- Goodbye Dumaguete, Hello Tagbilaran

From Dumaguete to Tagbilaran

Leaving Dumaguete

Dumaguete is the provincial capital of Negros Oriental
on the island of Negros

Nobody likes to move, and we weren’t anxious to either, but Lyn and Wendie tackled the task with alacrity. Our friends and neighbors Ariel and Jen helped us prepare.

We don’t have a huge amount of furniture, but we do have several big items. And rather than have our household items shipped, we chose to bring them with us. We decided to keep our old Mitsubishi, but that wouldn’t be big enough to hold all of our stuff.

Waiting to board the RORO

Our kind Filipino friends Boy and Lourdes volunteered to help us move with their Suzuki multicab. We loaded everything in the two vehicles, and the seven of us (Uncle Boy and Auntie Lourdes, 3 grandchildren, and Lyn and I) took off. Wendie was already in Tagbilarin. 

Uncle Boy and his multicab on the RORO

Since there is no RORO (roll on, roll off) ferry directly from Dumaguete to Tagbilaran, we would have to go from Dumaguete to Sibulan, catch the ferry to Cebu Island, go up the coast of Cebu Island to Cebu City, ride another RORO to Tubigon on Bohol, and drive down to Tagbilaran from there.

On board the RORO with Angel and Princess

This was an 8 or 9 hour trip even with no delays, and delays are inevitable. Most of the trip was at night and on unfamiliar roads. I was dreading the drive imagining all sorts of unpleasant things happening especially with the “Filipino rules of the road”. Some motorcyclists prefer to drive at night without headlights to “save gas”. There were a few close calls, mostly with dogs. The dogs here don’t follow the traffic laws.

After dark we stopped at a carinderia* beside the highway for dinner: rice, fried chicken, barbeque, fish, greens, mixed vegetables, Coke, and sweet pastries from the bake shop for desert. Total bill for the seven of us was $6.65. By the way, I decided my second favorite Filipino food (after lumpia) is barbeque.

Typical carinderia

Filipino barbeque

We made it safely to Cebu City, and then it happened.

Lyn and I, with Angel and Princess, had fallen behind and were struggling to catch up on a six-lane thoroughfare, and we came upon an accident in the middle of the road. Uncle Boy was unfamiliar with the way traffic lights work (since there are none in Dumaguete), and he had rear-ended a brand new Izuzu SUV. In the Philippines, the one responsible for the accident must pay out of pocket for any damages. This one could have been several thousand dollars, but we found out later, the Izuzu dealership covered most of it under warranty, and we ended up paying $120.00, mostly for “pain and suffering”.

Leaving Cebu

SM City Seaside
one of the largest malls in the world,
south of Cebu City

After that three hour delay, we missed the ferry and had to wait another 7 ½ hours for the second ferry. So our “8 or 9 hour trip” turned into 20 hours. But we were thankful that we made it safely, and for Boy and Lourdes’ help!

And we are thankful to be done moving!

* carinderia – an often unregistered road-side open air restaurant with very simple accommodations, often wooden benches for seats, and serving from three to twenty or more home-cooked genuine Filipino street-level food dishes. On the final drive from Tubigon to Tagbilaran, we stopped at another carinderia with over 20 food options and had a buffet style meal, the seven of us for less than $8.00.

Large carinderia