A typical jeepney in Bacolod City

In October of 2006, I visited the remote islands of Cuyo and Culion in Palawan for a photography assignment and passed Negros and Iloilo in transit. This is my account of that journey.

2nd post of a series The reason I made a detour in Negros was to check out the Masskara. Of course, I was able to get an access pass so that I can enter the dance grounds as well as see it for myself. It was really fun, very colorful but after a few hours, the constant loop of one music used by the performers was just driving me crazy! I was able to take around 4 gigabytes of photos in RAW but unfortunately, a few days later, a technical glitch I made with my Epson P-2000 erased it totally! Unrecoverable! Darn! It was one of my major blunders as a photographer. But fortunately, it was not an assignment. Anyway, I still was able to save some of what I have.

A fisherman trawling the shore in Valladolid, Negros Occidental.

Other than the Masskara (that f*&*ing…) I didn’t have any particular places to go but I decided to just take a bus to the south in Kabangkalan and to Victorias in the north the next day. Just see the countryside, churches and whatever that can take my fancy. Shoot. Photograph. And eat.

Late afternoons at the shore in Valladolid are really beautiful with the sunset, fishermen and the tranquility of the sea. What else should I do besides taking photos but just sitting on the cement walls and gazing into the horizon.

A common sight: sugar plantations, harvests and sacadas.

Even at the western route, extensive sugarcane fields are dominant features of the Negros countryside just like what one can see when taking the northern route to San Carlos City.

A huge kumbento converted into a Catholic school in Hinigaran.

I stopped for a while in Hinigaran since I was curious with its colonial era church. For about an hour, I was just roaming around. Snacked on some empanada at a store and marveled at a very huge former casa paroquial now a school just by the roadside.

Marks of development? Mobile McDonald’s stores in Bago City.

There are so many things that this province has to offer but a very brief trip would not give justice to it. I still have to visit Patag and the colonial houses of Silay and savor the delicacies of El Ideal Bakery. Perhaps some other time, I should visit back the waterfalls and springs of Murcia and their Mud Festival. Cross the northern part via Benedicto. Or…

A good view of an Iloilo street at Ted’s Batchoy.

After a very short trip in Negros, I was back in Iloilo where I spent the night before my trip to Cuyo. And what is travel in this city without a stop at one of the batchoyan? Ted’s Old Timer was just convenient and tasty for that hot and sating noodle dish, batchoy.

Estan Cabigas is a multiawarded blogger and freelance photographer based in Makati City, the Philippines. A true blue Cebuano, he makes stunning images and meaningful photo stories. He has writtten for CNN Go and his photograph will be published in the May 2010 issue of the National Geographic Magazine.

To know more about him and his photography, visit estancabigas.com.