Discover Negros Occidental: the Philippines’ organic slow-food paradise (opens in new tab)

Negros Occidental is also known as the “Land of Sweet Surprises” and that much is apparent as soon as we touch down in the provincial capital of Bacolod after a 90-minute flight from Manila on a balmy October afternoon. The air is treacly with tropical humidity and golden sunlight bathes the fields of sugar cane from which the Filipino island province derives its nickname, with a sun-shower-induced rainbow hovering over a cone volcano in the distance. The region packs some serious credentials...