Excursions in The Philippines: Central Visyas - 2 Days
Set off for a 30-minute drive south of Dumaguete to visit the interesting market of Malatapay which is held every Wednesday of the week. Villagers come down from the hills to auction livestock, buy and sell produce and handicrafts.
Dumaguete, Philippines
Central Visyas - 2 Days
Dumaguete, The Philippines
Set off for a 30-minute drive south of Dumaguete to visit the interesting market of Malatapay which is held every Wednesday of the week. Villagers come down from the hills to auction livestock, buy and sell produce and handicrafts. Here you can observe how farm animals are sold off to the highest bidder at one corner of the market area.
You then proceed to the beach located at the end of the market and board an outrigger boat for the 40-minute boat ride to Apo Island. On Apo Island, you can enjoy snorkelling in its wide reef flats and coral mounds teeming with an extensive variety of fish. Enjoy lunch at the Apo Island Beach Resort, then more snorkelling before returning to the mainland.
En route back to Dumaguete, visit the small town of Bacong where Negros Oriental Arts and Heritage (NOAH), a small abaca-weaving center run by a local cooperative and Bacong Church is found. Here there is also a centuries-old coral church.
After breakfast on day two, depart from Dumaguete and the surrounding countryside. Enjoy the distinctly old home town ambience of Dumaguete as you tour around the city. First to Silliman University Campus, the largest Protestant university in the country that was founded by the American Presbyterian missionaries who came to Dumaguete a century ago. The campus houses an exhibit of locally excavated artefacts, Sung and Ming porcelain, and an ethnographic collection from various minority tribes in the country. In its Marine Laboratory, there is an assortment of underwater specimens, and aquaculture for giant clams and groupers, including a breeding program for the Philippine crocodile.
Drive through the busy streets of the city, passing by the public market, the Provincial Capitol Building, and Rizal Boulevard, then make a brief stop at an ice cream parlour to savour a famous local delicacy, the fried ice cream. Visit the bell tower of the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, the city's most popular architectural landmark which was erected 1776. Visit Kata al War Museum then proceed to the Forest Camp for lunch. Forest Camp is a camping area and resort surrounded by nature, trees and coconut palms. There is a creek running through it feeding a man-made swimming pool.
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