Just a small note, because not too much happened in these few days, I’ve condensed them into one page.
18th March - A secret spring
I woke up around half 9 and had the usual oatmeal, bananas, and raisins with the others at the bar area. After breakfast, we spoke to Bing, the receptionist, and asked her if she could call the ferry office for an update. As we had expected, the lockdown would last at least a month, until the 14th April. At least we know now. With that news out of the way, we headed to Larena to get some supplies from the hypermarket, before riding to Lazi, about 30km away.
We headed there because we were told there’s a cave and an underground river. That’s right up a backpacker’s street. When we got close to the area, we stopped off for a bit of food to fuel us for the upcoming adventure. Once we’d finished, we were about to go to the cave, when a local fellow told us it was actually closed. That was a bummer. However, he recommended us a cool water spring nearby, in fact it’s the source of the waterfall we visited the other day. Bring it on! So we get on our way to this cool water spring, and I really hoped it was cool, because every day was scorching hot here. As usual, we missed it and had to turn back to get to it. It was really out of the way, and no signs anywhere.
Here’s the location to this wonderfully cool spring.
When we parked up, we saw that it was pretty small, though it was like a small oasis, surrounded by trees. There was an old dude here, but that was it, so we got into our swimming wear and took a dip. It was indeed fairly cool, but the spring’s water was crystal clear, I was honestly amazed. After we’d bathed for a time, the Sun began to set, and now the spring really did get cool, cold even, so we got out to return home. The ride back home was wonderful in the sunset, can’t really beat these views, nor the vibes of island life. At home, we chilled for a time, sorted a couple of bits out, then had food at the hostel, before turning into the night. Not bad at all! Day 3 of quarantine complete.
19th March - Scuba shoe search
I got up around half 9 again, the others are usually up before me, the early bird kind. We usually have breakfast together though, oats, bananas, and raisins, it’s nice of them to wait for me. After we’d eaten and wrote our journals, we went back to the room to chill, workout, stretch, and do whatever. I had a walk to a couple of nearby scuba shops to see if I could get my hands on some dive boots to help with the rocky reefs. They didn’t sell gear, but they did give me the name of a scuba shop not too far away. Upon my return to the hostel, the three of us went across the road for lunch.
Check this post out, an awesome snorkelling trip in Coron. I did hurt my foot whilst swimming, so this is the reason for the scuba shoes!
Once we’d eaten, we nipped to the dive shop I mentioned and I successfully acquired my dive boots. Not only that, but we also booked a day of scuba diving for Gina’s birthday next week, I look forward to it! Once the dive shop was all sorted, we rode to a well-known beach not far away. Whilst I enjoyed chilling on the beach, those two were hellbent on borrowing a guitar from someone somewhere. After a while, I decided to take a dip in the sea, which was lovely and cool for all of 5 minutes before Mat came back. He told me they had to wait at a bar for someone to bring them their guitar, so I rode back with him.
Gina was over the moon when a fellow foreigner turned up with a guitar and then left. It felt quite bizarre, but no matter. She played a couple of tunes, all giddy, and then we returned to the hostel. We chilled out for a while in the room, before going to our restaurant for some grub, which always hits the spot. The staff gave us some forms and documents to complete that the local government had requested. just basic information. They also told us of a rumour that as of tomorrow we’re not allowed on the streets, but we’ll see. Plenty of rumours floating around. After all was said and done, we retired for the night. Day 4 of quarantine complete.
20th March - Expiring visas
I got up at 9am and had breakfast in the bar area, same as usual. We took the bikes into town and asked the tourist police about our visas, because they’d be expiring in about a week. They couldn’t help us, and directed us to the tourist information booth across the street. However, they were away on lunch, so we had to wait it out. We went back to the police to ask about this quarantine or curfew, but they said there wasn’t one. Happy days.
The 3 of us rode into Siquijor town, not far away, to look at some clothes to kill more time. After we’d had a quick browse, we went to Jollibee for lunch, the only fast food chain on the island. I can’t say the quality is any good though, not a huge fan. On the way back to our area, we stopped off for an ice cream at a shop. It’s sorely needed when the weather is so damn hot. We returned to the tourist information office, but they said we can’t extend our visas. Not only are the offices closed, but there aren’t any visa extension offices on this island. I guess that’s case closed then.
We returned to the hostel to chill for a bit. Mat and Gina went out together to get food as Gina didn’t eat earlier. When they came back, we all went for a swim and I got to test my new scuba shoes. They were a treat, the sea was lovely and warm anyway, but the shoes gave me some peace of mind against urchins or sharp rocks. After a while, we came out and dried off, then Mat and I went for food next door. It was a small and local eatery with cheap but delicious food. When we went back to the room, we played cards, and Elliott joined us. We played shithead for a couple of hours, it’s always fun. Most of us called it a day after that. Day 5 of quarantine complete.
