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Why the Philippines?

Not too far from Taiwan, just a couple of hours' flight to ferries and sunshine galore ! 🚴🚴🌞🌞

Also: having worked with so many Filipino colleagues in the UK National Health Service, Molly was curious about their homeland.

Our Route 

We toured in the Visayas region (shown in red on the map of the Philippines, below).

Think of it as the Midlands of the Philippines !

Starting from Cebu City, we pedalled 6 island loops in the Central and Western Visayas: Cebu, Negros, Panay, Boracay, Guimaras and Bohol (below).

Total Filipino miles pedalled: approx.1500.

The Journey

Cebu City is the second-largest in the Philippines. Its busy roads were packed with trucks, noisy mopeds, "tricycle" motorcycle taxis and their fumes.

Heading south out of town on the Cebu S Road was a long urban stint, stretching beyond Carcar City over 50km away.

The traffic finally got less busy around Argao.

Above: A quieter stretch of road in Cebu City. Filipino drivers do share the road well, with zero aggression.

We overnighted in Oslob, but dodged swimming with the whale sharks: preferring to watch the mass tourism from a sane distance.

The poorly-maintained roads in the south of Cebu Island were a bumpy ride (above).

The widespread poverty was pretty shocking. 

We were also surprised by the lack of accessible beaches.

Above: Many waterfronts were taken up by shanty housing, or private "resorts".

We starting to think that bike touring the Philippines had been a bad call ...

... so it was a relief to hit the smooth tarmac of Negros Island, after jumping onto the westbound Liloan-Dumaguete ferry.

Above: This ferry was a "RORO" (Roll-On, Roll-Off) so we could just walk the bikes up the vehicle ramp, no unloading or carrying. So easy !

On Negros: sugar cane is a major crop. 

Workers still cut it by hand with machetes, then use bamboo ladders to pile it high onto trucks.

Above: Hard graft in the sugar cane fields of Negros Island

We also shared many roads with sheets of rice husks, being dried out in the sun before milling (below).

Locals later warned us to stay out of the mountains, not due to volcanoes but to ongoing clashes between Communist rebels (New People's Army) and government forces.

So we stuck to coastal roads for the rest of the trip. These were largely flat or rolling, densely populated, and not particularly scenic.

The northern city of Silay, aka "The Paris of Negros", is a nice stopover.

It was home to wealthy sugar barons in bygone days. Some of their old mansions have been preserved (below).

Next: another RORO, heading west from Bacolod (Negros Island) to Iloilo on Panay Island.

Panay had more good roads, which got quieter outside of the cities (below).

We were unsure whether to visit the tiny island of Boracay, a notorious tourist hotspot just north of Panay.

The ferry port at Caticlan was crazy-busy, but well-organised. We were ushered onto a small boat before we could change our minds !

Above: Our bikes travelled unsecured on the roof of the tiny boat to Boracay. Luckily it was a smooth crossing !

Like Alice stepping through the looking-glass: just off the busy, built-up road from Boracay port, a long and very narrow alleyway opened onto the beautiful (if busy) tropical sands of White Beach.

This was the first "proper" public-access beach we had found in the Philippines, after no less than 630 miles of pedalling !

We made a lucky decision to stay in a suspiciously cheap hotel in North Boracay. 

It turned out to be comfortable and peaceful, with a secluded beach just down the road: so nice, we stayed an extra day.

Above: We were astonished to discover Boracay's quiet side.

Back on Panay: having completed our island loop, it was a short ferry ride from Iloilo City to the small island of Guimaras, famous for its succulent mangoes. 

The Guimaras loop was a great couple of days' peaceful pedalling.

Above: Smooth, quiet roads and rural scenery in Guimaras.

"Videoke" (karaoke to us) is massive in the Philippines.

With a few differences: it's a sober activity, enjoyed throughout the day, often at home by families. Delivery is beautifully unselfconscious, with total acceptance of even the poorest voices.

So we went for it, paying for an hour's videoke access at our out-of-the-way (it needed to be!) beach resort in Guimaras.

Fortunately there's no audio of this one-off special 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️

From Guimaras: we returned to Panay for the ferry back to Negros. 

Sipalay in east Negros made a good stopover, with its swim-friendly public beach, beachfront food court and live music.

Above: A rare find in Sipalay, Negros: a lovely public beach.

Cock fighting is a big part of everyday life in the Philippines.

We didn't seek it out, but stumbled upon a buzzing local cockpit one afternoon in Zamboanguita, Negros.

Locals were making frantic bets and shouting encouragement, while both owners stayed inside the ring along with the agile referee.

Above: This cockfight was over very quickly. One was enough for us, but the show runs for several hours.

With our Negros Island loop complete, we headed east from Dumaguete back to Cebu Island. 

Moalboal, the backpackers' magnet on Cebu's east coast, was a mixed bag.

Never mind swimming with the shoals of sardines ! The main tourist drag was so congested, we felt like human sardines and didn't even make it to Panagsama beach.

Above: The quieter side of Moalboal, Cebu

Escaping the madness, we found a perfect Airbnb at a much quieter spot just out of town.

A tiny "secret" beach with epic sunsets was just a short stroll away. Large turtles often joined us when we swam in the glassy ocean.

Above: "Secret beach" sunset, Tongo,Moalboal. No filters.

Super Typhoon Odette hit the Central Visayas in 2021, causing massive destruction.

Gerald and Janice, our hosts in Moalboal, described how the roof of their house was torn away as they sheltered under the bed.

Many communities were left without power and supplies for weeks, and had to cope on their own.

Every community (barangay) we saw had its own evacuation centre, often serving as a community hall and basketball court too. 

Basketball is hugely popular: local skills were often on display, and the vests are de rigeur for all.

Above: Charlie shooting hoops with the local kids.

Continuing up to the northern tip of Cebu Island: the road quality improved, with some nice peaceful sections.

This didn't last as we approached Cebu City, completing another island loop.

Above: This guy was sharpening a machete on his pedal-powered grinding stone, on the outskirts of Cebu City.

With a few more days in hand, we took the ferry to Bohol: our sixth and final touring island, known for its "Chocolate Hills". 

This unusual landscape was formed from coral (later becoming limestone), and rainwater. Apparently they do look more chocolatey in the dry season !

Above: Charlie bravely hid his disappointment about the lack of actual chocolate here.

Bohol was the one island we didn't loop fully, as we were laid low with the shits for a few days. Not sure what from, but handwashing had admittedly been lax at times 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️

From what we did pedal, Bohol's roads were very good.

Of note: the ferry port from Cebu City (to Bohol) was the least smooth of our trip.

It was super-busy at Pier 3. It was hard to figure out which ticket booth to use, but we'd been warned to avoid the unauthorised "fixers".

We ended up with Clemer Lines to Getafe, which turned out not to be the RORO. Still, the bikes wheeled onboard fine with panniers off.

Above: The mandatory shuttle bus from Pier 3 passenger terminal was a very tight squeeze !

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Food & Accommodation 

Food in the Philippines was a learning curve for us.

After early disappointments with Filipino 7-11s (a poor relation of those in Taiwan and Japan),

and hotel "silog" breakfasts consisting of processed meat + garlic rice (!) + fried egg, often served stone-cold ...

... we discovered local "eateries", serving a selection of canteen-style bargains. 

Fresh fruit was easy to find on street stalls, and inexpensive (approx.15p/banana, 20p/mandarin, 50p/ripe mango). 

The mangoes were sweet, smooth and utterly delicious.

Ice-cold buko juice, made fresh from young coconuts, was a winning roadside drink to beat the heat (below).

Evening meals in local restaurants averaged about £7/head, including a Filipino San Miguel beer or two.

Charlie's favourite was pork sisig, served on a sizzling plate.

Molly capitalised on the abundant seafood: kinilaw (ceviche salad), squid (pusit) and tinola (fish in ginger broth).

Above: Team favourites pork sisig (top) and kinilaw. Yum !

Strict vegetarians would definitely struggle in most places. Even vegetable sides like pinakbet and chow mein usually involved fish/oyster sauce and bonus bits of pork 🐖

Above: A cow's head being butchered at a local market, Cebu

Budget accommodation in the Philippines was usually pretty basic. The typical cost was around £25/night, although our cheapest stays were 800 pesos or £10.80 !

Cheaper rooms were typically clean, but with ancient, noisy aircon; a non-functioning TV; and resident ants.

Bathrooms were usually wet-rooms, with a normal-looking toilet that didn't flush (bucket supplied); an unheated shower with feeble pressure (sometimes requiring a "bucket shower"); and one solitary towel between two people.

Above: A typical budget bathroom, Cebu

By contrast, some of the budget city hotels were quite luxurious.

The beach "resorts" we stayed in seemed quite run-down, and were often strangely lacking in guests.

Above: Seaview Moonrise Resort in Alcoy, Cebu: one of our more comfortable stays.

We often used Booking.com and Agoda for convenience, but sometimes phoned hotels directly (rates were usually cheaper that way).

Cycling in the Phillipines: Ups & Downs

🤗 Beautiful people.

It felt safe and friendly pretty much everywhere.

Communication was easy, as even young kids speak very good English.

Above: Linda and her brother Lindo of Tagbino, Negros. Just two of many beautiful people we met on our travels.

🤗 Service was universally superb, even though tips are not expected.

"Sir" and "Ma'am" were the standard forms of address, everywhere.

Above: John Kenneth and Chris John (CJ). Doing such great work at the Decathlon store in Iloilo, Panay that Charlie wrote to their manager to say so👌

CJ is a triathlete aiming to complete an Ironman one day and John K, wow what a guy ! A childhood accident left him with injuries that would cause most of us to question our existence. NOT John K.... he's a cyclist and they are both an inspiration to us all.

🤗 Island-hopping was a breeze thanks to the well-run, frequent inter-island ferries and "can-do" attitude of the staff (above).

🤗 Buckets of sunshine, but caution ! Also extremely hot and humid ("felt" temperatures around 40 degrees Celsius).

🤦‍♀️ Rainy season (typically from June) had started early, so we had a few biblical downpours too (below).

Above: Trying to keep the bikes dry in a soggy Sipalay !

🤦‍♀️ Shocking poverty.

We were surprised and saddened by the extent of slum housing and begging (in some cases, by lone children).

Most Filipinos have to work extremely hard to survive. We were amazed at the long hours and low pay in many jobs. 

Above: A farmer working vast fields with his buffalo, Negros

🤦‍♂️ Pitiful stray dogs.

Dogs wandered on every street of every town, most of them mangy strays, some of them half-dead.

They didn't even have the energy to chase or bark at us.

Above: This dog wasn't a stray, but was typically docile - it didn't move a muscle despite the cyclists passing close !

🤦‍♀️ Ants: specifically, the very tiny variety.

Fast and frantic, barely visible, but present indoors almost everywhere: in our water (via the dispenser taps), crawling on plates, swarming our snacks and scampering over our skin in the night.

🤦‍♂️ Coastal roads were often busy and noisy, less scenic than we expected, and could rarely be bypassed (at the time of writing: there is no Google Maps Bike option in the Visayas).

Although road surfaces were generally in a good state (South Cebu being the notable exception).

Above: Coastal views from the coast roads were uncommon.

🤦‍♀️ Tap water was not safe to drink (even the locals didn't).

Although we used water dispensers wherever possible, we often had no choice but to buy it in plastic bottles.

🤦‍♂️ High noise levels in most places.

Screaming motorbike exhausts, crowing cockerels and off-key videoke, everywhere, night and day !

Overall: the Philippines grew on us, being so affordable, friendly and tropical. It's not a blockbuster cycling destination, but there is some nice riding to be had away from the cities.

We didn't see any other foreign touring cyclists in over 2 months there (although there was one Filipino group cycle touring around Panay, and numerous local riders).

If you're interested to see a very different way of life and don't mind things sweaty and rustic, it's one to consider.

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Cycling the Philippines:

Practical Pointers

⭐ "Brown-outs" (power cuts) are so common, some hotels have their own back-up generators !

Smart to keep a headtorch handy. 

⭐ Ferry scheduling/ ticketing is best done in person at the ferry ports themselves - online info was a bit patchy.

⭐ Phones: We bought local SIM cards on arrival: one Smart and one Globe (the latter gave slightly better coverage, but both were fine).

 Buying more data, known as "load", was a strange business but easy enough, with the help of a third party. Many of the tiny local "sari sari" stores (and some 7-11s) provided this service.

Above: A typical sari-sari store on a mountain road, Negros. Good for long-life groceries, fizzy drinks, tiny packets of of toiletries, single cigarettes and "data loading" !

⭐ Visa extensions: required at 1 month, then monthly after that.

The website was impenetrable, but we had efficient service in person at the helpful Bureaus of Immigration in Roxas (Negros) and Lapu-Lapu City (Cebu).

Above: Who wouldn't extend their stay in a country that has priority lanes for ice-cream in its supermarkets ?!