Our Siquijor Trip – Day 1: Ratsada

The long and winding road to Dumaguete

Terai enjoys the ride through Siquijor
Terai enjoys the ride through Siquijor
More pics here

Yes the bus wasn’t hot because of the bracing morning breeze but once we stopped in Kabankalan the bus was full to nearly overflowing. I was lucky because I had a window seat which gave me all the room I needed. Unfortunately Pia had someone bracing their butt against her shoulder because she had an aisle seat and there were so many people standing up.

By the time we arrived in Dumaguete 6 and half hours later, we were bone tired, hungry and in much need of freshening up. A couple of nuns who were also on the bus suggested we head over to Bethel Hotel. We had breakfast there and feeling partly human we walked the boulevard to the port. It was a long walk and we all felt sorry for Julius who had the heaviest bag.

Within 45 minutes we were safely on the ferry for the half-hour trip to Siquijor. Everyone was pretty much conked out on the ride and I know we were all wishing that the trip was a wee bit longer just to recuperate. The original plan was to get a ride from Siquijor to the town of Larena where someone from the Kiwi Dive Resort (where we were staying) would come to pick us up. But there was somebody already there at the Siquijor port to fetch us. Jake was quite surprised at how much the guy, Rick, knew about us. This is one thing about Siquijor that we’ve learned – all tourists are stared at. Seriously! As we were making our way around the island, people were S-T-A-R-I-N-G at us. Quite disconcerting but I guess strangers to the island are quickly identified.