Siquijor Travelog IV: "Misfit and Misfortune in Different Waters"

Siquijor Travelog IV: “Misfit and Misfortune in Different Waters”

4AM and the loud phone alarms sang in chorus. All calling for the beginning of our day 2 adventure, which includes: 

• Salagdoong Beach in Maria
• The San Isidro Labrador Parish Church and Convent in Lazi
• Cambugahay Falls in Lazi
• Fish Spa and Century-old Balete Tree Lazi 

            And a day-long road trip around the island. Save our butts.  

Different Waters

         We started our trip at 5am, hoping to greet the sun as daylight breaks through the sky as we chase the road. But no, it rained that early morning. And dark clouds covered the sun and the rain is lightly bathing us - even when we haven't made our first stop among the different water attractions in the island yet. Well, rain is still rainwater and still could be included in our  "different waters" of the island itinerary. Siquijor as spontaneous as we are.

          It was sunny when we arrived and had a mini stop-over in Maria due to a misfortune. Then as we carried on with our trip to Salagdoong Beach, well, the clouds gave in and rained so hard upon us for a short time and then the sun showed up again when we arrived in the beach. From rainwater to seawater.

           The sea was brilliantly turquoise blue, as the waters glittering under the bright sun, and white sand all around. Standard operating procedure as we arrived – put on layers of sun block, wear your sunglasses, get the selfie stick and find the perfect blagir shot spot. There was a slide which would lead you to the sea, two diving boards of different lengths and a gazebo all situated on top of a gigantic rock. Well I’ll let the photos do the talking. 

           We spent a quarter of our time there for blagir shots, and the rest was to enjoy the waters before we proceed to another one. We let the sun kiss our sun-block-covered skin and our backs laying by the mix of sand and pebbles. We bid our goodbye to the wide horizon to proceed our next stop.

          We had our brunch in a karenderia in Maria public market before proceeding to the next municipality which houses our remaining destinations.

en.wikipedia.org

          The San Isidro Labrador Parish Church (Spanish: Iglesia Parroquial de San Isidro Labrador), commonly known as Lazi Church, is a Roman Catholic church in the municipality of Lazi, Siquijor, Philippines within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Dumaguete. It became an independent parish in 1857 under the advocacy of Saint Isidore the Laborer.

The church, also known for its huge convent, was declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum of the Philippines. It is also nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List since 2006 under the collective group of Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension) together with the churches of Boljoon, Guiuan, Loboc and Tumauini.

 The church is built of sea stones and wood. It belongs to the neoclassical style. It has two pulpits and has retained its original retablo and wood floorings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazi_Church

          The structure reeks of history and old-age, yet whether you are an enthusiast of churches and structures in general or not, this one is absolutely a sight. It was just a short stop-over going to Cambugahay Falls. We encountered Chinese and Korean tourists riding a van stopping by the church, Filipino visitors as well.

          We arrived in Cambugahay falls at almost noon, since the sun is shining brightly overhead. Upon parking, a local would then approach you for Php 10 parking fee. We actually had high expectations for Cambugahay Falls since some of us had already visited many waterfalls in Mindanao like Tinago, Mimbalut, Maria Cristina Tinuy-an Falls etc. Going down was a steep flight of 35 stone steps, calling our fit thighs and legs to use. 

 And behold, Cambugahay did not disappoint in any aspect – well in height maybe but that’s considerable. The water was aquamarine cyan blue when calm and powdery white to alice blue when disturbed. That is due to the limestone deposit in the bottom of the water. On the side there was a rope hanging for you to swing yourself into the refreshing water. You can put your things anywhere you like. There are wooden tables and chairs everywhere, as well as big logs laid down.

And the last water for today, or should I say the whole trip is the Fish Spa and Century-old Balete Tree in the same municipality. Entrance fee is Php 5.00. They say that the tree is over 400 years old. Wow. You just need to sit down and put your bare feet in the water and let the fishes do their thing. I forgot what species of fish are there, but they vary from sized and their looks. Some are tiny, some as big as your finger, and some bigger than your feet.

They eat the dead skin cells off your feet. The love the marks made by your shoes, socks and sandals, callouses, ingrown and even the space between your toes. Ticklish as it may seem but it’s actually a spa. And it delivers to its description. It does give you that relaxing feeling. The huge balete tree provides a cool shade from the sun. Truly relaxing. I could’ve wished that the fishes would eat my dead love life, but nah, they know better.

At the side of the spa there is a mini-souvenir shop, with merchandise as varied as t-shirts, ref magnets, keychains and voodoo dolls in affordable prices. Breaking news: they even have Love potions. PM me for re-sellers. JK.

Now all that's left is the long road trip for us to say that we have officially toured around the island. We had a few stop overs along the way, and yes, we officially toured around the island !

The Misfortune

          As we are on the road to Maria, it came to our attention that there are only 2 scooters in our convoy. It’s either they got lost, which is unlikely since there are not much intersections, or they had a flat tire. And surprise, it was the latter. Even the rain made their misfortune more unfortunate, thus misfortune v2.0, an upgrade. But the view of the mountains made the act of strolling the scooter to the nearest vulcanizing shop less burdensome. still their keen eyes did not let this view go. As Ate Hanna said, “If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden.” 

          A garden it is.

          And who would’ve thought that this misfortune could go v3.0? When we were coming from Cambugahay Falls to the parking space, some drivers called our attention. They noticed that the flat-before-now-inflated tire had been flat again. They said that we need to replace the interior, or something like that. So my brother and Kuya Cocoi went to the town to buy the interior something, as we waited for them beside the road under a small mango tree. I was laying down on a plank then. Wait was I?

The Misfit

          Surprise, surprise, I am the misfit. The “rain – heat of the sun – light rain – stronger rain – stronger heat of the sun in the beach” weather cycle as we are travelling got the best of me.  I was feeling nauseous when we departed from Salagdoong beach. I slept in Cambugahay Falls and finally got my act together when we were in the fish spa. But when we got home I felt more nauseous. Still I had fun. Lots of fun. Till next trip then!