I have been to this city sometime ago (when I had nothing to do in Butuan hehe). But I never really got to roaming around the city like I always do. Thus, I tweaked a trip to Siargao, so I could see places and things in and around Surigao City! Happy I did!
The plan: fly Cebu to Surigao, see whatever is there, take a boat to Siargao, have a life, fly from Siargao back to Cebu, face reality back!
Going Surigao
It was a bumpy though uneventful flight via Cebu Pacific.
Take-off was northwards from the Mactan airport so I knew we would turn right and back to head southeast. I wanted to see the Olango during that turn but a lot of clouds prevented me. Oh well, maybe next time. Soon after, an island. We were flying above an island! It couldn’t have been anywhere on Mindanao (yet) as we were just a few minutes in air. Ah, probably Bohol. When I was about ready to ogle down below though, those fluffy whites ruined my view!
A little over half an hour we were there. Landing at Surigao City just after a downpour
on a mid-day did not make me too excited. I knew the roaming and the “pictorials” wouldn’t be as good. No rush though, as I knew there were only a few things to see in the city since I’ve been there previously. So I thought!
Checked-out the Surigao airport lest it be something different from everywhere else.
Ah, so-so. The look and feel is like almost all other domestic airports in the country. It very much resembles the Davao Airport of yesteryears – at least looking at it from the tarmac. Peeped at the departure area since I knew I won’t be passing this way on my return to Cebu. So-so too, with as expected, the Cebu Pacific check-in area as the smallest piece of real estate inside hehe!
Oh, with an almost full flight, I was surprised that Hotel Tavern’s free shuttle was waiting for just me, myself and I. Well, not so many souls travel for business or leisure on a Thursday anyway. So Mr. Driver whisked me and my weekend pack outa the airport, heading left towards downtown.
A few meters down, there I see the integrated Transport Terminal. In my mind, okay fine, been there, saw that. I already know that place. For the unfamiliar though, this
integrated terminal is where all buses, jeeps and vans from everywhere outside Surigao City terminate. And there are is an unending line of multicabs that ferries passengers from said terminal to the city center. Neat! And with that setup, who needs a taxi? There’s none anyway hehe! One can never go astray with taking the R1 multicab. That’s Route 1, and it goes via this highway all the way to the city center, turning right in front of city hall, then Borromeo St., all the way to the Macapagal sea Port and back. Oh, most hotels are along or just a few steps from this route. Except for something called 'Traveller's Lodge' - that is inside the integrated terminal's building.
When using a private car though (like I was this time c/o Hotel Tavern’s van) one can make short-cuts like turning right to the streets even before reaching Jollibee and that university beside the church. Easy ride. Surigao’s city center is not that expansive anyway. If you draw a straight line from east to west (try wikimapia), it is just about 2.5 kilometers. Even less!
Alrightie, I arrived well and so let’s get to my notes on accommodations and various places I’ve seen. Note though that I have tried my very best to avoid doing a revisit of the places I’ve seen last time as I have written all about it in a previous entry.
That means let’s go to the next blog entry!
The plan: fly Cebu to Surigao, see whatever is there, take a boat to Siargao, have a life, fly from Siargao back to Cebu, face reality back!
Going Surigao
It was a bumpy though uneventful flight via Cebu Pacific.
Take-off was northwards from the Mactan airport so I knew we would turn right and back to head southeast. I wanted to see the Olango during that turn but a lot of clouds prevented me. Oh well, maybe next time. Soon after, an island. We were flying above an island! It couldn’t have been anywhere on Mindanao (yet) as we were just a few minutes in air. Ah, probably Bohol. When I was about ready to ogle down below though, those fluffy whites ruined my view!A little over half an hour we were there. Landing at Surigao City just after a downpour
on a mid-day did not make me too excited. I knew the roaming and the “pictorials” wouldn’t be as good. No rush though, as I knew there were only a few things to see in the city since I’ve been there previously. So I thought!Checked-out the Surigao airport lest it be something different from everywhere else.
Ah, so-so. The look and feel is like almost all other domestic airports in the country. It very much resembles the Davao Airport of yesteryears – at least looking at it from the tarmac. Peeped at the departure area since I knew I won’t be passing this way on my return to Cebu. So-so too, with as expected, the Cebu Pacific check-in area as the smallest piece of real estate inside hehe!Oh, with an almost full flight, I was surprised that Hotel Tavern’s free shuttle was waiting for just me, myself and I. Well, not so many souls travel for business or leisure on a Thursday anyway. So Mr. Driver whisked me and my weekend pack outa the airport, heading left towards downtown.
A few meters down, there I see the integrated Transport Terminal. In my mind, okay fine, been there, saw that. I already know that place. For the unfamiliar though, this
integrated terminal is where all buses, jeeps and vans from everywhere outside Surigao City terminate. And there are is an unending line of multicabs that ferries passengers from said terminal to the city center. Neat! And with that setup, who needs a taxi? There’s none anyway hehe! One can never go astray with taking the R1 multicab. That’s Route 1, and it goes via this highway all the way to the city center, turning right in front of city hall, then Borromeo St., all the way to the Macapagal sea Port and back. Oh, most hotels are along or just a few steps from this route. Except for something called 'Traveller's Lodge' - that is inside the integrated terminal's building.When using a private car though (like I was this time c/o Hotel Tavern’s van) one can make short-cuts like turning right to the streets even before reaching Jollibee and that university beside the church. Easy ride. Surigao’s city center is not that expansive anyway. If you draw a straight line from east to west (try wikimapia), it is just about 2.5 kilometers. Even less!
Alrightie, I arrived well and so let’s get to my notes on accommodations and various places I’ve seen. Note though that I have tried my very best to avoid doing a revisit of the places I’ve seen last time as I have written all about it in a previous entry.
That means let’s go to the next blog entry!
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