Dumaguete - Apo Island for 2 Days and 1 Night (Part 1)

DUMAGUETE

I had long been wanting to visit Dumaguete, it's just a bus (and ferry) away from Cebu. One thing that kept me from going is I have no one to go with there. I haven't been there and there is also the introvert part of me of facing foreigners and also that having the look of being lost. I was happy when my housemates wanted to come so I applied for leave right away. But as you know, never plan your vacation way early as they ought to go as planned. We had talks about our trip a month before. Eight planned the trip and then by the time the day came, I was the only one left still wanting the plan to push through.

Rizal Boulevard

No worries though, I think this is the sign that I go solo. Yes, this is my first solo travel and guess what.. No Regrets! I had an awesome time and I got to meet new friends! I thought that I will be alone the entire time I will be there. I was able to muster the courage to take my first steps to travel solo!

How I got there:

There are several ways to get to Dumaguete. By air, by sea or by land (via RoRo) or a combination. There is the option to fly or voyage directly to Dumaguete,  I selected the cheapest way which is by land-sea-land though it is not the fastest route. I wasn't in a hurry so I didn't mind. I took a bus from the South Bus Terminal to Lilo-an. The bus signboard had Bato via Lilo-an on it. If not sure just ask which bus goes to the port for Sibulan. It takes about 3-3.5 hours to arrive there and the fare is PHP185 (as of this writing). The bus will stop just outside (bus conductors will shout "Lilo-an!") and you know you have arrived. You need to take a number as there are limited seats on the ferry or else you will have to wait for the next trip. The fare is around PHP65 pesos and takes around 30-40 minutes to get to Sibulan which is a town 20 minutes away from Dumaguete.  It was early in the morning (nearly 5AM) that I arrived in Sibulan. There will be a lot of tricycles waiting and a few jeepneys. The drivers will charge you PHP170 to take you to your hotel (you will split the cost if there are two or 3 people) but because I was alone I opt for the jeepney where I just spent PHP20.

Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria

Where I stayed:

I have not booked in advance for the reason that I didn't think there were be a lot of people in Dumaguete for the weekend because there is no festival or any celebration the city is having. How wrong I was! I first arrived at Harold's Mansion which is a popular backpacker's hostel. I wanted to stay at their air-conditioned dorms for a night but their dorms are fully booked and only available rooms are the double fan rooms.  I decided to try another place which is the Vintage Inn however before even asking for a room, I knew it was fully booked because of the sign they have on their frontdesk. I asked the tricycle driver where he can recommend and he informed of the Gateway Hotel and they were fully booked too. I decided to go back to Harold's Mansion and paid for the fan room good for two which is PHP500.

The things I did and the places I went to:

Sans Rival Bistro

I wandered around Dumaguete on the second day because I went to Apo Island on the first day which you will know more about in my next entry.  But I had dinner at Jo's Chicken Inato that night and got my dessert at Sans Rival Bistro. The bistro is facing Rizal Boulevard so I was able to do a quick stroll together with my new found friends (Yep! I was lucky!). They have some street foods there but I was too full to even try some.

Tempura stands in Rizal Boulevard at night

Real life rooster at Jo's

 After chasing turtles on my first day, I was exhausted and my skin was hurting so my plan to go to Manjuyod Sandbar got cancelled and because I had a back up plan I didn't fret much. My back up plan is the city tour and was pretty interested in going to the museums of Siliman University, however, it was on a Sunday and I had asked multiple trike drivers if they are still open only to be answered no.  The museums are not option so I decided to go to Sans Rival Bakery which is just next to their bistro. I had a quick stomach filler there which is their lasagna and got one box  of their famous Silvanas. I was able to stop by the Sisters of St Paul of Chartres Monument which is just across the bistro and took a quick photo or two. After that I went to the Campanario De Dumaguete (Dumaguete belfry) which is the oldest in the Visayas and it is just next to Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria which I just admired from the outside as there was an on-going mass because it was Sunday. 

Dumaguete belfry

Rizal Park just happens to be across the church too. It was noon so the heat was scorching and what better way to cool down than by sitting under a shade of the tree. The breeze was so nice so I stayed at the park for around a quarter of an hour. I then decided to just walk to the Public Market after taking a rest at the park. I had a handy maps app on my phone to let me know where I was so I was able to make out that it is just two blocks from the park. I may have regretted it slightly as it was 11AM and the sun was really scorching hot not counting that I still was sunburned. My purpose there was to buy pasalubong and the public market had the budbod kabog which is made from bird seeds.

Rizal Park

After my purchase, I wanted to have a keychain as I make it a point to get one when I travel as souvenir for the  places I went to but none can be found there. I have to go to Robinson's Mall to buy one thanks to the locals I asked about where to get those. It was nearly 12NN and I have to get back to the hostel to check out and started my journey back to Cebu. There is still the option to do the bus from Cebu-Dumaguete but still went to the land-sea-land option.

Check my next entry for my Apo Island Adventure!