Siquijor - Third Time's The Charm

Ah, the Philippines. Certainly among my top three favorite countries. Evidently, since this is my third time here within 2 years! There is just so much to explore.

Anyway, my first stop was Siquijor - a mystical island that I have been on twice before. During these times, I made some great friends and since it was the end of December, I decided to stay here over New Years and celebrate with friends.

The island itself is not necessarily a must-do on a Philippines itinerary, but what drew me here for the third time was - next to the friends - the island vibes, the laid back combination of beach hopping, scootering around, the still relatively rudimentary infrastructure and maybe the familiarity. This combination, I thought, was an ideal way to start this third around-the-world trip.

So, when I arrived, I was greeted warmly and over the following week and a bit, I spend time with my friends celebrating NYE, chilling out on the beach, driving around the island, doing a night dive, going to one of my favorite beach clubs (JJ's), practicing a bit of Muay Thai, making new friends, catching sunsets and so on.

Like I said, none of this is spectacular or really 'new', but nevertheless I enjoyed the time there.

That said, I think three times on this island is 'enough' for the near future. I have seen the highlights, I was very happy to see friends again, relieved some old memories and made some new ones. In other words, the island has offered me what I needed at the time during all the three stays here and since there are a lot more places I wanna see in the Philippines (and the world), Siquijor needs to take a step back now. Doesn't mean, I will not return, but probably not in the near future.

With that, I say thank you Siquijor, to the people, to the Fable Hostel where I met old and made new friends over the last two years to beautiful Paliton Beach, to the Bridge to watch sunets, to JJ's for what are maybe my favorite parties in the world, and to so many other things.

Good bye Siquijor - May we meet again.Read more