Bislig To Tandag Commute

Homeward bound! This was my return trip from Bislig to Tandag, for my return flight to Cebu where I needed to stay overnight, and from there catch my return flight to Tacloban! Not exhausting.., Exciting!

Oh, I had to leave veery early in the morning, so I can attend a previously arranged meeting with some beautiful lovely crazy folks in Tandag, before I could go to the airport with a departure time of 1:35PM!

At 5:06AM, I took this photo of Casa de Babano's gate as I waited for the commuter van (V-Hire)

The night before (which was few hours ago, actually), Casa De Babano staff told me they arranged for the driver to fetch me at 5AM. This was to be a regular commuter van full of passengers but yes I was 'special' this time! Seats 1 and 2 were reserved for me (just like I always do with VS Grand Tours). Yea!

Did I ride a V-Hire? Yes since I've done the bus on my way to this place from Tandag, remember? I was not anymore that excited to see things along the way, since I already saw them. That's what I thought!

Mind you, I noted that V-Hires here don't operate like Grand Tours, Dup Tours, etc., do in Region VIII..,

I mean the vans wait wherever ON the street or highway they please to. They don't have real terminals.

And VS Grant Tours, Dup Tours, Vanvan etc. vans leave on published schedules whether or not they're empty or full! But it is not like that here! Therefore, good that I decided to 'overactingly' leave on a 5AM van, to catch a 1:35PM flight departing from an airport that is just about 140kms away! Imagine that!

Ironically, if you're from Tacloban, Catbalogan, Calbayog, Catarman, Borongan, Guiuan, Naval, Maasin or Ormoc (towns/cities in the 3rd poorest region of this country), I'm almost sure your eyes will pop in disbelief that I snapped that pic already at 5:22AM, we were still at that corner in Bislig, waiting for the van to get full, or for driver to decide to leave - whichever comes first! Remember: van's ETD was 5AM!

Maybe I've been in & out of Region 8 for a long time now (2 years?), that I've been used to their orderly and reliable V-Hires, and that I already expect it to be the standard wherever in this country! Sadly, not yet. But the point is, if it can be done in the 3rd poorest region, it could be done anywhere else, di ba?!

Speaking of the "bus", I could clearly see every one of them coming out from their terminal.

5:39AM, that was the 4th I saw departing since we've been hanging out at this corner. Maliwanag na! I think that one was going to Davao. If I rode on that, I would later be waiting at Barobo (just like 2 days ago) this time for a chance on a bus (if any) going to Tandag. Hiyay! I said I better sit tight on this van.

Well, at 5:59:59AM I got this picture. That meant we were already cruising on the highway. Yey!

The foreseeable issue that came to mind was something like that group of people. Processions! Yes, "prosisyon"! Viernesanto! I was sure we would be encountering a lot of them 'til about 9 or 10AM. Awr!

Ayan o! See that? Those are the "apostles"! "Apostoles" [pronounced a-pos-to-les] in this country!

Hmm, sino kaya ang hudas dyan sa mga yan?! At sino kaya ang mga me alipunga sa kanila hahaha!

Ayayay! After a mere 7 minutes of 'flying' on this highway, we encounter another prosisyon!

They don't really hamper traffic (as there's no traffic, see?), though drivers usually do slow down when passing by these groups. I am not sure if they are being careful that participants could accidentally go astray to the middle of the road or if they are paying their own homage to the religious activity or both.

I noticed too, there aren't many participants/attendees to these processions herearounds anyway. Ah, maybe Catholics in Surigao Del Sur prefer to stay home on a rainy "early morning", or maybe there are few people in these barangays, or maybe too, majority prefer to go to waterfalls and beaches instead!

Anyway, at 6:35AM, all I could silently scream was: "wow, what a row of big old wooden houses"!

Argh, I should have roamed more of Hinatuan town proper yesterday. Yes, we were now in Hinatuan!

More big old wooden houses at left! And I think this is a municipal park at right.

But OMG what is that white round thing above the houses? I asked the driver and he said "PAGASA"!

Oh yes, that's a Doppler Tower! If I remember right, that's the only Doppler Radar Station in Mindanao.

Well, if there are new ones now, that thing should be the oldest in Mindanao. That is the same as that 'new' tower in Guiuan that started operating March 2013 (a JICA donation), where the round thing on top (antenna?) was destroyed by Yolanda in November 2013. It's a radar thing for weather, yata hehe!

This is the Hinatuan Bus/Jeepney Terminal beside the PAGASA Station (both by the sea)..,

When I passed here 2 nights ago, I did not see nor realize how beautiful the sea view from this area is.

Guess what? Yes you guessed it, my van spent time here to wait for passengers needing a ride. As for me, yosi break na! I also asked permission if I could go nearer the radar tower to take pics. No can do.

Driver said he would be departing soonest. So, I contented myself with looking at and shooting pics of things in and around this transport terminal that were fantabulous enough views anyway, such as...

This.., is the sea view from the transport terminal!

Even if the sun is still not up, the views of the horizon and the little islands are already commanding!

I saw this posted on a wall of the terminal.., believe me, I read all names and looked at the faces!

Come to think of it, we bloggers should help spread important and helpful information like that. Diba?

And I did not immediately notice there was this adorable thing (resting? sleeping?)..,

Hmm magbiro sa lasing, 'wag sa bagong gising! May sa katarayan ang tingin while sizing me up..,

See? After looking at me from head to toe.., deadma.., inisnab ako..,

Hey among the many things posted, I saw this.., hmm yummy thing worth remembering. Just in case!

And I inched closer, and I clicked! The expression kinda says "why are you disturbing me"?

I pretended to be still reading the crab advertisement. She won't move hehe, but I did not hear a sound at all! Driver told me, she already somehow owns that bench as she sits there all day everyday! Cutie!

So okay, we finally left the Hinatuan terminal with no additional passengers joining us on the van. And I immediately checked the time, we stayed there for about 8 minutes. Hmp, that would have been too long a duration already, if I were allowed to go near the radar tower. But oaky lang, I did not complain!

There are also nice new (modern) houses that dot the city, and I liked looking these two..,

Whatever came to mind, when I looked at those houses, it felt like I was in Don Antonio Heights (QC).

And I liked this road construction advisory signage. Charismatic.., Makata.., Poetic!

Specially the last line. It says: YOUR KIND UNDERSTANDING IS DEEPLY DESIRED. Matalinhaga, diba?!

At least I had a fleeting glimpse of their "pamahalaang bayan" (municipal hall)

Imagining my bearings, I guessed that over at that end of the street should be the radar tower! Doon!

These are the times when I wish I was roaming places like I do it (nowadays lang anyway) in Region 8. The convenience of being able to stop wherever I want and ogle at anything as long as I want (and not what the driver wants) I so miss a lot! But, we can't be choosy (yet). That means, I need to earn more!

Six minutes out of the Hinatuan town proper, we encountered another 'prosisyon'!

This group though, part of them at least, occupied half of the road, but there are not many of them.

Oh, the apostles are not in robes. But they have sashes to identify their 'roles'. Sino si Hudas!

Aha, a familiar intersection That corner where habal-habals are parked is the way to Enchanted River!

Driver told me that in a few minutes that corner will teem with crowds of people trying to get a ride to the Enchanted River. I just smiled, but in my mind I was saying "been there, done that"! Too crowded!

There there.., that is the way going there, but still far, maybe about 10kms from this very corner.

As I said previously, Enchanted River is some 15kms from Hinatuan. But it's nearly 50kms from Bislig.

Whoa! Another procession just 10 minutes on the highway from Hinatuan proper!

The 'little' difference though is: most attendees in this group are little kids of elementary school age.

So I think that is about it for my very short visit of Hinatuan. I have a reason to be back soon!

Exactly 7AM, we passed by this place where another abundance of cut wood was by the roadside..,

I asked the driver where we were. He told me that we were already in a barrio of the town of Tagbina.

Look at that! I seem surprised because I seldom see truckloads of wood that is not coco-lumber!

Is this industry still alive? And is it even allowed? I thought that our country has long ago declared that we have over harvested-trees all over the islands, reason why we have denuded forests that had been the main cause why flash floods now easily occur. I may be over-acting, but scenes like this worry me.

And I see a procession again! Only about 20 persons, half of them children..,

I hope part of what they pray for is for the forest trees to grow abundantly healthy again. Oh my earth!

2 minutes on the road from the above procession, I saw another religious ceremony I wonder what..,

They were not walking. They were praying, but facing a house (it's a store, I think). I wonder what they were doing - at 7:06AM. If it was December, I'd easily think they were carollers! It's Good Friday today.

I may be a Catholic, but I don't know or have already forgotten many things Catholics do. Reason why I am amenable if folks call me a "delinquent catholic" - even I myself use that 'tag' on me myself and I! Plus.., the church practices, ceremonies and activities differ in the places I live and/or have lived at.

Anyway, at 7:11AM we were in Tagbina town proper, and there was no more rain. Yey!

Their church is at left but only partly seen in the photo. Ayan tuloy, my sight-seeing predilection turned towards religious things. Because of the many processions hehe! But okay lang, biyernesanto naman!

Long way to go - look at the signage. Tandag is still 113kms away. Not worried, I still had time..,

Here's the Tagbina Transport Terminal that like Hinatuan, I passed-by two days ago but in the dark..,

It is nothing much.., but I have some tsismis.., something seems to be brewing somewhere that (if all goes well) can be the re-birth of this transport terminal to something better. Saba, tsismis pa na 'ron!

A little outside of Tagbina central area, I was curious about that "transaction" at left. It looked like the manong in a tricycle was selling fish, and manong in a single motorbike was looking if he should buy..,

But my attention easily swayed to that thing at right. Another lot of tree choppings ready for transport. NOT coco-lumber. Do they really still have a lot of trees in this province? Really? I can't/don't believe!

Anyway.., and then we entered another town.., and I said why do those lovely tall trees look familiar?

We were already at the Barobo transport terminal! How did I know? I spent hours here 2 days ago!

And that ashtray was one of my best friends while wasting that time away waiting for a bus!

Where are the buses? Ah, at the other side. This area is for V-Hires and other vehicles! Nostalgia! Even that pomelo tree and that van parked beside it seemed to have been my long lost friends! Memories!

Yes, while my van waited for passengers, I got off to smoke under the "suha" tree again!

And look, this van 'still' waiting for passengers to Tandag (pero nilalangaw) was like so, two days ago!

Of course I imagined, if I took that bus early this morning at Bislig, I could have been already standing and smoking here since an hour ago, staring at this van that couldn't take me to Tandag, as there were no other passengers riding on it! Good I rode on my V-Hire from Bislig even if it left an hour late! See?!

It's nice knowing the quirks and nuances of public transportation in this country!

Anyway, I looked around and saw this.., fruits for sale (but honestly I don't know what fruits they are)!

And even this.., I don't know what and what for!

I walked to the other side (the bus waiting area). Immediately, the Manang Tindera of 2 days ago saw and recognized me. She suddenly shrieked on top of her lungs, as if to announce something.., saying something like "dia ang Koreano"! Unfortunately V-Hire driver also called out to me saying "let's go"!

I guess I will remember this Barobo transport terminal for a long time!

My V-Hire had to proceed - out of Barobo and onwards to Tandag. I caught a glimpse of downtown..,

I thought it was not that busy at past 8AM. But oh, oo nga naman pala.., today was biyernesanto!

This tricycle's name made me smile (I can't laugh! Laughing alone makes me look like a lunatic)!

What was funny? Ah nothing much.., just the currency.., that's exactly how we Pinoys pronounce it!

Onwards, still in Barobo, we passed by this (factory?) compound with an old but nicely made gate..,

That is not paint nor painting. It is some kind of a "multi-media" artwork rendition (if I may call it that)! The fish and the flowers are three-dimensional, not flat! Simple but not commonplace. Uniquely cool!

That was probably a fish-processing plant or something like that. Because this was what I saw next..,

That is the way to the fairly new Barobo Municipal Fishport, inaugurated about the latter part of 2014.

Alright, 8:43AM we were at, and speeding through Lianga town center. This caught my attention..,

I really can't get enough of looking at old big wooden houses. This one will particularly be special as it looks like our ancestral home that is no more. Look at the width of each "tabla" (wooden plank). Wow!

Another 20 or so minutes I knew we were already in the town of San Agustin at seeing those islands!

I was guessing, though confident those cute looking islets must already be part of the Britania Group of Islands. Ahh, my feet itch to see those islets! Soon I hope.., very soon! I do wonder though, are little islets like those also counted as part of the total number of islands in the Philippines? Just thinking..!

And OMG, at 9:07AM there were still these processions! Who knows, this could be an all-day activity?

Honestly at first I thought this was a funeral procession! I don't know why. Maybe their dress colors?

And oh, so I was right thinking those islets are part of Britania Islands. This is the way going there!

This is the "main" and "usual" way to Britania islands, says my driver! Apparently, there are other ways.

Wow! I was back in the middle of the municipal park of San Agustin, where the transport terminal is!

But we stayed for just a very short while and proceeded onwards. No passengers here!

Of course the green and gold panoramic rice fields of San Agustin were still a wonderful view..,

Another quarter of an hour we reached Marihatag transport terminal. Same story, no passengers too!

Marihatag also has vast rice fields and they all look good under the summer sun!

But oh, not sure if this was still Marihatag or already Cagwait area, the timber lots on the road again!

Because I have seen so many of these logs in industrial quantities waiting to be transported from the roadsides, now I'm curious as to how "deforestation" and "reforestation" (if any) are in Surigao Del Sur.

Okay now, at 9:48AM we passed by this important intersection - the road to Aras-asan Port!

Look, the road going to that port is new and looks good. But what is at the port? Nothing!

I have known bits of information about the controversies surrounding this port, from the naming to its management down to actual port facility usage - and those were mostly involuntarily confirmed (plus more) by my driver who told me stories as we drove on! The port is in Brgy. Bitaugan - not Aras-asan!

Anyway, soon we reached the Cagwait Overland Transport Terminal, a.k.a. Aras-asan Public Terminal

Thankfully we did not stay long and moved on with the trip. Eh it was already 9:53AM. Getting late na!

But this one was a wonderful surprise.., do you know what that pink building might be?

Not a school/university, not a municipal hall, not a hospital, not a national government agency office!

It is "just" THE barangay hall (and gym) of Barangay Aras-asan! Laban ka? It even has a bandstand!

It is obviously a bigger barangay hall than the biggest your town has! With that wide park-like garden!

Getting late but getting nearer! I liked this signage at Bayabas town's transport terminal!

That thing obviously depicts sea waves on the shores of this pacific coastal town. Can we surf here?

I said to myself "but bayabas means guava", don't they have a monument to that? I spoke too soon..,

There, as if supporting the roof of their new transport terminal.., are humungous replicas of the fruit!

At 10:32AM, we were turning left at this corner in Tago, something like just 5 or so kilometers more!

Tight but still within my expectations! I told myself I should reach Tandag latest at 11AM, so I have at least an hour meeting with some beautiful people, then head to the airport for my flight back to Cebu!

Hmm, 10:44AM we were at this place.., isn't this the capitol site? So we were beyond Balilahan?