Beatles starting on June 4, 1964, in the Netherlands. Nicol played a total of eight shows until Starr rejoined the group in Melbourne, Australia, on 14 June. This was the height of Beatlemania and I suspect that not many people, aside from insane Beatle fans know this little fact. He was telling me this bit of trivia because he was at the concert in Copenhagen that first show. It was such a great conversation.

Some various waterfalls and caves can be visited and explored. I had no interest. I just got on my scooter and rode. I did a full loop of the island a few times, stopping at various places to just take it all in. However, it got really interesting when I went inland. I crossed into the highlands where the views were incredible. The people of the small villages were all smiles. I stopped to buy water or snacks whenever I could. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Each stop was a 10 to 15 minutes conversation about Canada and my life.

It was in between the coastal road and the highlands that I found the most gorgeous. Well maintained roads running through protected jungles and parklands. I passed very few other scooters and a couple of people who were walking I offered rides. One guy took me up on it and I dropped him off about 15 minutes down the road in a small village. The locals looked a bit bewildered to see him jump off the back of my bike and give me a high five. There was a bit of rain on a couple of days with the scooter but that did not deter me, or anyone else. Something is soothing about stopping on an isolated jungle road and hiding under a coconut palm while it rains for 20 minutes, with nobody else in sight.
Happiness.


Finally, Siquijor is all about the sunsets. The main beaches of San Juan face South West which is perfect for viewing. Paliton Beach seems to have evolved as one of the main places to be but anywhere along the coast is great. I went to Paliton but I found it just as nice to walk to the beach at the dive shop. The staff was great and I had a beer with them on most nights, even on days when I was not diving.

I have no antidotes for Siquior. I stayed a few days longer than I had planned and I could have easily stayed for a few weeks. I guess more than one person has come for a week and stayed for 6 months, or moved here permanently. I loved it, but I think it has a shelf life. I extended here because my trip is winding down. I was going to make one more island stop but the world is becoming hysterical, and I want no part of it. It is time to take that big bird home.