We arrived in San Juan, Siquijor Island for our four-night stay after a very long trip via (1) tuk-tuk, (2) bus, (3) tuk-tuk, (4) ferry, (5) tuk-tuk, (6) ferry, (7) tuk-tuk. Siquijor—in all its beauty—was our hardest location to get to in the Philippines. In hindsight, we wouldn’t do it that way again. We checked into our VERY small room at Isla de Paz, and as we squished all four of us in the room (with Jake on the floor), we had to remove all furniture that wasn’t a bed… It wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement, but for $38 per night, we can’t complain. 

Once we dumped our luggage, we hired motorbikes (note for future reference), as it is really the only way to get around the island. Siquijor Island is small enough for you to drive around it via “Siquijor Circumferential Road” in a few hours, but big enough that there’s so much to see along the way. We didn’t quite know what to expect from Siquijor Island, but we quickly realised it was a much slower change of pace from Cebu, with everything—from bars, restaurants, sights, dry cleaners, and the hospital—being very spread out. Given it wasn’t very walkable, it was motorbikes, or nothing. Pat and Jake adopted the driving responsibilities and we met our friend, James the Aussie, for dinner at Republika Bar. It was nice to catch up again before finally parting ways (for the last time) and heading to sleep.

Exploring Siquijor Island

We woke to beautiful weather and a plan to visit some sights, riding anti-clockwise around the island. We arrived at Cabugahay Falls (yes, another waterfall) to master another rope swing. Jake and Pat would’ve jumped off the rope over 10 times! It’s very entertaining for the photographer (me) to watch when someone fails a backflip off the rope. Once the falls got too busy, and the line for the swing was longer than five people, we drove down the road (back towards home) via the Old Enchanted Balete Tree–the oldest known balete tree on Siquijor Island. Balete’s are part of the fig tree family, and attach themselves to a host tree, eventually strangling and killing the tree! Over 400 years old, the Old Enchanted Balete holds a deep-rooted place (no pun intended) in Filipino folklore, believed to be home to spirits and mystical creatures. At the base of the tree is a natural spring, which has been made into a pool inhabited by fish that nibble on your feet if you’re brave enough to try the foot spa. YUCK. We slowed down for the remainder of the day, cruising for lunch, watching the sunset, and settling into bed for an early start the next day.

Exploring (cont.)

Nicola, Jake and I woke early to get some steps in before commencing our day. I walked while Nic and Jake ran, and we had an ordinary breakfast at Flamenco Bar across the road from our accommodation. Pat was starting to become increasingly unwell and, for once, didn’t resist the doctor’s orders to stay in bed and rest.

In the meantime, the three siblings took on Siquijor Island… We went snorkelling at Tubod Marine Sanctuary nearby our accommodation, and Jake saw a turtle! I returned briefly to check on the patient before Nicola and Jake picked me up for a sushi lunch at Mr. Sumo. We brought some food back for Pat just before the weather turned cloudy and rainy, cutting our sightseeing plans short. Instead, we headed back to Republika Bar (mainly because it was so close) for some soft drinks before I decided to give riding a motorbike a shot for the first time. I managed to drive a whole 200 meters, much to Nicola and Jake’s amusement–they couldn’t stop laughing at the fact that I remembered to use the blinker just to turn into our own driveway. I made it, at least! Afterwards, Jake and I tackled the challenge of transporting 8kg of laundry on the motorbikes to a local dry cleaner before we picked up Nicola for late dinner at a family-run woodfire pizza place (with takeaway for Pat). We debated whether to take Pat to the hospital that night or wait until morning. In the end, he braved a restless night before finally admitting defeat and heading to the hospital on Lunar New Year.

A Fallen Soldier

There were a few key obstacles that made it challenging to get Pat to the hospital; (1) it was a public holiday so naturally, everything was closed–even the medical centre, (2) I could barely drive a motorbike on my own, let alone with a sick passenger for over 30 minutes, and (3) according to Google, the Siquijor Provincial Hospital was marked “permanently closed”. We asked a few locals where to go and they confirmed we did need to go to Siquijor Provincial Hospital. At this moment, I was more grateful than ever to Nicola and Jake, who braved the rain to drive Pat and me to the hospital, which was in fact, permanently closed. Just as my patience was hanging by a thread and Pat’s desperation was reaching new heights, a kind Filipino couple pulled over and offered to guide us to the actual hospital. Whoever was looking out for us that day, thank you!!!

When we arrived at the permanently open hospital, they turned us away, insisting Pat wasn’t sick enough to be admitted–even though he was burning with a fever, struggling to breathe, and barely able to stand. After pleading for them to take another look, they eventually agreed to triage him. However, with no available beds, Pat was left to lie on what looked like a park bench, hooked up to an IV, struggling against the humidity. I felt SO bad! Weirdly, every time the doctors administered Pat’s medication, they handed me a prescription for the same items to fill at the nearest pharmacy a few hundred meters away–making sure the hospital wasn’t out of pocket. It was quite funny carrying a one-litre sodium chloride solution bag, syringes, needles, and tablets through the streets of Siquijor. I think it would have made more sense to wait until the end of the day so I could make one pharmacy run instead of four. Anyway, it was good to get my steps up. Eventually, after being moved to a bed and diagnosed with pneumonia, Pat was finally allowed to leave (in much brighter spirits). I’m so relieved that he’s okay now. All in all, the medical team was great given the circumstances, and honestly, I had it way easier than Pat had when I was sick in Vietnam. lol.

We called our taxi drivers (Nicola and Jake), and they kindly collected us from the hospital after brunch at Bucafe, a day of snorkelling, swimming with a turtle, and lunch at Baha Bar. Pat and I honestly couldn’t have made it through the day without them (thanks, guys). We collected the washing, returned the motorbikes on a full tank of petrol, went to dinner, and packed for our final stop in Bohol, which was much calmer. 

What a whirlwind.

The End.