Is This The Best Island In The Philippines!? Bike Touring Around SIQUIJOR
Hey, what's up, guys? My name is Nick. I am currently cycling through the Philippines. I started in Cebu City, and I'm going to end up in Manila. In this video, I explore the beautiful island of Siquijor. Hope you enjoy. There it is, there's that Spanish influence, I guess, when it comes to these types of buildings, and especially the churches. Since a lot of the Philippines is very religious and very Catholic, I'm sure they want to restore places like this that represent the church.
Always dancing here, always dancing in the Philippines. Come get your bread, sing some karaoke, on to the next spot. Oh, that's nice and hot too. Some french fries, yeah, and some barbecue, yeah.
Good morning from a beautiful day here in Siquijor. So let me just show you around real quick. This is where I stayed last night. Look at this place, this is gorgeous, man. Beautiful resort here, just absolutely gorgeous. I didn't stay in one of these rooms, though. I stayed in the parking lot in a tent. But I was very fortunate, very grateful for that. Thank you, Bill, the owner of this place,
for letting me stay here. You know, I had three good meals in the restaurant. And actually, last night, when I came here, Bill was like, "Ah, is anyone staying in the house?" And I think he was referring to this one, 'cause I think he was trying to imply that, like, I could maybe sleep over there in the yard. But someone came and checked in, unfortunately. But still had a nice stay, for sure.
Hey, this dog finally warmed up to me. It's nice, it's leaning just a little bit, a little bit, but it's okay. Woo, a different sight out here. Got some rice fields,
still nice and green. Beautiful. All right, let's have a good day. It's 10:30, let's get rolling. There it is, there's that Spanish influence over here and over here. Oh, I'm a bit winded, though, this one up a hill. Let's check these out. All right, so there's a date of 1857 and 1973 up there. So, guessing maybe the original was built in the 1800s and kind of maybe reformed 50 or so years ago.
Look at this guy, smoking a cig and everything. Says this was the sixth parish priest, serving from 1882 to 94. This is him again. So that's what these buildings are that sit, like, usually right next to the huge Catholic churches. A lot of them are, like, right next to it. This one's across the street, but I don't know, I'm new to all this. This is where the priests lived, apparently. And so they got to live in these huge, spacious buildings over here. I did not know that. Wow.
I mean, maybe somebody can fill me in. Was it just the priest? How many of them lived in these? I'm sure they had servants and people working for them and whatnot, but surely it just wasn't a few dudes in this entire space, right? I don't know. But it's a pretty cool building. That's pretty cool. So over here, you get an idea of how much work went into this place
in restoring it. And so, I'm guessing for a long time this place was just rotting away, and then eventually they came in and restored the entire place. I mean, look at the condition up there as opposed to now. That's cool, that's pretty cool. I mean, so often, you see a lot of places like this around the world, especially in Indonesia and other places that were colonized, that some of the huge, beautiful architecture that the colonizers did build, they're just rotting away. I don't know, I guess I just have mixed feelings towards it. Obviously, as someone who loves history,
I'd like to see them restore old buildings like this to give people an idea of what it looked like and appreciate it for, I don't know, its beauty. But at the same time, I understand why maybe some countries would, for one, maybe want to destroy it or tear it apart if they still hold some resentment and bad feelings towards their past colonizers. So, I don't know, what do you think about it? But I guess when it comes to these types of buildings, and especially the churches, since a lot of the Philippines is very religious and very Catholic, I'm sure they want to restore places like this that represent the church. And so, I get that, I understand that. What a view. Like I said before, the imagery in Catholicism is very strong. I say very, very strong, usually emphasizing sacrifice and obedience, I think. Always dancing here, always dancing in the Philippines.
Yeah, so this is easily the busiest tourist spot I've been to on the island so far. This place is packed. This is the Cambugahay Falls. Uh, maybe, maybe after, thank you. Hello, thank you. So this is what all the hype is about. I don't know, I think they got better waterfalls on the island. Maybe. Woo, nice. Oh, that looked like it hurt.
Avocado ice cream. It's good. It's not too sweet, super creamy, and kind of has a chewy texture. That's pretty good. But that didn't last too long down there, it's too busy, and I'd rather get on the road and start cycling. Yeah, I'm sure the best time to come is at 8,
8:00 when they open. Unless you like being here with tons of people. Yeah. Oh my God, they are getting down at the school. Man, just look at this stretch of road right here. Look how green it is,
it's beautiful. It's kind of how it's been this whole way on this side of the island, and it doesn't hurt to have nice, clear blue skies. Beautiful. Hi, how much for bananas? Bananas, how much per kilo? Kilo. This is kilo. Okay, this is the best? Those are good, huh? Can I do half? You're vlogging? I'm vlogging my travels around the Philippines, cycling to Manila from Cebu. How much for the mango? 201 kilo.
200 kilo? Yeah. About, say, how much for two? Okay, I will try. Yeah, they look pretty ripe too. Really sweet. 100 only? Perfect. Have you tried the melon of Siquijor? You try.
There's a small one, you try. How much is it? 101 kilo, but it's not 1 kilo, I think. Kilo. Okay, I'll try one. Okay, one. Why not? Let's see. Okay, 70.
70? Okay. So, how much all together? And actually, I will, uh, can I—can I sit here and eat it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, here, here. Sounds good, man. These dogs are tough out here, sleeping on a bunch of empty glass bottles. Is that comfortable, dude? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Is that his bed? You live here? Your home? Very nice.
They cut? All right, they're cut nice. This? Okay, thank you. Thank you. All righty, thank you so much, I won't forget.
Wow, the watermelon smells good. Yeah. Okay, M's very sweet. Yeah? From here? From here. From here? You grow them around here? My—my neighbor.
Oh really? Yeah. Damn, that's good. That is a tasty mango right there. Maybe the best one I've had so far. Still chilling? Good boy, Buck. All right, thank you. Bye, see you.
See you, best of luck to you. Hi. There you are. Look at that, man. There's some beautiful stretches over here. That ain't too bad. Siquijor, you are beautiful. A Christmas tree made out of Mountain Dew bottles.
That's a good way to reuse them, right? And check it out, another church. The grounds are beautiful, it's really nice. But looks like they're trying to reform this one, maybe like the other one that I saw earlier today. I mean, that's going to need a lot of work if they're going to do that. But I wonder if we can get a look at what it looks like inside. Maybe. The facade looks pretty good, that looks pretty nice, like especially this part right here.
I hear music playing. Where's it coming from? Hey, hey, how are you? Oh yeah, there's some music bumping over there. Yeah, I don't know, I don't think there's any salvaging this one right here. It looks pretty beat up and done, I would say. I'm not going to—I'm not going to go inside too far just because it doesn't look like it's too sturdy, but you get the idea. Wow.
And this side over here. Beautiful, isn't it? I don't know if it's open, but maybe we can go sneak a peek through the front door here at least. Maybe stick my hand through and get an idea of what it looks like on the inside. But I mean, the outside of this church looks really nice. I wonder if it's still in use.
Oh yeah, it's definitely still in use. You get the idea. But I want to go check out what's going on over here. I hear some music playing. Uh, looks like there's a gym area over there. So, let's go sneak a peek.
I'm just going to take a guess, but I bet there's people dancing. I bet there's people in here doing some big choreographed dance. Okay, they're not dancing, they're not dancing. They're, uh, celebrating the senior high school's graduation. It says up there this is the first pinning ceremony, and so they explained it, they explained it to me. All these students here are about to enter the workforce and start working.
Good luck to you. All right, so we've made it to Salagdoong Beach Resort, however you pronounce it. And so, everyone I've passed today, they said, "Are you going to Salagdoong?" So I guess this is maybe another very popular beach spot. Man, it is hot as hell out here. Let's go take a dip, chill out, and, uh,
I need to get some lunch. Lunch. I had some of that fruit earlier, but I need some food. I had a good breakfast at the place I stayed at, actually a nice, filling breakfast, but it's already 2:30, and I need to eat some more.
First Impressions. All right, it's beautiful. Nice turquoise blue water. I think down there is where the swimming is, though.
Hey, hey, hey, how are you? Bye, thank you. Good, good. Hey, is that the same—yeah, same guy, the same guy. Hey, there you are! Good to see you, Dennis. Yeah, Dennis. Nice to see you again, Dennis.
The restaurant over here? Yeah. Anything? Restaurant. It's better there? It's better over there. Good to know. Thank you, Dennis. Coral rock beach is what it looks like. Not too bad.
So, uh, yeah, that's what I'm looking at. Go big or go home, right? You see me? Oh yeah, it's on, it's on. Yeah, go. Yeah.
Wave to the camera! All right, nice beach. Be, uh, fun to hang out here all day, I guess, if you're with a group of people. But I don't know, I kind of have the urge just to keep going. I don't want to rest right now, so I'm going to go back on the main road and get on out of here. It's so smooth. It's beautiful.
Hey, hey, man. One thing that is awesome about cycling in the Philippines is that there are always people out and about, hanging out, selling food, walking just on the side of the roads, people working. It's a very active place, and so you can't—can't really cycle far without seeing somebody. But yeah, you just see a lot of people out and about in the Philippines, and it makes cycling interesting 'cause there's always somebody smiling at you, saying hello. You know, you get to pass by cool little houses like this, and, uh, you know, there's so much that I'm not showing you 'cause I can't just have the camera on all the time and show you everything I see. But I try to pick and choose the good stuff, I guess. But it's awesome, I like it. So far, Siquijor especially has been wonderful.
Karaoke, a bakery, maybe a restaurant, access to the beach. Let's do some investigating. Maybe I can, uh, sleep here tonight. I don't know. I might not be able to camp here, but this is some, uh—this is a pretty heavy-duty bakery right here. I mean, it's 4:20 right now, and they're pumping them out.
All right, I really don't know what to get, so I'm just going to get one of each. They're not that expensive, so let's just go ahead and get one of each. Why not? I don't know what to get, but everything is good. All right, what is the best? I want one—one of everything.
What is—what is that? Okay, one of each. One of— I guess it's time to go. Loading them up.
Come get your bread, sing some karaoke. On to the next spot. Oh, that's nice and hot too.
Oh yeah, this is a coconut. The dough is kind of chewy, which is good though. Mmm. The coconut's not that strong, but they just took them out. It's really hot. A little bit of sweetness to it.
Yeah, those are just rolls. Just tasty rolls. They really quieted down after them old people left. Cheese bread? Nice. It's really good. Yeah.
Mmm, not bad. All right, so this is the situation I find myself in. Trying to find a place to camp again. It's like 4:30 right now. Super windy on this side of the island, though. Luckily, it's not blowing necessarily—uh, it's not necessarily headwind, but it's not exactly tailwind either. But, uh, I'd like to make it to Siquijor Port and catch the last ferry, but I don't think it's going to happen. I don't think I'll be able to make it. So, yeah, that's—that's where I find myself, kind of looking for somewhere to sleep over here. But it's windy.
Dang. Wow, when school does let out, look at all these kids on the street. Just a parade of kids. Hey, hey.
What the hell did he say to me? Thank you. Up. My man! What's up, my man? Sometimes you get some pretty funny ones. How are you? I got a question.
Yeah? How much can I pay you to drive me to Siquijor Port? Siquijor Port? Yeah. How about we get, uh, a tricycle? Well, I mean, tricycle, a tri—everything tricycle. Really? You—you cannot handle to drive? Well, I'm—I'm thinking of catching the last ferry at, uh, 6:00 p.m., right?
And so— We will, we will try to get a tricycle. Tricycle? They're trying to find a tricycle for me.But I don't really see how my bike is going to fit on one of those. Get that driver? That driver? But my bike can't fit on that. The top? The top? No, no, it's okay. No, I don't trust it.
N—it's okay. N—I think I'll put my bike on the top of that thing? I don't think so. It's okay, I'll just keep going. Thank you so much, though.
Thank you for your—thank you for your help, though. Thank you, sir. Thank you, thank you. All right. I don't really see how that's going to work. So— Heyy, hello! What's up? So we're just going to keep going.
Hello! Wow, that's a nice one. And so that first guy— Hello! That first guy that I, uh, asked, "How much can I give you?"—he was probably like, "Dude, uh, I'm about to throw a party." Like, he was taking out a huge roasted pig out of, uh, out of the bed of his truck. Lechon feast is what it looked like.
And so, he's got no time to take me. Hello! What are you making? Barbecue. Barbecue? And french fries. And french fries? Okay, fries then.
French fries, fish ball. Oh, and fish balls? Do you have any rice? Just french fries. Some french fries? Yeah. And some barbecue. What is this? Pork barbecue. Pork? Yeah.
Okay, I'll do a couple of these, uh, sausage—pes? Four? Okay, two. And then maybe one hot dog. Hi, is this the whole family? Yeah, one big family. Wow.
No, that should be good. That should be good. Okay, salamat. Thank you, thank you, thank you. All right, I got some food. Now, got to find a place to sleep. All right, see you guys.
Thank you! Welcome to Larena. Happy to be here. Just, uh, looking for that spot to sleep tonight. This looks like the hangout down here, though. All right, this road right here kind of dead-ends down to the water. Looks like there's a few
people living down here. I saw a building with a huge, flat concrete surface—could be perfect. We'll see. Hey, hey! How are you? Hello, how are you? What is this? FPA? A port? Yeah. Okay.
Little port. Okay. Yeah.
You come down here? Let's go take a look at a boat. This could be perfect, actually. Hello! Finished? Going out tomorrow. Oh, tomorrow? Tomorrow. What time? Half five. Five in the morning? P.M.
P.M.? Okay. Yeah. Nice boat.
Hello! Hello! Catching anything? No. Nothing? I don't know. I think there were just too many people and not enough homes in that last area. So, a lot of people just kind of hang out there.
That's probably where I shouldn't be staying. They love making homemade Christmas trees here, don't they? Can't really tell what this one's made of, but it's all lit up and has a bunch of candy canes and mints, or peppermints and whatnot. A flying Santa in a helicopter. Still trying to enjoy it.
Those moments when I'm like, "Oh, what the heck am I doing?" Surely something's going to happen. Something is going to happen. We'll see. All righty. This is where I am calling it quits. 65K—not bad.
Skipped Bolo. Look at that—pretty much three-fourths of the island, I'd say. Man, I'm exhausted. I finally just decided to give up and, uh, I'm going to go back to Coob? Kobes? and stay there. Anyway, signing off.
Hope wherever you are, you're doing well and staying safe. And I'll see you in the next video. I'm exhausted. Peace.
2025-03-07 23:30
