the great visayan tour

In February 2007, our friend from London, Hot Tuna, said that he was coming back to the Philippines in July and wanted to see more of the country. "Where shall we go?" A fair question, since he had been to Boracay a dozen times at least!

In March, Cebu Pacific announced their One Peso Fare promo, so Bunny Rabbit and I booked our flight from Kalibo to Cebu. I emailed Hot Tuna to buy his ticket from Manila to Tagbilaran, and we would meet up there.

So the plan was to meet in Bohol and work our way back to Boracay by land and sea. Check this out: On DAY 1 we drove from Boracay to Kalibo (AKLAN), flew to Mactan (CEBU) and took the ferry to Tagbilaran (BOHOL). On DAY 4 we took another ferry to Dumaguete (NEGROS ORIENTAL). On DAY 6 we went diving at SIQUIJOR. The evening of DAY 7 we drove to Bacolod (NEGROS OCCIDENTAL). On DAY 9 we took the ferry to ILOLO and drove to President Roxas (CAPIZ). Finally on DAY 10 we drove back to Kalibo and Boracay-- back to where we started.

That's eight provinces in ten days!

The most surprising thing about the whole trip was how easy and stress-free it was. All I arranged in advance were the one-way flight, the first night's hotel stay, the diving in Bohol and meeting the NERDS in Dumaguete. Everything else was "we'll see when we get there". The ferry rides were especially enjoyable.

The cemetery at President Roxas, Capiz.