Isla del Fuego (Island of Fire) - Siquijor Philippines, Day 1

Just a two-hour fastcraft ride from Dumaguete City, we reached the long, narrow, and busy port of Siquijor. The inter-island voyage was fair, to say the least. Everything seemed perfect, except upon reaching “Isla del Fuego” (Island of Fire), we had to take a long walk from the fastcraft to the tricycle terminal at two in the afternoon on a hot and humid summer day.

With the safe confines of land on our feet, we never wasted time hiring a tricycle so we could get a place to stay for the night.

Manong tricycle driver agreed to take us to the town proper for 50php per person. Kind of steep if you ask me since the nearest town is just a couple of kilometers away. We passed by a karaoke joint along the way that offers accommodation on huts along the Mangrove-laden coast of Siquijor for a measly price of 400php. We were having second thoughts getting the place since a) it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere b) it looks like they operate as some sort of pub house at night, and c) their beautiful huts don’t have electric fans nor comfort rooms, “it” just goes straight down into the water! We quickly left to go to the nearby town of Larena where we at least expect to find a more decent place to rest.

Upon reaching the town of Larena (approx. 15 minutes away from the municipality and port of Siquijor), we found out that they are celebrating their town fiesta on that very day. This made it difficult for us to find a suitable place to sleep since all pension houses were fully-booked.

Feeling restless and pissed with our luck, we have eventually decided to get a room at Siquijor’s very own and exclusive Coco Grove Beach Resort (30 minutes away from Larena). While on our way to the so-called luxurious resort, we saw a poorly written sign which says “This way to La Gardenia Beach Resort”. Having high hopes, we turned towards where the sign was pointed to check if they have a room available.

The La Gardenia Beach Resort is located beside the sea, along a coastal cliff. The view of the sea was just stunning. Lucky for us, they also have an available room where we can stay for 700php. Talk about getting a real bargain!

Happy that luck again was on our side, we set-off to go up the “Triad”, a restaurant atop a hill just 20 minutes away from where we are. We asked Manong tricycle driver as to how much it would cost us if we were to rent his trusty tricycle to go up there. He agreed for 50php per person.

We're five in the group and going up, the tricycle could only carry two persons at a time so Manong tricycle driver had to take two trips to bring us all up there. After the long and bumpy ride, we reached the Triad at last! We were really amazed with the panoramic view of the ocean, the lush green forests, and the small houses below. You could literally see half of the island up there! Unfortunately, because of the town festivities, the hilltop restaurant was closed for the day. But it really doesn’t matter as the ascent was worth every effort and peso because of the breath-taking view of the surrounding area.

It was getting dark and for some unknown reason, I was getting a little bit worried. I’ve heard stories in Siquijor about witch doctors, black magic, and all that mystical stuff. (and who haven't really?) While on our way back to the resort, Manong Tricycle driver asked us if we would like to have dinner at his place since it’s the town's fiesta after all. Rule number 1: never say no and offend any people that you meet during your travels, much more especially in the magical island of Siquijor. It has been said that if you offend someone in Siquijor, they could ask a local mangkukulam or mambabarang to cast a curse on you.

So, without a choice, we just said yes (hesitantly). While riding, I have noticed that there were very few streetlights on Siquijor so the road was really dark at night.

To make matters more "mysterious" and oddly enough, one of my companions asked me if I had any matchsticks or chili peppers with me. I asked her why and just told me that she’ll explain later since we are nearing our destination.

Manong tricycle driver’s house was easily located at the foot of the hill. When we arrived, there were lots of locals, merrily drinking and singing songs on the videoke machine. The food looked incredibly good so I just told myself to “fuck it, I don’t care if a bad magic spell was casted on the food to give me a huge tummy-ache tomorrow”. There was a whole roasted pig (lechon), served on a huge, wooden, oblong-shaped dish; bopis, dinuguan (just perfect), and pork kaldereta. I mean, who could refuse all that scrumptious food!?

After eating dinner, Manong tricycle driver gave us a bottle of opened beer to drink. Now even before I went here, I was warned not to accept anything to eat or drink in Siquijor. Heck I ignored the eating part, I might as well ignore the drinking part! Fuck Rule number 2 which is: never to drink from an opened bottle offered to you in Siquijor. It has been said that if you don't want bugs coming out of your ass or vomiting your guts out because you drank from a curse-contaminated drink. I mean, these people were nice enough to accept us inside their home, what else could go wrong? Besides, to reject the offer would defeat Rule number 1 so yeah, I have no other choice but to chug down the stuff.

After the very nice dinner and anxiously drinking 2 liters of beer, we were a bit buzzed. We said thanks to the owner of the house for dinner, and then politely asked Manong tricycle driver if he could take us back to the resort.

I drank 10 more bottles of beer in the resort, (I'm not an alcoholic, believe me) decided to call it a day and proceeded to get some rest for our second day in Siquijor island.