the trek to sipalay

it's a long standing cliche that i've never ventured that far south of negros. the farthest i've been was isabela and that was only because it was my dad's hometown. i've conveyed through the north a few times. literrally in transit as it was, as escalante is the gateway to cebu and jomabo island, another offshoot of my white sand frolic.

yes, sipalay is a wonder and provokes one to forget boracay exists. from bacolod, the roads leading to district six are quite tricky especially when it's dark, lamp posts or any lights for that matter are not aplenty, driving very carefully is a must. as hazy as my memory is, i can only remember a few road towns and cities (i've got mention them officially) on the way to sipalay -- bago, valladolid, pontevedra, hinigaran, binalbagan, himamaylan, kabankalan and cauayan then there's sipalay, 173 km from bacolod, the farthest i've travelled within the negros island. not a keen traveller nor an ardent backpacker, i gaze at the travel photos of my friends with a hearty smile with nary a hint of jealousy and envy. but every few years, there are photo ops. i savor those provincial and regional encampments during the girl scout years and the solitary student writer's conference i attended outside of bacolod, in janiuay, iloilo.

the mountain views in the chicks (cauayan, hinobaan, ilog, candoni, kabankalan and sipalay) area are a sight to behold. how i wish i would always have ample time to do my bit of exploring. once in sipalay, the concourse leading to the various sights and resorts is even more perilous than i expected, charting the route during nighttime requires a more intense concentration. but once we reach our destination, it was all worth it. the beach usually burns my skin and it did. that was what occured when i didn't dig deep to acquire the right sunblock. the island hopping was exquisite but my epidermis was already too distressing from the sun rays to even try spelunking. we enjoyed the spatter of history in campomanes bay and gawking at the opulent english divers in high gear at the resort makes me content of being a non-diver. if plummeting to the deepest oceans is for the posh and adventurous, then judy ann santos is posh with her diving endeavors. i'm one for sitting around the edge of the pool and swim in the pool for sissies.

there's also whale watching across the road in the oriental side of negros and a bunch of other beauties not only in cauayan nearby but all across the province. cauayan is huge. on the way back, i've noticed that we were driving for an hour and we were still in cauayan.

as a prelapsarian youth learning the ways of the world in bacolod, i was only accustomed to punta taytay. in high school, our farewell parties and day-long tidings to the summer consisted of a few miles outside the city--- taloc beach in bago sophomore year, balangigay beach in pontevedra in junior year and canonoy beach in hinigaran. those were already joyous moments. a few more in adulthood wouldn't hurt one bit.