19-21 April

I decided that my next destination would be the island of Siquijor. Siquijor is an island of mystery and magic. It is where all the traditional mountain healers and witch doctors live. So obviously this is the next destination for me. It is not too far from Apo so it seemed the the logical next jump. Zoe and the boys agreed to come with me. This will be our last trip together before we all part and go our separate ways. It was really hard to leave Apo but there is so much to see and I want to experience all that I can before my time here is over. A short..slightly less wet boat ride back to Dumaguete followed by a short ferry and we arrived on Siquijor. When the ferry docked I went to take my pack but there were a group of men standing there and they said no that they would bring it out. The 4 of us plus one English couple we had met in Apo waited outside for our bags. The man brought them and then he asked for 20 Pesos for each bag. I explained to the man that I was perfectly capable of carrying my own bag off the boat and that I had in fact tried but he said no. None of us thought that we needed to pay this man. We were sure he was trying to rip us off. We collected our bags and headed up the dock to the main road. When we got to the gate that led to the main road the bag man rushed ahead of us and slammed the gate. He would not let us leave without paying him 20Php each. I didn’t see this going in a good direction. Luckily after about 5 min of arguing another man came over and let us out of the gate. Thank God. I was pretty sure we were going to be carted off in a van and thrown into a cell until we caved and coughed up our 20Php each. Who knows..the bag man be constructing voodoo dolls of the 6 of us as we speak. I guess we’ll know if I return home with a pea sized head or something. I shouldn’t joke about that…sorry. I actually felt kind of bad afterward and had half a mind to go back and pay the man. That is after all how he makes his living.
We made it to the main road and found a jeepney. We told the driver that we wanted to go to Siquijor town but he apparently didn’t care. He took us to a place called JJ’s just outside of San Juan. OK… I guess this is where we are meant to stay. Didn’t really have a choice did we? It worked out ok though because this place is absolutely beautiful! Right on the beach…white fluffy sand and a great view of the sunset. I am happy.
This Island doesn’t have many cars or jeepneys. The only real way to get around is to rent motorbikes. So the next day that’s just what we did. We rented two and drove all over the island. Into the mountains and around then back to JJ’s for BBQ and sunset and rum and bonfire on the beach. Did I mention that I love my life?