Butterflies + Waterfalls (and India in nine days!)

Coco Busan friends, readers, all my peeps out there…yes, it’s creeping to the end of February and I travelled to the Philippines in December and I’m still posting about it. Yes, I’ve been back in Korea for almost two months, and have been living life here as well.  But I’ve got a thing about chronology.  And following a storyline through to the end.  It may be a minor obsession, but let’s just call me thorough.

In any case, here it is, the last Philippines post, a gallery of images from our final day on Siquijor, which included a minor motorcycle accident, of which the photographic evidence of my wrist wound seems to have disappeared from the files…but never mind.  You’d probably rather stick to perusing butterfly wings and coconut-shell sculptures of birds and water cascading over rocks while Filipino boys dangle off rope swings and palms frame the sky’s blue in a gorgeous window of paradise…right?

ps. Did I mention I leave Korea forever in NINE days?  That I’m flying to Delhi with Joe on March 1st, and embarking on a 15-week journey through India, Indonesia, and Cambodia?  It’s true.  Which means there are approximately three posts only left to be written on Coco Busan.  I hope you’ll follow to the end, the full storyline, which will pivot back to Korea, touch on my two-year experience here, include some parting thoughts, and introduce you to my BRAND-NEW blog documenting our upcoming journey.

See you soon…

xo ~Coco

(Click on an image to view the album in a photo carousel–much better that way. * means photo by Joe.)

* Motorcycle ride through Siquijor’s hilly interior

* Entrance to the Bandilaan Butterfly Garden–family run, with little government assistance. The butterflies’ habitat has been partially destroyed so the sanctuary is attempting to save and reintroduce them to other parts of the island.

*Coconut shell sculptures, created by the owner’s father-in-law

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*Inside the sanctuary…small but so lovingly created and cared for. If I was a butterfly I would want to live here.

* The owner and our guide – a former conservationist who settled down in Siquijor three years ago and started the sanctuary.

* One of many beautiful species

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* How cool is this plant?

* Coconut shell bird

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* Spiny caterpillar

* They had some big moths also…nicest looking moth I’ve ever seen!

*Faerie for the butterflies

Then we rode south to Cambugahay Falls…can I blink and be back there please?

Boys playing

Pre-jump

Rope swing time…

* Jumping

Ahhhhh

*Stairway back up from the falls

At the gas station–the gas is sold in coke bottles

* Last stop of the motorcycle ride back home to our hut

* Last dinner on Siquijor–Japanese fish curry

Little shop by the Siquijor port at 5 a.m.–a touch of home, as one of my closest friends is named Antonia

* New Years Day, in the air back to Korea. Thank you Philippines!

Island of Fire and a Secret Beach

Called “Island of Fire” by the Spaniards who docked on its shores in 1565, Siquijor is known for mystical healers, relaxed villages, quiet beaches, and–hence its Spanish nickname–fireflies.  Though government-posted signs declare that, despite a prominent folklore presence, witchcraft-practicing healers don’t exist on Siquijor, one friendly born-and-raised local man we met outside a bakery in Lazi (a town on Siquijor’s south coast) claimed you just have to ride to the top of the Mount Bandilaan in the island’s interior; there the mangkukulam (healers) can indeed be found.

Not destined for the mountain this trip, we’ll never know…

But, witchcraft or not, with its winding coastal road (sometimes paved, sometimes not), kids waving and shouting hello from dilapidated wooden porches, hunched one-horse farmers plowing their land in the late heat, gardens blooming with recycled plastic bottles lined up along metal fences–rendered beautiful as planters for the local flora–ancient, red-roofed churches, and everywhere, palm trees, climbing up into the warm blue air and coaxing your senses to expand, release, receive, relax—this island heals.

Our Siquijor home, Islanders Paradise Beach Resort, is located on the island’s northern tip, Sandugan Point.  After a lazy first day that started with omelettes, proceeded to a slow beach walk, carried on with an afternoon beverage and massage at the next-door Kiwi Dive Resort, and ended with a sunset, hammock, and sleep to the waves, we decided that day two would consist of exploring more of the island.

By motorbike, of course…

With a well-worn tourist map one of the Islanders’ staff rummaged out of a pile of books, a couple ill-fitting helmets, and our cameras, we took off, following the coastal road south through tiny villages with tidy, run-down homes and cows and pigs the size of cows and gas stations selling diesel out of coke bottles and chickens strolling along the concrete, through Larena and on to the island’s capital, named–no surprise–Siquijor.

Five towns are scattered along the perimeter of the island: Larena, Siquijor, San Juan, Lazi, and Maria.  Most populated is Siquijor, where we stopped for a bike break and a wander through the main streets.

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As in the rest of the country, tricycles dominated the roads…

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And the town’s church took center stage…

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Along with its bell tower.

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From Siquijor town we rode on, stopping for lunch (coconut rice and steamed veggies for me–fresh fish for Joe) and a beach stroll at Villa Marmarine…

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and then to a tiny, secret beach we discovered next to the more popular Paliton Beach, in the middle of the east coast, where we floated in the clear, warm water, seaweed brushing our feet, and after, from the shore, watched a small crew of local fisherman carry their canoes into the sea…

and take off on the green waters.

I think this beach was the most idyllic place we found in the Philippines.

Sky, sand, palms, water, sun, quiet, and some sort of mango-like fruit the fishermen gave us…

confirmed my belief that islands–small and sometimes poor, but plentiful in trees, air, water, sand and pure, genuine joy–can heal. They heal us from schedules. They heal us from cell phones and laptop screens and sidewalks and car exhaust.  They dispel pressure and worry, sore throats and congested minds.  I want an island in my soul, to keep with me, to ride a mental motorcycle to on days when the city/future/past/to-do list/compression of time is tying knots in the tops of my shoulders.  An island to ride to before I sleep and maybe, every now and then, when I wake.  Or maybe I’ll just look back at these words and photos and remember.

(*** means photo by Joe)

Next Up: Butterflies and Waterfalls…

Holiday Hello

Hello friends, family, and all my Coco Busan readers out there!

Wishing you all very Happy Holidays!  I hope this finds you relaxing with awesome people, sweet tunes, and something warm, cozy and fireplace-ish.  This week I was really craving a hangout around a crackling fire, and also remembering past seasonal festivities such as Boxing Day shenanigans in Victoria and chill-out time with my mom and bro.  Next year I will be back in my home-hood for Christmas 2012, but this year, the season is promising something a little different.

In five hours I’ll be boarding a plane to this island-filled country…

with my guy Joe…

Joe at the top of Busan Tower

where we’ll be spending a couple nights on the island of Bohol at a place called Nipa Hut Village…

Nipa Hut Village, Bohol

and then catching a boat to Siquijor Island, where we’ve booked this rustic little number…

Hut #4: The Helen

for three days at a spot on the beach called Islander’s Paradise.

Needless to say, I’m stoked.  Aside from a 24-hour jaunt to Shanghai back in July 2010, this will be the first time I’ve left Korea since moving here almost two years ago.  This girl is ready for a change of scenery, especially one that involves two of my fav’s: jungles and beaches.

Sending love and holiday wishes to all of you, from me and my kiddies…

Reindeer ears and kindie kids

See you in 2012!

xo ~Coco