Sibulan seems to be more quiet, it's where l am living at the moment. The drive to Dumaguete is short in distance but long in aggravation if you are going at the wrong time of day. Pick your poison.
Mark, if you are going to buy 2 + hectares of land, you can consider checking out Bacong. Land is cheaper than most places and lots available up the hill. Going to Dumaguete from the south is arguably faster and less hassle than from the north. One of the downsides, however, is night time driving. Too many bikes and vehicles without lights.
The land might be cheaper but the hospital bills (either yours or whoever you hit) will make up the difference for paying a bit more somewhere else. They really need to put some lighting on that road going south. I refuse to drive at night down there because of how dangerous it is. Valencia is the best and safest option in my opinion.
I am not sure any driving is safe here at night, even though I do it many nights of the week. Since i live in Bacong, I totally am familiar with the lack of lights on motorcycles (about 10 % no lights, another 25% with no rear light, and then the trikes with no lights also). The key is not to drive as you drove in your mother country. I drive a motorcycle exclusive because of the maneuverability in avoiding things like 4 or 5 people walking abreast on the pavement in their darkest attire at night. The Bacong to Valencia road is full of those type of situations, while on the national hiway the number of people seem to be limited to one or two. Maybe the bigger lines of people were walking abreast have been picked off already by the car drivers who can not avoid them as easy as motorcyclist can. The easiest way to stay safe is to drive with your eyes wide open as if you mother-in-law was out to get you or maybe you GF's husband. Focus on everything because if a motorist does not get you a dog will drive you off the road. There really is no safe place to drive at night here except your driveway. I was once coming home to Bacong at about 2:30 AM with almost no cars on the road, to come upon two cars that had run head on while on the national hiway. My first thought it was a suicide assassination attempt, or a drunk. Turn outs the rumor was one driver had fallen asleep but the possibility of two cars running head on to each other on a almost empty hiway is amazing to me. Watch the cars and motorcycles around you and notice erratic driving that may indicate a drunk driver. There will be a lot of drunks on the road in the coming "merry" season. Just drive as if you are in a demolition derby and you want to win by avoidance.
I have not noticed any difference between the Silly Season and the rest of the year here quite frankly, regarding erratic driving -
I have seen one excellent driver here, a woman on a motorcycle who was in control of her vehicle at all times, unfailingly kept her distance, constantly was aware of her surroundings, gave signals every time they were called for. I would have put her out of my consideration entirely if she had not been so good looking. If she were an axe murderer, l would vote to set her free, after all, we all have slight character flaws but good driversare rare here.
Rumor has it the Aussie hard rock band AC/DC, after driving down south highway one night, used that experience as the inspiration to write and record,"Highway to Hell"
I believe that Dave/ Imp is correct that the five and even the 4 abreast walkers are extremely rare, possibly as rare as the spotted whooping darter, possibly even extinct due to 4 wheel traffic. Unfortunately, I don't think anything can be done as I don't believe that establishing a highway sanctuary for walkers will be effective, nor would transplanting walkers from the Bacong Valencia highway work. Due to their low intelligence, I believe many walkers die before they ever see the South Highway. If we want to save this endangered species, I believe some agency will have to breed them in captivity.
