I left Jeff in Dumaguete on Negros where he had booked a day with a bird guide up in the mountains/lakes/forest to the west of the city. I was in a bit of a hurry to get to Siquijor because Ferda was arriving on a ferry from Cebu that evening. Siquijor Island is an entire province, but it’s a small one — the third smallest of Philippines’ 82 provinces. The ferry from Dumaguete dropped me at the Town of Siquijor, and I had to get to Larena to meet Ferda. It wasn’t far. The most exciting thing I saw along the way was the church at Banban.
The next morning Ferda and I rode to Sandugan since I had read that that was the best snorkeling on Siquijor. The visibility was poor. The best photo I took is this:
From the very north of the Philippines Jeff and I traveled pretty quickly rather far south — from 19°N to 9°N. We started with a 10-hour overnight bus ride from Pagudpud to Manila. Those big pink Florida buses that look like they have huge baggage holds — well, somehow they don’t. There were two other cyclists (with unloaded racing bikes) on the same bus, and it took some effort to get all of our bicycles into the hold.
Jeff and I had time in Manila to visit Ermita Mall. We bought snorkeling gear at Decathlon, and I bought an action camera while Jeff treated himself to a shave, the thought being that a beard inhibits a good mask seal. In the evening we got on the ferry, and it was midnight ~30 hours later when we arrived in Dumaguete. That’s a lot faster than bicycling!
Throughout the Philippines we came across many rooster farms. Here’s an example:
These farms are for raising fighting cocks. Each animal is tied up and has its own shade structure presumably so they don’t kill each other before game day. South of Dumaguete Jeff and I stopped at the Dauin Cockpit Stadium and learned that matches are scheduled for Sundays. When we were checking in for the ferry from Manila to Dumaguete, we learned that it costs five times more to bring a fighting cock on the ferry than a regular chicken.
Jeff and I continued north, cruising along on the flats, until we ran out of road. We made it to the northern end of the 15th largest island in the world. Luzon is the largest of the 7000 islands that make up the Philippines.
Back in Manila I wasn’t terribly impressed with San Agustin, one of the UNESCO-listed Baroque Churches of the Philippines. Jeff and I saw another one in Santa Maria, ever so slightly more interesting than the one in Manila.
Back in Banaue, the tourist center of Ifugao, Jeff and I took a forced rest day ’cause of the rain. We spent too much time watching weather forecasts — it appeared to be drier to the west, but I wanted to head east to see Batad, Bangaan, and Mayoyao. Jeff was less excited about the rice terraces and more concerned about spending miserable days riding in the rain and the clouds without being able to see anything.
I headed off east on my own and was pleased with the decision — I loved the bicycle touring in Ifugao, and the clouds were mostly high enough to not obstruct the views. As I approached the Ifugao-Mountain Province border, the area started to feel remote. In Jacmal, where there was not only a high school but also a university campus, I found a restaurant. Unfortunately it was Sunday — no students and no food. I bought some packaged junk food and pushed on (downhill).
There was nothing in Awayan, but it was still downhill to Butac (not to be confused with Butac near Natonin). I asked around in Butac — nope, no restaurant. I really needed to eat since I knew I had a climb ahead. Locals were helping a family with a car fix a flat tire. The family had apparently come from the direction where I was heading and had asked about a restaurant in the next village. There wasn’t one, but locals had given them a bag of food. Do you want it?, they offered me. Wonderful, thank you, I said, and found a place to sit in the shade. Fried fish heads and some boiled sweet potatoes.
Luckily there were a lot of fish heads ’cause the ride to Natonin ended up being harder than I expected. The roads in Ifugao had almost all been paved. Just a km after crossing the border to Mountain Province, I came to this:
Probably just a short bit of construction after a landslide, I assured myself. Nope, the dirt/mud/rocks continued almost all the way to Natonin.
Ifugao Province — this why I wanted to come to the Philippines, and it did not disappoint! The headhunters are long gone. On the internet you can still find bicycle touring accounts of slippery, muddy roads, but those are mostly gone as well. When we did find a dirt road in the cordillera, it was usually being improved — concrete coming soon.
