A Beautiful Island - Negros Occidental, Visayas

Mount Kanlaon, view from Bacolod

Carabao Roadside, Bacolod

The island of Negros is divided into two provinces: Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.  It is part of the Visayas region of the Philippines.  I live on Luzon. 

I was heading for the tiny, mostly undiscovered beach city of Sipalay (See-Pah-Lye) at the south western corner on the coast of Negros Occidental. 

Palms in the Foothills, Sipalay

Rice Paddies in Foothills, Sipalay

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Cecille and I flew to the capital of Negros Occidental, the thriving if rural metropolis of Bacolod.  The airport is actually just outside the city proper and is an asphalt island in an ocean of sugar cane plantations bordered by the Sulu Sea on one side and the Kanlaon Mountain range inland.

The airport taxi took us to the buses heading south, where we boarded a “regular fare” bus, which means there was no air conditioning and the seats were TINY! It was okay though, there was a lovely breeze the whole trip and the air in Negros is so clean.  Life is still very traditional, most of the houses are the Kubo, almost entirely made of bamboo, often with only one or two rooms and an outdoor kitchen and washroom.  There is no running water only deep wells with hand pumps.  

Sugar Beach Lagoon, Sipalay

Rock Face Stairs, Sipalay

Immediately, my favourite thing about Negros was the Carabao.  The Carabao is a cow-ish animal, but way prettier, with dark hair and big horns, and very sturdy.  It is used by farmers to plough fields, pull carts and for its milk.  They were everywhere I looked and I really wanted to take one home. 

The highway gently curved along the coast, passing through little towns, expanses of fields, hills covered with trees and cliffs the plunged into the ocean.  After 4 and a half hours we reached Sipalay and got off the bus metres from the beach. 

We got on the resort’s Banca, the boats used in the islands for fishing and transportation.  It was a breezy ride to Sugar Beach where our resort Bermuda Beach Resort is located. 

The ocean was warm, not too deep and I only got stung by jellyfish twice.  It rained all the second day and night, because there was a typhoon over Mindanao, relatively close to the south.  It was a little scary, we were so close to the water in our little Kubo with only a bug net to protect us.  But the next day was so lovely, there were real big, fun waves.  I spent hours in the water, it was quite the workout. 

The beach was about a kilometer long, dotted with little resorts the whole length, on the far side it ended in a rock face with a kubo up on the cliff in the trees, very Robinson Crusoe (one of my top favourite books by the way) and on the other side there were some houses tucked behind another big rock on the edge of a little lagoon, super shallow and turquoise.  

One Beautiful Sunset on the Sulu Sea

Surf Fishing in the Sulu Sea

On the third day we crossed this lagoon in a little banca with the only other guest at the time, incidently a Canadian man from Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia who was taking a break from his wife and his barangay on Guimeras, a tiny neighbouring island, famous for their mangoes, which we at the resort, and the reputation was well worth it. (I have no further comment about the Canadian)

Anyway, after the lagoon, we came to a stretch of beach, probably 3 or 4 kilometers long; it took about an hour to walk it under the blazing sun.  I got a lovely tan disguised as a burn.  It was really nice to be pretty much alone on this immense beach, with the sparkling water right there, also vacant (except for the fishes, jellyfish and mermaids hiding underneath).  We got to the river that separates Sugar Beach from Sipalay City proper.  We hopped into another Banca, more like gingerly crept on, to avoid the tiny white crabs hanging out in the soggy fishing nets padding the bottom.  In case you are worried that the bancas were drowning statistics waiting to happen, fear not, each boat is a like a big canoe with stabilizers on each side, like a catamaran, so it is pretty much impossible to capsize or sink, except for maybe getting stuck in a Shakespearean tempest. 

It cost P5 to get across the river, our boat pushed across by Princess.  I asked her how old she was “11” she said with a smile.  At first I was slightly uncomfortable thinking I had participated in child labour, but then I realized that whichever kid or teen was around when a boat needed to be hired would take it across and get to keep the fare for their muscle.  She pushed me, my cousin and a full grown man in a boat using only a bamboo pole.  I wouldn’t want to cross her in a dark alley.    

Pretty Calf

Princess

Sipalay, quintessential provincial town; small, calm, quiet.  We sure did get a lot of stares, I mean more than I usually get, the city has only recently been put on the map in terms of a tourist spot, but is still considered off the beaten track and so white people are rare. The biggest cliché is the truest one, island people are so incredibly friendly and kind. 

The main street, where we arrived in our bus, had a dry goods and fruit market and across the street a fish market.  There were some very interesting fish on sale.  One of them looked like a tiny cartoon whale.  There was a huge tuna in a big cooler and lots of other colourful and strangely shaped aquatic oddities.  The internet café had a very fast connection.

On our way back along the beach, there were some men fishing in the surf with big nets.  It was cool to watch, but it was sad that they didn’t catch anything.  There were also a couple kids playing in the water, doing flips and tumbling. I was terrified they were going break their necks or get washed out to sea, but they were professionals.  

Traditional Banca

Second Most Beautiful Sunset at Sipalay

The next day was the day that the Maguindinao Massacre hit the news.  It was pretty terrible to see the images of the mass murder, and to see the face of the man who ordered it.  By hearing such terrible news in such a beautiful place, it really put into perspective how messed up all the political stuff is here, and how, in the end, it is regular people who suffer.  I’m glad I’ll be out of here with enough time before the elections happen; there are a lot of desperate people.

On the last day I spent in Sipalay, I went on a walk with one of the owners of the resort. Zenaida.  Such a lovely woman, I am glad I met her and got to talk to her a few times.  We climbed up the foothill behind the resort, first passing through rice paddies and a little group of homes and then some palms.  It was sunset, and when we got as high as we could get with the light, I saw past the trees to the ocean and the most beautiful sunset of my life.  Every colour burned across the trees and the water, illuminating the puffs of smoke dotting the tree line from the kubos nestled in the forest.  A really great moment that I will always remember. 

Later that night everyone at the resort, including the staff took the boat to Sipalay beach to watch a concert of local rock bands and ate great barbequed chicken… and there might have been some Red Horse involved.

Flying Fish

Mount Kanlaon, Sugarlandia

    I was sad to leave my new found patch of heaven, but my sadness was slightly alleviated by our good luck in reaching the beach at the same moment some new guests arrived in a taxi from Bacolod and the driver offered to take us back with him for the same price as the bus, we got a P4000 trip for P400 (we added extra because he took us to a couple hotels to find the best one) Bacolod reminded me so much of Kumasi, Ghana.  It had the same small but bustling town vibe.  Even the buildings and streets were the same style.  Our hotel was a 2 minute walk to the plaza and church.  There were 4 fountains with beautiful sculptures in the middle, depicting somewhat bizarre scenes… two involved mermaids and one of them had a man dancing with a swan. There was also a concert gazebo right out of Baden, Austria; neo-classical in design with the names of famous composers in mosaic on its roof.  There was also a street performer doing a comedy bit with his pet snake… He was quite the ventriloquist.  I have a video of it, but I don’t know how to upload videos…I had a delicious Batchoy meal, Bacolods famous dish, a noodle soup with meat and egg in it, I think it’s the inspiration of instant noodles, but way better. 

I tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up there, in Sugarlandia, how nice it would be to see the ocean everyday, and breath clean air and have a pet carabao, eat delicious mangoes and fresh fish and hike up the hills to get amazing views of the water and the island whenever I wanted.  I’m very glad my first trip away from Manila was to Negros… and I just might be going back sooner than I could have imagined…

Coast of Sipalay

Most Beautiful Sipalay Sunset over the Sulu Sea