I realise it's been a bit quiet in this bloggy corner recently but for good reason. We managed to notch up another country (Philippines) on our quest to conquer the world.
It was a bit of a roll of the dice since it's typhoon season in these parts and Northern Philippines just got hammered hard by 2 typhoons in the last 2 weeks.
I am happy to report that the South was hot and sunny and spectacular. Getting to our destination (the island of Siquijor) was not exactly a walk in the park, but when you want to escape the crowds, you usually have to put in a little extra effort or in this case A LOT OF EFFORT!
We took a 12:40am flight from Hong Kong on Friday morning which arrived in Cebu, Philippines at 3:30am and jumped in a taxi for 40 minute ride to the port where we waited to buy tickets and then board a 6am ferry to the Visayas region.
We eventually reached our island paradise of Siquijor 3 separate boat trips later at 1:30pm so needless to say we were beyond exhausted, but it is a pretty amazing place and the weather behaved impeccably.
I could now go off on a tangent about white sand beaches and turquoise water , excellent snorkelling and diving and ultra friendly people and great food and beautiful landscapes but I will resist that in order to bring the following NEWSFLASH!
Cost of Living/Vacation Index:Bottle of San Miguel beer (5% alcohol) in a uppity beach resort = 35 Philippine pesos = u$d0.75
Bottle of San Miguel special brew 'Red Horse' beer (6.9% alcohol - oh yeah!) in a uppity beach resort = 35 Philippine pesos = u$d0.75 - dats wot I'm talking 'bout!
1 Litre San Miguel from a street kiosk = 60 pesos Philippine = u$d1.25
Candle lit dinner by the beach with fantastic service - Main course of fish or imported steak (with chips/rice/veg) = u$d5.00
Accommodation = u$d50 per night for large plush exec beach villa A/C etc
Moto rental for a day + petrol = u$d8
The best part was we were greeted with such warmth and curiosity for most places we visted. It is way off the beaten tourist track at this time of the year at least for now.
This is as yet an undiscovered 'unexploited' paradise so prices will no doubt sky rocket to 'Boracay' prices eventually where I've seen u$d600+ ridiculous prices. I can highly recommend this place (Coco Grove). Enjoy the photos!
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Looks fantastic..enjoy the rest of your trip!
ReplyDeleteI was about to ask for a cutting from your money tree but that's cheap! Gorgeous place, you were lucky to avoid the typhoons.
ReplyDelete@ Diarmuid: Thanks mate
ReplyDelete@ Baino: Yeah we really lucked out on the weather thankfully
Amazingly beautiful. And those prices are unbelievable. What a difference it makes when you're way off the normal tourist trail and they're actually pleased to see you.
ReplyDeleteShoot some of that warm breeze this way. I need some warm days on Uruguay's coast.
ReplyDelete@ Nick: it's nice to be a novelty not just a ka-ching tourist
ReplyDelete@ TCL: sending a warm breeze your way right now ....oh wait - that's me passing wind ;-)
Stunning photos. And wow! what prices. I can imagine us visiting there and never leaving.
ReplyDeleteBTW: When you link in FB are you posting the link or using the FB notes tool or something? I clicked on the link on FB and it came up with a FB banner on top of the page - which I think means that FB gets the traffic credit not you. That's why I always manually post links. Just a thought.
I can't believe how green it is, or how cheap. Looks like you have found paradise.
ReplyDelete@ Wandermom: I use a nifty FB app called networked blogs (see side bar) which loads my blog inside a frame so I still get the traffic and it posts to FB where users can follow the blog also
ReplyDelete@ Maya: pretty close I'd say
Wow! I could drink for a year with my birthday money.
ReplyDelete@ Broke: Everyday could be yer B'day!
ReplyDelete