Dear readers,

First of all: i’m sorry that it’s been a while since my last post but I didn’t want to bore you with details of us doing nothing apart from travelling, feeling sick & down due to tiredness as well as just us beachbumming…. Making you lot jealous with our gorgeous weather and stunning views I admit is a lot of fun, but i’m no fiend and shall spare you this time. 😅

So after a few beach days in Boracay (Boracay was a little bit of a let down to be honest, way too touristy and more holiday type than travel around type of island) it was time to visit Siquijor, the island of the healers.

Of course in true George & Gina style things did not go as planned.. with a major hangover (also night out before was not planned, honest!) we first had two flights to then arrive at Dumaguete airport and not being able to make the very last ferry to Siquijor.

Stuck at this tiny airport we booked a hotel last minute and caught the next ferry the following morning.

– Great thing about travelling is you laugh in these situations and luckily for me Gina is the same as me. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and then realised we really did need to book something instead of just sitting at the airport laughing. –

Finally arriving in Siquijor, the warmth hit us immediately. Time to head over to our hotel and have a proper mooch around the island. Siquijor is an island that’s easy to drive around on. Not too big nor too small and filled with many waterfalls and hidden gems in the jungle.

Out first day we rented a scooter and scootered all over. We headed to the mountains to a small village called San Antonio where most healers can be found.

When arriving there we did not see signs but the locals are all extremely helpful and lead us the way.

Off the main road and down tiny streets we ended up at a small house where chickens roamed the grounds outside. The house was made from only concrete slabs, the windows were not made of glass but wooden shutters.

It was a simple family home and the daughter of the healer named Nalla introduced us to her father who was the healer in their family, his name was Vincente and he must have been about 80 years old.

A small man, fragile yet still very much filled with spirit, he explained that he does spiritual healing and can perform palm readings.

We decided on having both done.

He started with the spiritual healing. We had to sit next to each-other on a small wooden bench in a type of living room area and as he stood behind us, he started whispered chanting in his own language.

Once he finished chanting he then blew on our shoulders, back of our necks and down our backs. A little weird but hey, go with the flow right 😉

Nalla then wrapped us in a big thick blanket, after which Vincente placed burning charcoal underneath the bench we were sitting on, making the room smokey. The smoke was to ward off any negative spirits.

Once the smoking session had finished he then read the palms of our hands. To be honest it was a bit standard what he said but apparently I shall have a long life, so will my husband (good to know that i’ll get married, even though I don’t really want to 🤷‍♀️ just give a cake and ring and i’m good).

I will also be successful in business (still don’t know exactly what I want but hey i’ll take his reading)

I will have three kids, funnily enough as I don’t want children but dogs are more than welcome in my life, three, four or even ten. The more the merrier 🥰

My children will not get sick either as I don’t have crocodile hands… we both weren’t too sure what that meant but as long as I don’t end up like Hook then i’m sound.

Gina had her palm read and had a similar reading to me so not too sure if it’s all true but hey we have a long life to find out so I guess we just have to wait and see.

The dogs are more than welcome to enter my life right now though.. 🙊

After the healing we went off to the Paliton Beach. Apparently this is the little Boracay of Siquijor.

As much as it was pretty, it was way too hot with no shade and no opportunity to properly swim due to the coral, we didn’t stay long and headed back to have dinner.

Some of the people we met on our expedition from Coron to El Nido were in Siquijor too so we met up for dinner and had a good catch up.

The best part of travelling is not just meeting people once but when you find out that you’re in the same place as you, you get a chance to meet up again and form proper friendships.

On our second day we decided to scooter around and visit some waterfalls, two of our friends from the previous night decided to join us.

We headed off to Lugnasun Falls. Which unfortunately did not have much water so we quickly made our way Lagaan Falls which was amazing.

Hidden in the middle of jungle was a mesmerising waterfall complete with a swing so you can channel your inner Tarzan and swing and splash in the water.

There are volunteers who guide you to the waterfall and can answer any questions you may have and make sure you have a good time, in which they definitely succeeded.

Lagaan waterfall was not busy at all so it was nice to relax and really enjoy the scenery without it being so touristic.

After Tarzanning it out for a bit we then scootered off to the next waterfall which is the biggest one: Cambugahay Falls.

Now this was an absolute gorgeous waterfall, don’t get me wrong but boy was it a let down.

Due to the amount of tourists, the guides were there but more entertaining each-other instead of their group and they blasted house music from a big speaker.

It was such a shame because it was an amazing waterfall that was actually three waterfalls in one.

Unfortunately it was already getting late so we could not visit more waterfalls so we headed back to have dinner, again with our friends.

Food makes me happy in general but eating with friends makes the food taste even better. 🤤

Our third day was filled with a lot of sleep. When I say I love a good nanny nap, I mean it.

We slept in until 09:00. Had breakfast, came back and accidentally fell asleep again until two…

Once we finally awoke and got used to our surroundings we decided on scootering off again for our final day and made our way to the Balete Tree. This is a 400 year old tree with fish spa right underneath. Sounds weird I know and that’s kinda because it is.

Now i’ve never done a fishspa because one: it freaks me out, fish nibbling my toes…

And two: i’m real ticklish.

But since we are here I thought i’d give it a go. To keep it short and simple: I did not last very long. 19 seconds in total to be exact. World record for me, anyone care to call Guinness world records for me?

The fish were huge, no exaggeration, and the nibbling was way too intense. All you heard was me giggling whilst the rest of the people there were relaxed and quietly enjoying themselves. Oops 🤭

After visiting the tree we scootered off to the Kawasan Falls.

This was a smaller waterfall but nether-the-less it was gorgeous. A hidden gem sitting in between the tree’s of the jungle. The sun was already behind the tree’s but still the blue water sparkled delightfully. It was only us there so we felt one with nature.

We first took of course an Instagram photo shoot (what else 🤷‍♀️) before jumping in from the waterfall itself.

Of course this took me about a full minute in contrast to Gina who only took ten seconds to jump – still got fear of height and water guys, don’t judge me. – 🙈

The water was gorgeous and refreshing and we stayed here for about an hour before walking up the waterfall to go back to our scooter.

At nighttime we agreed to go out with everyone who was there from our expedition and then hit up a party (our first night out that was actually planned, we’re making progress!) that was apparently “the place to be” as also loads of locals from all over the island came there.

Safe to say, it was not what we were expecting. A live band played and sometimes in between band break a DJ played music.

This was a party that the locals loved but we unfortunately weren’t too impressed and felt kinda stared at by all the men just sitting around the dance floor.* We were also really tired (shockingly enough I know..) so not before long we headed back home.

*The men here, even though friendly, they have absolutely no shame in staring, catcalling or telling you how beautiful you are. Once is funny, but having that every time we pass a man (no exaggeration) can be tiring as well as feeling disgusting and mostly annoyed.

Any man reading this: catcalling only makes us women feel annoyed but can also make us feel unsafe so do yourself and us a favour and please just don’t…

The next day it was off to Bohol with another Ferry. This one we did make on time and made it also safely to the island despite the waves making us nearly tip over.

Even if Leonardo was on that boat, I still don’t want my very own Titanic moment. 😅

Our first night at Bohol consisted of mooching around the beach and having dinner. We also took ages making a decision on which tour we wanted to book as there were so many to choose from. We finally decided on a private island tour as Bohol’s country a lot to offer. Unfortunately this tour was a massive let down as it was extremely expensive because in the end it did not include things that should have been included such as: entrance fee’s and even lunch… even though it was a full day tour? Anyhow, here is what we saw and did..

Our private tour started at the Tarsier Sanctuary. These little beauts are in their natural habitat just chilling in the tree’s.

Many of you might know them when you see a picture but maybe not so much about the animal itself and so as the true animal lover that I am, here are some fun facts about them:

⋆ One eye of the Tarsier is bigger than it’s entire brain.

⋆ It’s eyes do not move but it’s head turns 360 degrees.

⋆ It’s name comes from the name of it’s leg bone: Tarsal Bone.

⋆ Tarsier’s can jump up to 5 meters from tree to tree.

⋆ It’s the only primate to eat live prey, insects, and is the smallest too.

⋆ They can only have one baby per year. Baby Tarsier’s are not even bigger than the average sized thumb.

⋆ They are nocturnal and very easily stressed animals. When they are very stressed they can become suicidal, they kill themselves by holding their breath so it is very important to be quiet around them, especially during the day.

⋆ They only grow up to 3-5 inches (7-12cm).

After our delightful little visit we went off to the famous Chocolate hills. In the tour (it was supposed to be included) they offered us a tour on buggy – quad-like cars – for another 1800,00 Peso’s around the foot of the hills. We decided against it as one: crazy expensive. Two: it should have been included but wasn’t. Three: you’d only see the hills from below, which kinda killed the point of even going as you wouldn’t see them properly. So our driver took us to the viewing deck.

We made our way up 230 steps (morning work-outs are the best 💪) and took in the view. The hills were quite far out and also not as close to each-other as we expected them to be but still it was a pretty sight.

Once we took in all the chocolate we could we drove through the man made forest, the tree’s soared to the sky all slightly arching over the road. Outside the forest it is warm but as soon as you enter this area, the slightly eerie forest cools you down immediately thanks to its branches and leaves blocking out the sun.

The man made forest is circa 2 km and consists if mostly mahogany tree’s.

The man made forest was made around the 1960’s to help against the deforestation that was done during the second world war by people seeking refuge in the forests of Bohol.

Once we had strolled along the gorgeous and ginormous tree’s for a bit it was time for lunch and we headed off towards the river where we boarded a riverboat.

– This is where we had to pay an additional fee of 550 peso’s per person, yay. –

The river was a stunning turquoise colour and the tree’s lined the banks beautifully. Such vibrant greens from all kinds of palm tree’s.

Once we had eaten we sailed down the river and stopped at a small dock where a tribe lived. It was not an actual tribe but a tourist made entertainment area. It was the most bizar thing we have seen this entire trip to be honest.

They had komodo’s tied to tree’s and their mouth taped shut. You could pose with them and the “tribe” people. Which was disgusting and sad.

After that there were “tribe” men banging on bamboo drums and women trying to make you buy bows & arrows made of bamboo and hats made of leaves.

We made a small and very quick circle around the weird not-actual-tribe area before making our way back the river towards the butterfly garden.

The butterfly garden was circa 7m2… tiny and there were only three types of butterflies.

Still very pretty but also another let down.

After the butterfly garden we decided to head back to our hotel as we had already paid double for fee’s and food even though we had only done four of the seven things on our tour.

Drained and really frustrated and bummed we went back to the hostel to relax.

Relaxing this time meant: looking up ways to get to Siargao (our next & final destination in the Philippines), looking up places for Bali and travel plans through Bali. Also face-timing mum and dad and my sister Rose. Which did me a lot of good ❤️

Not long after our bellies started rumbling so we went to a vegetarian Italian place and had dinner before hitting the sack (read: bingewatching on Netflix).

The next day we were again feeling rough and loo breaks were everything but rare so we stayed in… When we were booking our next flight and hotel an earthquake struck. It was a short one and was a 4.5.

This is my third earthquake now, been having one every year for the past three years now, could this maybe be a sign? 🤔

A sign that i’m a lazy bum maybe because this is also the third time I have felt one whilst lying in bed…

Earthquakes don’t actually bother me too much but that might be cos i’m too cozy in bed 🙈

Anyhow, after “surviving” another earthquake we headed out for dinner for our last night in Bohol. We sat at a small restaurant and found out that the owner was Belgian after discovering all kinda of Belgian and Dutch beers but also famous snacks such as: “Patatje Oorlog”, “Frikandel speciaal” and “Bitterballen”.

We ordered the “patatje oorlog” (translates to chip war in English) as a starter and then had veggies for main course.

After feeling real homesick this week, the “Patatje Oorlog” actually helped a little.

Speaking of homesickness, I do miss home quite a bit, especially my dog. I miss him the most out of all of you, no offence but how could you not? I mean look at this cutie 😍

Even though i’m missing home, I have decided to travel for longer than I had originally planned…. I have been granted my working holiday visa for Australia so in April I shall be heading over there to work and stay with my aunt and uncle who live there, before jetting off and travelling around Aus and also New Zealand.

➵ How long will I be gone for now? Most probably until January next year…

➵ Was it an easy decision? Hell no.

➵ Am I nervous? Definitely.

➵ But will I regret it? I bloody well hope not haha. I figured that this is a once in a lifetime chance.

So my mentality right now: Fuck it & let’s do this and poop all colours of the rainbow* whilst doing so!

*Dutch saying: “pooping all the colours of the rainbow” is equivalent to “shitting bricks” from nerves.

So yeah it will mean i’ll be away from home even longer but friends and family have promised that even though i’m gone, they will still be here when I get back. Plus I made mum, dad and my sister promise to inform me about my booboo if anything is wrong so I can fly my booty straight back home for him.

Yes people my dog is my baby and yes I would take the very first flight back if something happened to him, don’t judge me because i’d do the same for you guys as-well, don’t worry ☺️

But before I make my way to surfers paradise I still have one more week left in The Philippines in Siargao and then two more weeks travelling Bali.

I shall keep you updated about my new adventures soon!

Lot’s of love,

G.

(Added another one cos why not 😍😍)