A piece of paradise

Endless unspoilt beaches, affable locals and dirt-cheap but miraculously easy-on-the-body Tanduay rum made the Philippines the perfect location for FERGAL QUINN

THE CONCEPT of paradise is an overused one, but as my rented motorbike rounds the top of Mount Bandilaan, on Siquijor Island, in the Philippines, it’s the only word I can think of.

Just a few hundred metres up, almost at this tiny island’s highest point, I can see most of the 100km of coastline, the gorgeous palm-lined beaches and the effervescent blue of the Bohol Sea all around. Best of all, my girlfriend, Suzanne, and I have it almost to ourselves.

Though excellent roads and ferries make most corners of the Philippines – a collection of more than 7,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean – surprisingly accessible, the secret to the perfect holiday here is not trying to do too much.

We quickly discard the strict itinerary we had devised to see most of the Visayas, a dazzling spread of islands across the midriff of the country, as new attractions grab our attention.

Trying to take in any more than a few of the islands in one trip would be to take away from the one essential component in a holiday experience here: the relaxation. A combination of endless unspoilt beaches, affable locals and dirt-cheap but miraculously easy-on-the-body Tanduay rum makes the Philippines a location in which your inner sea-dog-cum-beach-bum can express himself.

If Manila thrills and exasperates in equal measure, then Cebu, the main transport hub for the Visayas and the Philippines’ second city, quietly smoulders. Short of Enya referring to it in Orinoco Flow and the explorer Ferdinand Magellan meeting his maker here, it has rarely raised a ripple internationally, but its low-key charms and oddly underpopulated streets offer an easy way to adjust to the tropics.

Driving to our hotel on our first day in Cebu, the graffitied walls and multicoloured jeepneys – former US army vehicles that were commandeered and pimped up as a means of public transport – make for a vivid first impression of a city that predates Manila but, sadly, has little in the way of architecture to demonstrate this.

Spanish and US colonial influences are immediately evident, as is the blood-and-guts Catholic imagery, in place of the gold-hued Buddhist aesthetic so prominent in the rest of southeast Asia.

Basilica del Santo Nino, its most significant church, offers an insight into the rather idiosyncratic approach to devotion to the Catholic faith we see in the Philippines. The day we visit it’s like a psychedelic Knock, with crowds of hawkers selling bizarre religious figurines alongside candles, multicoloured balloons and barbecued chicken for the faithful.

A long queue waits patiently to kiss the relic in front of the Santo Nino statuette, which Magellan himself is said to have brought here. The dual impulses of Filipinos’ faith are amply demonstrated by the fact that both Magellan, who introduced Catholicism to the Philippines, and the fierce Chief Lapu-Lapu, leader of the group of Indian natives who killed him for his trouble, inspire seemingly equal degrees of veneration.

“The beautiful die first,” Humaida Jumalon, at the Jumalon butterfly sanctuary, tells us rather fatalistically the following day as she explains the dangers the 55 species of butterflies she has in her sanctuary face in the wild.

Her small but impressive garden is part tourist attraction and part memorial to her father, the late Prof Julian Jumalon, a renowned lepidopterist. The Philippines is something of an ecological wonderland, and butterflies reflect this diversity, with 800 species here. The sanctuary is also home to amazing mosaics that the professor made from butterflies’ wings in his spare time.

It’s a hair-raising ride through the mountainous interior of Cebu to the pleasant if unexceptional resort town of Moalboal. A far stronger draw than its fairly average restaurants and bars are the corals just a few metres off shore. A quick snorkelling expedition reveals an array of fish and other creatures that is like something out of Finding Nemo.

We while away an enjoyable couple of days snorkelling, drinking beer on nearby White Beach and befriending a couple of preening, down-on-their-luck lady boys who seemed a bit lost away from the bright lights of Manila.

A short ferry ride across the Tañon Strait is Negros Occidental, once the sugar-producing centre of the Philippines but now unfairly overshadowed by the better-known Cebu and Bohol. It has three national parks, as well as some excellent locations for watching whales. The straits are a prime migration route for numerous species, including killer whales.

Dumaguete, the regional capital, is a bustling little university town with a surprisingly funky nightlife, and there’s some top-drawer people-watching along its famed oceanfront Rizal promenade.

We sit there for a long time, snacking on sugared almonds and gazing across the ever-changing strait. Last night, during the trip from Cebu, the water was a sheet of glass, but this evening a brisk crosswind whips it up to boiling point.

A child who looks about eight tries to bum a cigarette. I refuse. “That’s okay, Joe,” he says. That’s Joe as in GI, a reminder of the long US presence here. The widespread use of English is another.

Bohol is meant to be next on the itinerary, but a chance sighting of an article in a Filipino newspaper about witchcraft on Siquijor Island piques our interest, and we hop on a boat across.

Though a winner in so many ways, the island is something of a letdown on the dark-magic-and-curses front. The single “sorcerer” I am brought to see turns out to be a disappointingly sedate old gentleman peddling ointments from the back of his cottage.

I’ve seen far wilder looking characters on a night out in west Clare, frankly, but everything else, from the incredibly romantic sunsets to sailing on bangkas – the graceful little boats balanced ingeniously by two bamboo outriggers – and night-time strolls watching fireflies, is just perfect.

We head inland through San Antonio to visit the Cantabon Caves, which go more than a kilometre underground and have some beautiful rock formations and deep plunging pools. Our guide switches off her torch as I float in one to create the perfect sensory-deprivation tank.

The following day we cover most of the circumference of the island by motorbike, from Larena, around the eastern coast through numerous charming flower-festooned villages, before cutting through the interior of the island via the waterfall near Lazi to Siquijor town.

The sight of westerners is enough of a novelty for us to be almost physically forced to share a few rums with a group of locals in one small village on which it seems like half the island has descended to watch a cockfight.

Near Maria, an artists’ retreat and performance centre is being constructed by the charming Cielo, who shows us his workshop, in which he makes electric stick basses by hand.He’s spent most of his life in Manila but was happy to return to Siquijor, where he was born. “I have never found anywhere better than this,” he says firmly.

While unrest in the south, most recently underlined by the kidnap and subsequent release of Fr Michael Sinnott, has kept the Philippines down the list of holiday locations until now, more travellers are starting to cotton on to its charms.

As John, the seasoned American traveller we meet in Cebu, puts it: “The thing about this place is that there is so much beauty to go around. There’s a little bit of perfection here for everybody.”

Where to stay, where to go and where to eat in the Philippines

Where to stay

Marco Polo Plaza. Cebu Veterans Drive, Nivel Hills, Apas, Cebu, 00-63-322-531111, marcopoloplazacebu.com. This is the best-rated four-star hotel in town. Rooms cost about €60 per night.

The Vintage Inn. Legaspi Street, Dumaguete, 00-63-633-2251076. A decent selection of scrupulously clean, if spartan, rooms in a good location from just €10.

Kiwi Dive Resort. Sandugan Beach, Siquijor Island, 00-63-919-3785741 kiwidiveresort.com. An impeccably laid-out and excellent-value option right on the beach. Just €20 gets you a beachside bungalow.

Where to eat

Larsians. Fuente Osmente, Cebu. The Philippines is heaven for carnivores, with vegetables rather thin on the ground. If barbecue is your thing, you are in luck with this cracking place. No booking necessary.

Lighthouse Restaurant. Gaisano Country Mall, Banilad, Cebu, 00-63-322-312478. This venue has great food and really friendly staff. Try the bulalo (beef stew), banana heart salad, adobo (marinated meat) or lechon de leche (pork).

Manny O’s Wine and Tapas. Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa, Punta Engano, Mactan Island, 00-63-324-927777. For something higher-end, this place has a large selection of tapas and wine, and a great view of the sea, given its impressive location.

Where to go

In Dumaguete, Gardenia bar, just off Rizal promenade, is a funky little find; Why Not bar is also lively well into the wee hours.

The Live Wire in Cebu is a good live jazz and blues venue, and a fine place to blow your winnings – or drown your sorrows – after a night out at the impressively large-scale Waterfront Casino, where the region’s high rollers (and tourists feeling lucky) go to chance their arm.

When to go

Any time is a good time to visit the Philippines, with the possible exception of Holy Week, when hotels book out months in advance and prices triple. January to May usually brings the best weather to most of the country. However, this is also the high tourist season. Low season is during the “rainy” months of June to September, which in some areas of the country aren’t rainy at all. Accommodation prices usually decrease during this time.

Go there

KLM (klm.ie) flies to Manila from Amsterdam. It uses Aer Lingus for connections from Dublin, Cork and Shannon. Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) also flies to Amsterdam from Belfast.

The Irish Times, Sat, Nov 21, 2009