Dumaguete

I have a confession to make…..  we’ve been going to McDonald’s.  I know, I know.  But before you judge, let me explain.  We aren’t going there for Big Mac’s but for our morning cup of joe.  Coffee shops are rather hard to find in the Philippines.  And the nice thing is, McDonald’s java comes in sizes other than “shot glass”.

It’s also interesting to see what sorts of regional items end up on the menu at McDonald’s.  In Hong Kong, they had a pasta breakfast and here in the Philippines, you can get mounds of rice beside your scrambled eggs.

On Monday morning, after we had been sufficiently caffeinated, we stopped in at Dumaguete’s tourism office.  Armed with pamphlets & brochures of the surrounding area, we flipped through them and found an interesting factoid about the town’s name.  It was derived from “dumaguit”, meaning “to snatch”, because during the Spanish period, pirates would swoop down on this town to snatch women and loot the populace!  Now, thankfully,  Dumaguete is better known for it’s marine laboratory at Silliman University (SU).  The SU was built in 1901 by American Protestant missionaries and boasts an ethnological & anthropological museum chock full of ancient finds.  We saw baskets, textiles, various tools & implements and Ming Dynasty porcelain.  It was fascinating to learn about the funeral traditions of olden times. The boat coffin was a hollowed out log in which the body was placed.  After decomposition, the bones were removed and placed in a burial jar.  Often, the jar was decorated with a sculpture of two figures in a boat signifying the passage into the after-life.  The home of the deceased was then burned so that the spirits wouldn’t gather there to cause mischief, or worse.

The next day, we decided to head to Casaroro Falls.  A trike took us as far as Valencia and then the driver explained that he wouldn’t make it up the steep terrain.  We found a fellow on a motorbike who would bring us to the Falls so the three of us took off, blazing up the side of the mountain.  Eventually the pavement ended and we continued up the steep, rocky trail.  I was clinging on for dear life during this last leg of the drive.  We weren’t going very fast but I still didn’t want to fall off the bike!

Having signed in at a little office, we began our descent toward Casaroro.  I should say our careful descent, because in the rainforest there is a fine sheen of moisture on everything.  And different varieties of moss thrive, the rainforest’s version of the banana peel.  Despite wearing brand new hiking shoes, we did not let go of the railing.

Heading deeper into the vegetation was surreal.  Other than three other groups of people, we had the place to ourselves (there is something to be said for traveling in the off-season).  We admired meandering streams along the way, and could hear the water rumbling in the distance.  Coming around a corner, there it was.  Casaroro Falls in all its splendor.

I won’t try to guess how high the waterfall is, but let’s just say it was 442 steps back to the top, which wasn’t even the top of the mountain.  From the check-in point, one could continue on to do the 4 hour trek up Mount. Talanis (4,728 ft).  We’ve been dissuaded from attempting such hikes in the wet season, though, and there were suspicious clouds gathering.  For more photos of the waterfalls, as always, check out our Picasa link.

After our strenuous morning exercise we had a rice bowl for lunch and still had room for dessert (a rare thing, as the heat has put a damper on our appetites, especially Aron's).  I've been dying to try Halo-Halo in all it's garish-colored glory.  Essentially, it's a layer of shaved ice (we debated about whether the flavor is simply diluted sweetened condensed milk), green & red jellies similar to those in bubble tea, slices of vanilla custard, ube ice cream (ube is purple yam), stewed bananas and two types of beans (yes, as in the legumes).  The entire confection is supposed to be topped with crushed cornflakes (I'd read up on this before-hand) yet it appeared that ours had chopped quick-oats dusted over top.  This was certainly more than enough for two people, and we left some behind.  We both agreed that the ube ice cream is the best part.