In a nutshell?

7100 islands and rocks of which about 4600 are named, the remaining 2500 unnamed since there existence. That's still 2500 rocks and islands that still need to be explored! Yey!!

With so many islands one would wonder why we haven't found the postcard perfect beach yet, we found one which came close, but it only came close. Certain experts told us that the perfect beach is to be found in Boracay (gasp), we swore not to go there, but their arguments were convincing enough that we would have broken our oath, but luckily, or not, it was time which saved us. With so many islands in the Visayas we had to do some slashing in our itinerary. In the end we set foot on (only) 20 islands which equates to 0.43% of the 4600 with a name!

But hey, of course Philippines is not only about beaches. It's the quirks that linger, like the roosters making noise at any given time of the day, the way people would say yes (a reverse wink), pointing not with fingers or thumb, but with their lips, as if giving a peck in the air, it's the way employees stick to you when doing shopping or the way they almost run to the stockroom when you ask if they have your shoe in size 39, even the dance with touts or overpricing taxi drivers get amusing after while. It's just like dancing on the same song every time and again, but then with different partners, some partners you can dance with very well and have a chat with afterwards (give the driver a tip) and sometimes you just want the song to finish as soon as possible (terrible driving, hardly tipping).

The Philippines also, and actually for the biggest part, is about the people. They are just wonderful, what ever happens they just keep on smiling. I can see that they didn't understand my bestest Filipino or English or Taglish, and they keep on looking at me, maybe waiting for something to happen, but they stand there.... smiling, even while saying 'we don't have a coke light' or 'all rooms are fully booked' they manage to sneak a smile in there, I bet they even smile while sitting on the loo. The smiles is what I'll miss most.

Tonight we leave for Taipei, yet another island. Philippines is done. But only for now :)

Owh.. these two islands!!

I really didn't know what to expect of Siquijor, it is supposed to have witches and Filipino voodoo shizzle going on (don't know what the shizzle is all about ), I saw some travel stories about the island and to be honest they weren't inspiring, people doing folkloristic dances in folkloristic clothing, it just didn't catch me. But somehow we ended up there and I wouldn't have wanted to miss it a bit!!

Our first inn wasn't really all that and as we already booked for the other nights at a dive resort, we headed to Sandugan some 30km east of Siquijor Town. The driver knew the resort and of course immediately tried the lets-see-what-I-can-charge-these-tourists act, which didn't work by the way, but at the end of the ride he helped our luggage down a flight of stairs and that earned him an tip. In hindsight I discovered I'm not handicapped so next time I'll faint a limp leg and make him carry me as well, purely to justify the tipping. Yes, I'm making fun of them. They are still overcharging us.

Raul, one of the managers of the resort and also a very very good dive guide welcomed us and made us walk up the same flight of stairs again because the room we booked was not a beach front one, alas it was only cliff front. No help from the driver this time. The room turned out to be a fully equipped cottage with fridge and cooking facilities. Imagine our joy and slight step up to independence. We could cook our own meals and make our own tea and instant coffee!!

Inspired by the site of complete families riding a single motorbike, I suggested that we also try riding one. After a crash course in semi automatic gear shifts and a note about road rules, or the lack of, we explored the eastern part of the island. Finally I can say I can join the league of traffic participants known as 'grown ups', at least in the Philippines. It's kinda fun, throttling up, acting important, honking the horn to warn dogs, cattle, chicken, inattentive pedestrians and other road users. I found out that I officially need a drivers licence but then again the small kids that over took us frequently couldn't be 18, nor any older.

There we went, up and down the hills, riding on coastal roads and visiting beaches, passing the villages with there friendly adults and even friendlier children. The whole island vibe wanted me to go slow, take my time, enjoy the scenes, but... the bike was stronger, doing 60kph on empty roads was just too tempting.

The people and seemingly the whole island wanted me to stay longer, I might have been voodood, a little, but time is running out on the Visayas and I feel other treasure islands need to be explored. With a promise to visit again we boarded the ferry, bringing us closer to other destinations... like Apo Island (only pictures) ... Woohoo!!