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The Philippines
Deliciously Frantic: Four Days, Three Islands
Not every day do you get the chance to ride a motorcycle on the other side of the world. So when that opportunity arises, you best take full advantage by riding fast, riding hard, and savoring every mile.
Dumaguete to Bacolod
Day 1: Bacolod City. It's close to midnight and I'm sprawled across my thin hotel mattress utterly spent. A naked ceiling bulb throws flat light on the bare walls, the air conditioner wheezes like a pack-a-day smoker, and road gear is strewn about as if a pannier spontaneously exploded. I should be asleep – we have a 6 a.m. ferry to catch – but the adrenalin of the day is still coursing. Finally, overwhelmed by fatigue, I pass out…
Fourteen hours ago. We're bouncing like Ping-Pong balls through the streets of Dumaguete, our KLRs towering above the scooters that buzz through this small university and port city. Our tour leader, Bryan rides point and weaves an expert line through traffic while Arnold, an enduro rider from Quezon City, rides sweep. After days of rain, the sky is an impeccable cerulean blue, perfect but for a few lingering clouds.
The town and traffic fade as we head north where the beauty of Negros (na´gros) Island unfolds – the aquamarine sea lapping the shore, the road perched on a simple sea wall, and modest homes set within the lush vegetation. We stop to admire the view and look across the Tañon Strait to Cebu Island, another one of the 7,000-plus islands that make up the Philippine archipelago. We're not the only ones who've stopped – a man in bathing trunks and flip-flops walks up to admire the bikes. Italian by birth, he came here many years ago and built a home. He's not going anywhere anytime soon, but we are. We bid him arrivederci and ride on....
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