Siquijor Budget Trip: Sunrise in Salagdoong Beach and Molave Forest

Day 2 (Sunday) - Salagdoong Beach Sunrise

I got up at 5:30 am but to my disappointment, sunrise wasn't clearly visible on that part of the island. I was expecting a lot of orange and bright sky but there was nothing but some of the sun's rays peaking from a far part of the horizon. I took pictures anyway until early hours of the morning.

what a beautiful sunrise

the shore at early morning; people are still sleeping inside those tents

some children having an sunrise dip

empty bottles from the night before

cottage homes at Salagdoong beach

zzzzzz....

empty chairs from previous night's merriment

the bright morning sun

tried out some slow shutter shots

just in time for the slide!

I also decided it was the best time to take a dip so that i don't come home with extreme sunburn. The water was a bit cold but I didn't like that there were little things floating that caused some itching when it comes i contact with your skin. Those are probably microscopic insects the live in rocks and corals. Whatever. It took me just five minutes and another ten just sitting on the sand playing with water and sand. Then i showered and prepared for part two of our road trip before finally going back to Dumaguete. We still had a few hours before lunch for the road trip. We planned to take the 12:30 trip back via Delta Ferry.

Molave Forest

Lord was supposed to come fetch us at 9 am but he was running late and we felt we needed to get a move on so we decided to walk down the molave forest, also known as the Salagdoong forest. It's the road just outside Salagdoong beach which is about a kilometer long, lined with molave trees that arches down the road. It's very scenic during the day but surely very frightening at night as there are no lamp post in sight, only trees and more trees left, right, front and back. You wouldn't want to walk along that road during the day.

But, it was 9 am and we felt adventurous. We decided to start the hike and meet Lord on the road. The road was deserted, but walking along it felt so peaceful. It made me appreciate nature more, all those beautiful trees, the sun above and the cheerful birds chirping. While on it, we took advantage of the fact that there are no people around so it was the best opportunity to take some really cool pictures. Lol. I think I got something nice out of the numerous tries.

Finally, at around 10 am, we saw Lord drive by. Glad we thought of hiking earlier so we saved a few minutes of driving to our next destination, Bandilaan Nature Camp.

Bandilaan Nature Park

Riding a motorcycle, the three of us drove along Siquijor's flawless asphalted roads. It took longer than I expected. Funny that later on, Lord told us we were even taking a short-cut. Bandilaan Nature Camp is located on a higher area so there were a lot of rides going up angled roads. It frequently gave me a scare going up thinking our vehicle won't be able to make it up the mountain seeing there are three of us riding the motorcycle. We offered to do the walking for a few hundred meters whenever we meet a very steep road. Walking under the heat of the sun on a steep road wasn't a walk in the park but i was still thankful i got to experience it. Somehow, I find it a good thing that i was able so see and do those things, burn fats and sweat out. I just wish i had worn shoes instead of flip-flops. But then again, i wasn't expecting any of that when we planned this trip.

While moving up the mountains, we also got a lot of fantastic and breath-taking views of the island. Indeed a really nice thing to smell the fresh air and see all that scenery from a higher perspective. Driving along the cliffs made me nervous but i kept reminding Lord, the driver, to slow down and be careful. And the view, i tell you, is just something you need to see to appreciate. Of course, I didn't miss the chance to take snapshots while I was up there. You know what they say, "If you don't have pictures, you weren't there."