The final diary of a beachbum for sometime...
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2009
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100
120
Trip End
Jan 19, 2010
Sipalay, Visayas, Philippines
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Lots of the recent blogs have been about gorgeous beaches, relaxing and perhaps a little snorkelling… and this one is no different. This is a significant blog however as it is the final one about spending a couple of days on the beach – after this we are back to visiting towns, cities and sights – no more lounging around for us at least until Christmas time.
It was another 9 hour journey from Bohol to Negros and after trikes, ferries, buses, jeepneys and finally a small outrigger we finally set sight on Sugar Beach near the town of Sipilay. What a sight it was too – one of the most beautiful beaches we have seen on the trip – about 1KM long, a line of palm trees hiding the small hotels and a back drop of lush green hills. If the sand was white and not yellowy it would have been the most beautiful beach we had ever seen (you can tell we're getting picky now).
Sugar Beach was a place where time slips by slowly and it would have been very easy to stay for a week or more. We got a bungalow just off the beach and the hotel owners 'Yogi’ and his partner Jean looked after us very well. There was lots of reading in hammocks, propping up the bar watching dazzling sunsets over ice cold San Miguels and playing with local kids on the beach. We also went snorkelling over a wreck (again packed with hundreds of fish) and over stunning hard coral gardens. We spent 4 days here and it was a great way to end our ‘beach’ section of the trip. We were very sad to leave and it is a place we would love to go back to one day.
Unfortunately none of the beach resorts had televisions so we missed one of the biggest events of the Filipino’s sporting calendar – a Manny Pacquiao fight. When we left Sugar Beach we travelled by boat to Sipilay and then on a bus to the capital of Negros, Bacolod. On the bus we heard only one topic of conversation – the news of ‘Pacmans’ fantastic victory. The fight was being rerun in every bar and shop we passed and pavements were packed with people trying to catch a glimpse of the TV. Unless you visit the Philippines it is difficult to comprehend what high esteem Pacquiao is held, Filipino’s are very proud of their country and as the first ever winner of 7 world titles at 7 different weights, Pacquiao is truly a National Treasure. It would have been great to watch the fight in the midst of a passionate filipino crowd but unfortunately the timing was wrong.
On our last but one night in the Philippines, we had a great example of why we have enjoyed the Philippines so much. We were in Bacolod and had just finished our dinner when a Filipino couple called us across the road to have a drink with them. We sat down for a couple of hours for a chat over a couple of beers, not many people visit Bacolod and they wanted to know all about us. We had a really nice couple of hours just chatting away and making new friends – that seemed to sum up our time in the Philippines.
We just had one further night in Manila where we caught up with Paul’s old work mates again before our trip to the Philippines was at an end. 21 days was no where near enough and it has certainly left us wanting more – before we had even left the country we were planning our next visit!
Here are the photos
Next stop and one of our favourite places in the World – Hong Kong.
