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dolanmyer · 2 years

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My Forgotten Childhood Fears Unleashed (at a Peaceful Siquijor Getaway)!

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It was Friday! I had just submitted my final draft for a long overdue writing project. Boy, did I need a break! I knew I needed to go someplace else: somewhere peaceful, somewhere close, yet still with that faraway vibe, no less.

Most importantly, I needed to detach myself from my work-from-home station and the boring routine I had developed while I was stuck with the grueling long overdue writing project over the past few weeks.

Believe me, I love my pets a lot! Yet, simply staying at home on this particular weekend was definitely not an option. Also, taking my dog and three cats was too much of a hassle, especially with the logistics and documents required for traveling pets. I had to go somewhere alone. Don’t worry! They were well taken care of while I was gone.

I longed for a place where I could finally relax and unwind. I also wanted to go somewhere I hadn’t been to yet, someplace where I could find new inspiration or come up with more novel ideas and solutions for my personal projects.

Right then and there, I decided to go on a relatively short trip. I immediately packed my bags and headed straight to the mystical island of Siquijor.

Siquijor, also called Isla Del Fuego or Island of Fire, has always been one of my favorite go-to Philippine holiday destinations. This tiny island province (the third smallest province in the Philippines after Camiguin and Batanes) is just a boat ride away from the cities of Dumaguete (Negros Oriental), Cebu, or Tagbilaran (Bohol). It is famous for its beautiful and fine white sand beaches, turquoise seawater, and breathtaking underwater marine sanctuaries, a perfect paradise for freediving and scuba diving enthusiasts alike.

On this trip, though, I preferred to book a secluded Airbnb mountain stay. The place was called Canjahawon Nipa Hut and Restaurant. I was actually under the impression that I would be living in the heart of a jungle since it was located on a mountain top.

My cousin had found photos of this place on Facebook which he eagerly shared with me a few months ago. He had been yearning to book this place ever since he discovered it, but just hadn’t found the time yet. So I decided to do an advance ocular inspection for him, hitting both birds with one stone.

Besides the sheer remoteness of the place, the concept of living in a three-walled hut intrigued me the most. The fourth wall was actually a door that could be folded open to embrace nature in a rather really wide hug, I should say. On top of that, imagine sleeping under the night sky on a custom-made hammock with a swarm of fireflies hovering simply everywhere. Truly idyllic or so I thought…

So, I took the two-hour ferry ride to Siquijor. When I got to the seaport, everything looked practically the same as it did on my last trip. Besides the few recently opened businesses, there was really nothing new for me to explore. I quickly rented a motorbike and drove straight to my Airbnb stay.

I had been to Siquijor several times so I was already quite familiar with the main roads found on the map app. The drive itself was quite remarkable. I could clearly see and feel the change in both the scenery and the temperature.

What I find most fascinating about the island of Siquijor is that it is so tiny that you can literally go to the mountains from the beach, and vice versa, in mere minutes, not hours. The stark contrast of the hot and humid pristine white sand beaches against the cold and sometimes wet lush tropical rain forests is simply breathtaking.

Whether one prefers merely chilling on the beach, avidly exploring marine biodiversity, or painstakingly hiking in the mountains, there are just so many options to choose from. And that’s what I love most about the laid-back lifestyle on this island, not to mention the friendly and helpful locals. More on this in the next blog and vlog. For now, I really want to share something personal, but more on that later in this blog, as well.

Yes, I got lost.

Despite my self-proclaimed navigation expertise, I still got lost twice on my way to that remote Airbnb stay. The lack of cellular towers in the mountains simply rendered my driving app useless. But with the help of a few locals, I was able to follow their somewhat vague directions and miraculously arrived at the right place.

To say the last leg of this journey was tough, filled with unexpected twists and turns, would be an understatement. The private dirt road leading to Canjahawon Nipa Hut and Restaurant was strewn with rocks and was really rough two-thirds of the way.

I think only a 4x4 vehicle like a pickup truck or an SUV or a motorbike can easily navigate through this rocky and sometimes muddy terrain. Other vehicles would just be asking for trouble if they went this way. Those determined souls with more delicate vehicles, designed for tamer city driving, would simply park by the road and willingly walk about two kilometers to reach the final destination that is Canjahawon.

Thankfully, the remaining one-third of the way has already been paved with concrete, ending right at their doorstep, or their parking area, to be exact.

Besides the few photos my cousin had shared with me and the details I read on Airbnb, I hadn't really done much research about the place at all. This post-pandemic, more easygoing approach to planning a trip is a far cry from my more intense pre-pandemic methodology. Before Covid, I used to plan a comprehensive itinerary, complete with a printed detailed budget and breakdown of all possible expenses.

Besides the trip being spur-of-the-moment, I just didn’t feel the need for any background check or any special plans for this short excursion, leaving some room (I hoped) for any teeny tiny bit of surprise! Or probably, I was just too lazy to do any planning at all. Most likely the latter.

The entrance to Canjahawon Nipa Hut and Restaurant is a wooden door right smack in the middle of a bamboo fence. Throughout my stay, the wooden door seemed to always be open, as though it were welcoming each guest with open arms as they arrived. The perfectly glued round bamboo reeds were positioned in a particular manner to hide the interior, giving a sense of privacy.

Peering through the wooden door from the outside, I immediately saw a nipa hut, a native Filipino house on stilts, also blocking the view inside. Later, I discovered that it was one of the four huts available for guests to stay.

As soon as I went through the door, I instantly felt calm and relaxed. It was as though an invisible barrier had blocked all of my worries from tagging along with me on this short weekend getaway. I wish! The truth is: I simply decided to leave all of my mental baggage behind the door. I was kind of hoping that all of my mental baggage would voluntarily roam outside, get lost in the midst of the jungle, and never come back (wink wink).

The lobby was truly unlike any other lobbies I have ever seen. It was set up with nature as its backdrop, designed to blend rather than disturb the natural landscape and vegetation.

Beautiful and diverse foliage adorned both sides of the semicircular concrete pathway leading down to the lobby and the restaurant. A humongous ancient-looking mango tree stood right at the center, providing enough shade to the locally made lounge chairs and tables scattered under it. Pebbles kept the floor completely even and dry.

The whole scenery reminded me of the Elves’ domain in the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Or at least a portion of it…

It was the perfect place to check in. In fact, I didn’t even need to go through the usual check-in process where I had to present my ID and phone to show my Airbnb booking. The staff didn’t even ask for my full name to verify my identity. I just briefly introduced myself. And they simply welcomed me with smiling faces.

It turned out I was their only guest that weekend. It was a no-brainer for them to connect the dots right away.

Of course, they were not that naive to trust a complete stranger with a backpack showing up at their restaurant unannounced. I could tell that the owner and the two cooks (a male and a female, who also doubled as room attendants) were subtly verifying my identity while we were talking. The male cook then took me to my assigned nipa hut.

The nipa hut looked exactly like the photo I saw on Airbnb.

My nipa hut was found almost at the top of a hill, surrounded by foliage of all kinds. From the restaurant, I walked up a path of rectangular concrete blocks before I reached my hut. Along the way were two other nipa huts that were unoccupied at that time.

I climbed up the concrete stairs that led to the closed main door. The male cook who doubled as the room attendant opened the door and showed me around my hut.

The first thing I saw was the lobby cum storage area that led into the bedroom itself. At the very center was a queen-sized bed with a circular mosquito net. To the left of the bed was the main door, while to the right was the doorless entry to the bathroom.

A few feet from the foot of the bed was a native accordion door that opened to the veranda. The door could be folded from the middle to the sides to open it. It could not be completely closed and had no lock.

Half of the veranda were two custom-built hammocks, each meant to hold two people. The wooden floor extended from the lobby, through the bedroom, to the remaining half of the veranda. From the veranda, one could see the nipa hut on the next hill, the signature view of Canjahawon Nipa Hut and Restaurant.

My small nipa hut is just perfect for solo travelers or couples. The built-in hammocks are one-of-a-kind and the view from the bed or the veranda is simply awesome. Canjahawon Nipa Hut and Restaurant is the perfect place to relax and unwind.

I have always dreamed of becoming a novelist. I booked this quiet, secluded place with the intention of either beginning to write my first novel (that I have already outlined in detail) or drafting the outline of my second novel. So, after my late lunch at the restaurant, I laid on the hammock and started to write. But not for long!

My lunch got the better of me and I dozed off. After a while, the afternoon sun’s rays hit the whole hammock. I woke up still drowsy, moved to the bed, and slept some more. I didn’t get up until around 5 PM, just in time for dinner.

After dinner, I started drafting the outline of a portion of my second novel. Not for long, though! Why? The power went out.

Unable to think of anything else to do, I laid down on the hammock to ogle at a million fireflies hovering in and around my hut, the huge mango tree at the lobby, other smaller trees, the neighboring huts, all the way to the restaurant and beyond.

I spent several hours in sheer bliss. So zen! My mind was all blank, all calm, all peaceful.

The fireflies stayed with me all the way until midnight. They only left me when it began to rain really hard. Everything went downhill from there.

Suddenly, my imagination ran wild! I vividly saw in my mind's eye a huge anaconda crawling up the wooden column of the hut. It seemed to be on its way to my hammock to get me.

My childhood fear of snakes was unwittingly unleashed! Probably due to the dead snake I had almost forgotten about. The one I saw in the middle of the road on my way to Canjahawon.

I had planned to sleep in my hammock the whole night in the rain. The cold was tolerable. It would have been a novelty to lie all drenched. Unfortunately, the mere thought of one huge snake crawling up my hut was enough to make me change my mind. I was left with no choice but to go to bed.

I tossed and turned for hours. The closed, albeit unlocked, veranda door triggered my imagination to go on hyperdrive. My fear of the imaginary anaconda was soon replaced with a more realistic fear of robbers or murderers out to get me.

I was quite aware that it was all in my head. Yet, I still felt vulnerable and afraid! I decided to stay up all night in full alert mode, listening to music to calm my frazzled nerves.

Call me paranoid if you like! I rarely feel safe sleeping in the absence of reliably locked doors. There are few exceptional campsites I feel safe enough to sleep in. I normally shy away from camping or sleeping outdoors since I would be lucky to sleep a wink at all.

I finally felt safe enough to sleep around 5 AM. The sky was brighter then, since the sun was about to rise. I woke up at almost 11 AM, missed breakfast, and was just in time for brunch.

My Host was gracious enough to extend my checkout time to late afternoon. No one else was booked that day, that's why. So after brunch, I killed time driving around the island.

Driving through the countryside is one of my favorite pastimes. It is one of my simplest pleasures in my minimalist life. Some of my best ideas had been thought out while driving.

Driving through Siquijor is a dream! What more could one ask for? Fresh air, practically no traffic, exquisite scenery, and more!

After my drive, I checked out of Canjahawon Nipa Hut and Restaurant and checked into a non-Airbnb place. My new place is definitely not worth mentioning because it was not as interesting or unique as Canjahawon. Rinse and repeat! All I did was sleep, eat and drive around throughout the entire weekend. Then on Monday morning, I took the first Ocean Jet trip back to Dumaguete.

End of this adventure, ready for the next one!

Here's my to-do list for my next trip to Siquijor:

freediving at Tulapos Marine Sanctuary

another unique stay in Jungle Hut (Lazi, Siquijor)

get freediving (AIDA) and diving (PADI) certified if I don't get them sooner in Moalboal (Cebu) or Panglao Island (Bohol), whichever trip comes first.

This is my major takeaway for this adventure:

I need to accept my fears with open arms. I have always thought that I had already overcome my fear of snakes. Yet, it still hit me by surprise from out of the blue. I need to address my fears the best way I know how.

Fear is a given. It will always be there. Instead of spending all my time fretting about it, I will deal with each fear as it comes, only if it actually happens. I will live one day at a time, one fear at a time. My general rule is: to forget my fears until I actually need to face them.

I read somewhere that to overcome one's fears, one must expose himself to the source of fear. Come on! Who would want to be stuck in a place with an anaconda (just like the movie), or a man-eating shark (just like in Jaws, the movie)?

Thanks to freediving (one of my favorite hobbies), my fear of sharks seems to be not that intense anymore. I guess reading articles and watching documentaries about sharks helped me de-escalate my fear. In contrast, I continue to feel an intense fear of sea snakes and all kinds of snakes in general, since I find them too disgusting to look at even in mere photos or videos.

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