Sohoton River Cruise To Mabini

I went on a "river cruise" to Brgy. Mabini - a far, hinterland community in Basey (Western) Samar. This was not for fun & frolic, nor any touristic activity. I went for some "work-related work" as I always say!

However, the views on the hour-long (one-way) trip were so wonderful, I want to share them with you!

Going To Brgy. Mabini, Basey Samar

The way to Mabini
The trip starts near what people call the Wespal Bridge (I'm not sure if that is the official name of the bridge), going upstream, along, and to a far end (1 hour away), or "tributary start-point" of what many call the Sohoton River (I am not sure too, if that is the official name of this picturesque river system).

What I do know is, this is at Brgy. Guirang, Basey Samar, near the jump-off point to Sohoton Caves.

Over at that right-end of this bridge is Brgy. Guirang proper, and onwards is Balantak Falls. To the left, at the other end of this bridge (almost above my head as I took that picture), is the "Sohoton Visitor's Center and Eco-Lodge", which, as said above, is the jump-off point going to the Sohoton Cave System.

Look, those boats are docked at "Sohoton Visitor's Center and Eco-Lodge" (hidden behind the trees).

Behind the camera is the bridge. Don't be excited about that eco-lodge, we'll drop by that place later!

Views On The Way To Mabini, Basey Samar

Amazing views everywhere!
Even as the boat ride just started out from the bridge.., the views were already breathtaking!

However, as this was noontime, the sun was about to face my phone's camera, so pics are a bit dark :(

But don't worry, I tried my best to get brighter photos of this maka-buntung-hininga trip!

The waters here are clear and placid, but the boat's engine noise disturbs the serenity! :(

Rocks, Boulders and Caves Along The Way

Rocks, boulders and cave-like crevices are "The Star of the Show"!
Both sides are awash with fallen small, medium, big and gigantic chunks of earth. Kulba!

Where the greens are not present, these amazing rock formations reveal themselves..,

Where no trees nor white limestone formations are available.., these eerie hollows greet you.., duu!

Some of these fallen chunks of earth are so big they block half (or even more) of the river..,

On some parts, water is very shallow at low tide that boatmen literally push or drag the boats!

Oh, did you know? Local government even allows the 'general public' (and some companies) to gather gravel/pebbles from the river bed so that it is somehow "dredged", so boats can pass during low tide!

Behind these limestone walls are hollows that already make up the Sohoton Cave System..,

And if you have eagle-sharp eyes, you would see a kind of an interesting pathway up and behind that foliage! Don't fret if you can't see it though! I got good pics on the way back, I'll show you later/below.

Ah, this high and dangerous-looking cliff-wall was on our left side as we cruised along to Mabini..,

Some of those gigantic slabs of earth looked like they were about to fall, jusko gino-o ko, huwag po!

I was all of awed, amazed and alarmed, so I kept gazing at them...
That meant I wasn't able to take a photo (on my right side) of the Sohoton Cave entrance that's also a jump-off point for the kayak ride going to the natural bridge park area. But no worries I'm going there very soon and with friends! I know it'll be fun, but am not sure if I'll have time to take pictures, heheh!

Anyway, this point onwards you won't anymore see, if you are just going to the natural bridge area...

Only those who go to Mabini will ever have the chance to see this portion of the rather long river. And this, by the way, is (was) not even halfway there. A very remote community - in the middle of a jungle!

There were times the boat engine would be shut-off as we negotiated very shallow areas..,

During those deafeningly quiet instances, all I could hear were a myriad sounds of birds and insects - well, probably those of wild animals too - who knows hehe, I am not familiar (yet) with jungle sounds.

Arriving At Mabini

Arriving at Brgy. Mabini
Anyway, make the long story short, we arrived at my destination.., Barangay Mabini, Basey, Samar!

Wait, I said I'd just describe the way to/from Mabini, right? There's nothing 'touristic' here anyway! K?!

But and well, if you insist on knowing more.., that part of the river where our boat docked, isn't really the barangay proper yet. Our ride could only go up to that point because, low-tide has started na! We had to walk some 500 meters (or maybe more?) to the community's central area. On dry land, at least!

I was told that when the ebbtide is at its lowest, passengers need to walk on the river at shin-deep to calf-deep of water, help push or pull the boat, to reach that point (in the above pic) where we got off!

Lucky for me I did not have to do any of those. We just walked on solid ground. Whoa!

And our walk was wonderful enough with farm sceneries like this...

Trivia: I was not trying to capture the "karabaw"! I was taking a picture of those three kids! See them?!

Streets Of Mabini

There are paved streets!
Part of that lovely lively walk to the center of the barangay was on this kind of road...

That is the widest any road (street) in this barangay could be. About 2 meters wide (maybe even less).

Laundry By The River

The river is still their laundry area!
At another point during the walk going towards the 'center of town', I saw this...

Yes, that's a mother-and-child tandem doing their laundry, on this same river where boats come in or depart from. Fresh clean water anyway, right? Of course I remembered all my friends (and family) who are mothers. I know how you do your laundry, if at all you still do! And oh yes, I also remembered that many kids of today only know "Home Washing Laundry Game" from App Store. Or the Android version!

Anyway..,

Talyan (A Rootcrop)

What Binagol and Arasip are made of!
We passed by a number of houses that had this kind of root crop outside their abodes..,

I was just about to exclaim that they have a lot of "gabi" in this place, when my driver told me "Talyan ito sir". Da! Nabuang na! It looks like "gabi" to me, and I don't even know how gabi differs with "butig"!

My murky brain was made even murkier by this "Talyan". Oh Mana Talya ano ba yan?!

My companion, a civil engineer, who is also a lawyer, and who is also one of the best party caterers in the region, educated me that this root crop (yes, Talyan) is the one that's made into Binagol or Arasip.

Wow! New things learned! Especially the story of how much this root crop costs 'here-and-now' versus how much this can be at Basey's market, or how much per kilo they'd be out in Tacloban. Middlemen!

Yep, middlemen always make a killing. They buy these here (reason why they're laid out on the yard), brought to Basey (or Tacloban), sold at ridiculously high prices, versus how much they got them here.

Where To Eat AT Mabini

The little village has eateries too!
At the barangay proper, I was glad to see there is even a "carinderia" in this remote a village!

Look at where the blue arrow points. Those are ready-to-eat home-cooked dishes for sale! And I got a little bit curious on who really could be the customers of a turo-turo (eatery) at such a remote village!

All that you'd see around are virtually just the residents themselves, right? Ah, they educated me, and I learned, that many of their customers are farmer families that don't have time to cook because both parents tend to their farms sun-up to sun-down, while their children are at school all day. O'nga ano?!

Plus, the teachers who come from other places. Okay, noted that!

Drinking Water Tapstand

Bottled water is available but...
Another thing I learned is that object where the red arrow points to. It's called a "tapstand". Ito yun o!

It's nothing but a "gripo" (faucet). But a very important infrastructure at remote rural villages like this one. It is (usually) their only source of safe potable water - that means, their houses have none at all.

See?! If I did not embark on this "trip", I wouldn't have known about those things. Travel is education!

Mabini Whard

The pantalan!
Alright, as we walked going towards their elementary school, I saw this - officially the "village port"!

This was at the height of low tide, so none of the boats were moving. They couldn't, in the first place! Trace the river with your eyes, until you can't see water any more. Our boat is waiting for us out there!

Boat departures or arrivals do not follow a clock time schedule. They instead watch-out for the tide.

Stores At Mabini

More stores near the school!
We walked onwards on this newly concreted path that seemed ascending forever and ever hehe!

That's a road intersection up ahead, in front of the sari-sari store, where we headed left to the school.

And, speaking of "sari-sari store".., there's already one above, and here's a row of four or five more!

I didn't have to ask why stores were here, where no residential houses can be seen. It is because, just across them (inside white fence) is the elementary school! See that skyblue styropore? Ice Candy yan!

Hmm, eto ang kwento...

Miracle Corpse In Mabini

Patay na di na-aagnas...
Somewhere beyond, on that same road, walking distance lang.., there's supposedly someone who had been dead from many years ago but whose body (allegedly) does not and would not decompose until now. To the extent that people have considered it a miraculous phenomenon. Kababalaghan! OMG du!

We were told it is open for public viewing, and that, it had even been featured on national TV!

Do you know what happened next? We went there walking on that same desolate road you see above. But, when we reached that very house, I chickened hahaha! I didn't go inside, but my companion did!

And, no pictures too, btw, as we were told beforehand that it was not allowed; that some unfortunate thing might happen to us, or anyone who attempted to take photos or videos. So I did not. Takot ako!

Eh ni hindi nga ako pumasok sa bahay nila to look at it, how much more to take pictures na bawal din naman. At, malaking tao lang ako pero... AFRAID ako! Ayoko ng mga ganyan oi! Duu! Okay.., enough na!

Let's go home na!

Departure From Mabini, Basey Samar

Departing from Mabini
Back where our boat was "parked", we stumbled upon it already floating on knee-deep of water. Yey!

Look at the red arrow. That is our boatman pushing his craft towards the guy at right, so we could hop aboard w/o getting our feet wet like when we arrived. That's after he pushed the boat to turn around!

I did have the "presence of mind" taking one last shot of this 'parking area' before I boarded. Yey!

Red arrow points to the "village port" where I stood for that shot I took earlier (4 photos up). The blue arrow points to where we were headed, on another 1-hour ride via this alluring river, back to Guirang.

Not far from where we departed (above), we already encountered "traffic" of the rural maritime kind!

Look closely, the manong boatman is single-handedly (or is that single-bodily) pushing his cargo-full boat upriver, as our young frontman looks on. In fairness, our deckhand (the young boy) attempted to help, but he had our very own boat to shove to the side so that manong's cargo boat could pass thru!

Abandoned Bridge and Road in Mabini

A bridge in the middle of nowhere!
And we passed under the 'bridge over the river warai' hehehe. But picturesque nonetheless, right?!

I asked this boy where that road comes from and where it leads to. His reply was a magnanimous and eloquently informative 'shrug' hahaha! Eh he is only some 13 or 14 years old yata. Nag-tanong pa kasi!

Seriously, if there's a bridge, there must be (or have been) a road, right? I also asked the boatmen, yet they too didn't know: 1) if the bridge is still in use; 2) what road it connects; 3) where the road goes to.

Something to research about! Anyone who knows, please tell me.

Passing By The Boulders and Caves On The Way Out Of Mabini

Back to the big befallen boulders!
How would you feel seeing such big boulders on the side, and, fully aware where they just fell from?

I was thinking... if they fell 'whenever'... the remainder could also fall 'whenever', and it could be 'now'!

And.., in just a few minutes.., along the same leisurely route.., you encounter this...

Hahaha, I'm not that religious, but this time.., I silently prayed "Lord, 'wag po sana maulit ngayon"! We needed to squeeze our way again, in what remains a passable space at left, spared by that avalanche.

Here! Yes, this is the only remaining space for boats or anything else to be able to pass through!

Note, those big boulders dropped via a landslide from the right. Yes, from the right as in kanan. Yet, it dropped to almost across the river. What if this cliff at left also caves in? Oh Dear God not now please!

Young 'navigator' expertly manually steered us thru! And we emerged on the other side seeing this...

A boatload of passengers going the opposite direction, waiting for their turn to negotiate the 'crevice'!

There's really no telling as to when the rest of that ridge would fall upon this pacid river. Hiyay!

On with more breathtaking views along our downriver run...

With the sun cooperating very nicely well! This was probably about 3PM, or some time 'there arounds'.

Here's another 'instagrammable' corner. Yes, this is a Y-intersection of two rivers merging into one...

There are many such confluences along this hour-long ride to/from Mabini. My first time passing river junctions, that are equally big in all directions! I wonder if they have different names, like streets do?!

Incidentally and by the way, my boat was coming from the north (behind the camera), going south (to the upper-right of photo), while left side of this same picture (left of the white limestone cliffs) is the tributary coming from the east (where the natural bridge park is located). This is a very wide "corner"!

Another photo-op area. The river turns right, after that humungous overhang at right..,

Ah notice too, a little bit forward and to the left of the boy's head, there is another fallen boulder that apparently (may have) dropped from the right side wall of this river. Let's hope no one is, has been or will be hurt with all these gigantic blocks of earth crashing down to the river from time to time. Kulba!

Here is one of my pictures as we turned right below that big white limestone overhang..,

If you are artistic-imaginative-creative a.k.a. 'childish dreamer' like me, the dark holes and hollows on the sides of these cliffs do look like evil monsters wanting to swallow or devour you, right? Diba? Duu!

Ah, this one is interesting! Do you see something red and something blue on this picture?

Sohoton Cave System

Sohoton Cave System Entrance
Those are kayaks! And this is the entrance to Sohoton Caves (above the yellow and blue kayaks)!

Here's even more of the kayaks! There are many of them floating around, just waiting for you!

Sohoton Cave Kayak Tours

Where do kayaks go?
Now now now.., calm down as this might be a puzzling palaisipan if you do not know yet hehe! Do you ride kayaks inside or into the Sohoton Caves? NO! But why are there these plethora of colorful kayaks floating around? And where really are the caves anyway? Why does this look more of just a riverbank?

It's like this my friend kaibigan sangkay ko...
That area with a small boulder is, indeed, the boat-landing point for folks visiting Sohoton Caves. You disembark from the boat and walk (actually climb) just a few steps to where the guides and park staff greet you for a short briefing, the ceremonial crowning (w/ helmets hehe), plus a live local singer and even refreshments of fresh coconut water, if arranged earlier. Then you tour the caves c/o your guide!

After touring the darkness of the caves, you go out and down to the landing area. But no, you are not boarding your boat just yet. Since it's usually included in fees you already paid, you will then be given paddles and asked to ride on those colorful kayaks! Note: two people to one kayak is best (that is the maximum anyway), but you can ride alone if you really want to. And to the natural bridge park you go!

It's a fun kayak ride. It's not far, but it's not near if you were paddling alone and half-a-century young. Ganun yun! Pictorial to da max is the norm, but is your cam waterproof? You are kayaking, remember? After your fun and frolic (or when your guide thinks you've been there for centuries hehe), you paddle back to the landing area. THUS, the kayak! Then you hop back unto your boat that'll return to Guirang!

That's it pusit!

But wait wait wait! Let's go back to my river cruise from Mabini, shall we? We are not done yet! Let's go back to the last picture above where kayaks are at rest. The rightmost edge of that photo connects to:

Old Entrance To Sohoton Cave

The original cave system tour entrance and exit.
This! The previous, and original, well-appointed docking/landing area for visitors to Sohoton Caves!

Blue arrow points to what was once the reception area - no less already part of, and sheltered by the cave system itself. Red arrow points to what was an awesome, steel-made, external, hanging walkway.

Here's a closer look at the remnants of that previous cave-entrance (left) and the external-walkway..,

Oops sorry, my bad! The arrows should be pointing leftwards - as that was the 'visitor exit route', after touring inside that great cave system. Start point was way in-there, behind the reception area at left.

That steel-made external walkway of yesteryears is/was not just a short and simple haphazard thing.

This was an amazing walkway amidst trees and shrubs that grew out of the limestone crevices (like a canopy walk), way above and with fantastic views of the river and the surrounding forest. And sturdy.

Just imagine, after touring the dark and maze-like insides of the cave system, you exit to that walkway in the air, that is also a view-deck and even a lover's lane (right edge of that photo above). Then stroll your way on a foresty walk, to the left, and down to the "lobby" (reception area) and exit to your boat!

Whatever happened? Why has this area been abandoned? Hmmm... ask the aliporeses of Tita Coring!

Let's move on.., here's a sample closer look of the base of that limestone wall above..,

Ironically, as of the moment, nothing in this closed-off area seem to be eroding or "landsliding". Wala! So you would ask "why was the original entrance/exit closed & left to rot when there was no danger"?

"Kasi panahon ni Marcos yun sumikat", said a boatman. Ah yes, the Cory style.., erase anything related to Marcos. I remembered, that's what they did to the EVRMC at Brgy. Bagacay, kesyo earthquake-prone daw, eh hindi naman pala. In fact, it was her son Noynoy who resurrected that hospital after Yolanda!

Ironically too, a few turns more going downstream, you'll again see chunks that fell from above...

Many of them fallen boulders are bigger than normal Filipino houses. And almost all are 'photogenic'! I asked the boatmen, if there was ever some kind of warning about those boulders falling down. Wala!

Haay funds and politics hehe! Good anyway that they revived this cave system as a tourist spot.

Other Views On The River

Still more interesting things to see...
But many of these limestones remain intact in their mesmerizingly photographable state..,

Our young boat frontman jokingly pointed to me that that's a blue palace. Not hard to imagine, right?

When our boat got nearer, I had a chance to take another photo of the same limestone formation..,

What can i say... it really does look like a blue palace myteriously tucked in a forested lakefront. Diba?

Okay, enough of the imaginative fantasy, lest I become a fiction novelist! We were nearing Guirang..,

Everything remained so placidly magical-looking to me, even in the afternoon. Maybe because I'm not used to these sights, as I'm not fond of rivers. I am just a son-of-a-beach. Maybe I'll change my mind?!

Here's a compilation of some video clips I took along the way..,

Wespal Bridge in Guirang

And we arrived!
So, there it is.., final destination.., of this lovely once-in-a-lifetime river cruise!

Oh, as said at the start of this story, above those boats is the Sohoton Visitor's Center and Eco-Lodge. But my boat wasn't going to dock there. I wasn't on a 'tourist boat'. I wasn't a tourist this time hehehe.

Let's go there and check that out anyway!

Also as mentioned above, I departed from an area after that bridge (left edge of that pic). So, my boat delivered me back to that same spot. But no issue, from that "non-tourist" docking area, I just walked up to the Wespal Bridge. Other side of the road from there is Sohoton Visitor's Center and Eco-Lodge.

Which, is my next story.., coming up shortly!


But here are some of my notes that you can consider tips:

1. I already said above, Mabini has no official tourist attraction.
2. If you google "Mabini Basey", you get insurgency-related news!
3. They are generally true, but there is a military camp there too.
4. If you want to go there, best to coordinate with local authorities.
5. Wear beach slippers - you will most certainly walk on the river!
6. The fantastic natural views can be had even without going to Mabini.
7. There is no regular commuter boat to Mabini. Best to hire "pakyaw".

Happy travels!

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