Siquijor, Philippines (waterfalls, sunsets and stars, oh my)

We look happy for a reason :)

Day 4, Wednesday
As you can recall (or can go back and read) we left off last time after making friends with a lovely Belgian couple.  Sadly, they had to depart the next day because our resort was completely booked and they had reservations on another island.  Fortunately we still had time for lunch before they left.

Random house on the way to town

Despite our friends leaving, this was the start of two of the best days of the trip.  It began with us heading into the city of Larena to the only ATM on the island that accepted foreign debit cards.  We shared a tricycle with an older gentleman named Mark who had been coming to the island for over 15 years.  He was interesting, friendly and immensely helpful.  He told us the prices we should be paying to go various places around the island.  It was naturally a good bit less than we'd been paying up to that point.  That kind of inside information plus a strong knowledge of international affairs made him a fascinating conversation partner.

Rice

On a side note, we had Thank you Lord moment number 5 that the ATM was working when we went to use it (apparently you've got a 50/50 shot of finding it functional on a given day).

After getting back and having lunch, we got a massage through our resort.  It was a little more expensive ($11 instead of $7.50) but much more comfortable and relaxing.  And in a case of beautiful timing, our massages finished just before the most breathtaking sunset of our stay began.  In fact this is one of the most beautiful sunsets i've ever seen anywhere.  Words (and pictures) don't do it justice but here's my best attempts to capture it.

And the splendor didn't end at sunset.  After the sun was properly down, the stars came out in numbers i've rarely seen.  Vicky and I had taken a walk down the beach during sunset but the starlit sky demanded a second one.  It was that kind of evening.

Star Light, Star Bright

I didn't realize how much I missed seeing stars until I saw them again

Thank you Lord moments 6 (the sunset) and 7 (the stars).

Day 5, Thursday
This day was all about the trip to the waterfalls.  After all, this had been a relaxing trip so far.  So we figured, what better way to spice it up than to go jump off of a waterfall or 3.  To do this we took a tricycle about 40 minutes around the island and up to the mountain in the middle.  The trip was really fun and the Cambugahay Falls were beautiful (as you can see).

 Cambugahay Falls

 Good timing

Smile

And the best part of was the jumping.  First we jumped in while doing goofy stuff in the air.  Then we found a vine that's used for swinging.  You can see the effect on distance below.  The whole thing was definitely Thank you Lord moment number 8.

Muscles of Might!

Swinging on the vine really effects distance traveled as you can see

Click to enlarge

After that we headed back for a cheap local lunch, some more swimming around the resort and then relaxing for dinner and conversation with our new friends Mark and Alex (an adventurous German who hosts couch surfers at his place South of Munich.  He also offered to let us stay with him during a Europe trip).  A good end to a great day!

Pretty

+ Vicky = Prettier