Walking Tour of Gamay, Northern Samar
This was it pusit! My roam of Gamay's central area - with no itinerary!
I like doing this kind of walk, where I don't know which way to go, what to see, what to expect. Come what may or where my feet lead me to. Here I said: "which way now"!
Natawa ako sa sarili ko, as if I was asking St. Michael for directions! Eh on that shot I was standing at the church door, facing outside. That, is where I came from earlier.
That big building is their municipal gym (or whatever it's called nowadays). I started my walk there going leftwards as I earlier saw a row of big houses both old and new.
Ancestral Houses
I was certain some would still be made of wood and old-era-style. Like this one:
Still big and beautiful, right? But as we said in many past stories, they are difficult to maintain, mainly because wood is expensive and even by-and-by already prohibited.
I went closer. Oh, the big doors are still made of wood, but the walls are 'corrugated galvanized iron sheets'. Oo, 'sim' or 'yero', rivited to probably already a concrete wall.
But upstairs is generally still wood, and we can see some decay on the lower parts. Oist I'm not even sure kung me nabibili pang tabla na ganyan kalalapad. Mahal yan!
Let's hope the owners are blessed enough to maintain that lovely structure.
Interestingly, the adjacent house (right edge of picture) is already all concrete but the walls on both floors were designed to look like the old wooden tabla. Ang galing 'no!
On hindsight, I should have shot a separate picture of that one. I like it - looking still from the past era, but made of modern sturdy material. Ground floor is a restaurant.
That street with one way signage goes to the river (just a block). I wanted to already go there, but realized I must go to where the old bridge is, maybe at the next corner.
A block more to the east, beyond the left edge of that picture above, is that corner. I however turned left, instead of right (to the old bridge) since I saw the municipal hall.
New Municipal Hall
This is the (rather new) municipal building of the local government unit of Gamay.
Oh a work-in-progress again. I thought I saw on some news that it was just finished, there were photos and it was already modern! Ah whatever, basta yan ang nakita ko!
They must have their reason/s for that recent renovation. Walang basagan ng trip!
Nga pala, iyang Rizal nila, parang isang paligo lang mag-mumukhang si Mabini siya! But we cannot and must not blame anyone for that. Kasi ganyan lang ang kinaya ng mga iskultor noong unang panahon. Basta, saludo pa rin ako doon sa nasa Luneta!
Trivia: masyadong "foreigner" and hitsura ni Rizal doon sa Luneta hehehe! Ay titigan nyo, pati ang physique nya, parang European! And did you know 2nd place lang pala sa contest ang rebulto na yon? Yes, noon pa me intellectual property issues na tayo!
Oops oops.., malalayo nanaman ang usapang ito. Back to Gamay!
Old Municipal Hall
I walked on to exit at the other side of the field, and I saw this intriguing building...
What came to mind was ah this must be their old munisipyo. Why did I think so? That seal or logo. It is old, indicating (to me) that the edifice was repaired/reconstructed.
But another thought kind of bewildered me - grabe, sobrang liit naman nyan! It must have been quite cramped before that new building was finished - eh, kelan lang yan!
*Update AUG2025: I got this 2017 screenshot from google maps.
I stood there imagining how the LGU employees fit in that small house. Ilang mayor at kawani ba ang nagdusa sa sikip nyan, eh wala pa namang Work From Home dati!
Until two men came out that door, mga pulis pa 'ata, as if trying to figure what I was doing, looking at their building, early on a Sunday morning. Ayay, move-on agad ako!
Mahirap na mapagkamalan tayong anything but visitor hahaha!
I got out of the gate to my right, then headed-right to the back of the municipal hall, and turned left on the street I was earlier on (Sta. Maria). So I missed the old bridge.
Yes, left ako sa Palawan Express, as I felt the 2 policemen were still looking at me!
Gamay River
So I opted to see the riverside some 2 streets away nalang from the municipal hall.
That is Gamay River. To the right (west) is upriver, and left (east) is the river mouth.
Look at the water. Clean, to say the least, right? FYI, that river was Eastern Visayas' only qualified entry to a DENR national contest named 2020 RIVERs for Life Award.
That was eventually won by Naguilian, Bued and Naga Rivers. But we at least know, that Gamay is THE river to be proud of, and emulate in Eastern Visayas. Magaling!
Before I came, I also read (aba, nag-research!) that the LGU enacted a Gamay River Protection Ordinance, to support and sustain their strategic river rehabilitation plan.
Their slogan: “May forever sa Gamay River”! O di ba? Ever!
The Old Bridge
Of course I looked right, to see their old walking bridge just recently refurbished.
The significance? That was the only bridge connecting the town proper to its south areas, until the Northern Samar to Eastern Samar Coastal Highway was recently built.
It was just a wooden footbridge. I heard news that it was recently improved, so it is now made of steel, but still a footbridge hehe! Why won't they make it a real bridge?
That was, and still is, what I'm curious about. They'll need it soon anyway, right?
Oo, all those government-led programs and privately financed investments will lead to more urbanization. They will eventually need a 2nd or even a 3rd bridge. Sure yan!
Now, another FYI, the Gamay Bridge along the new highway is further upstream (not seen in picture). Ah I keep forgetting it's called Samar Pacific Coastal Road (SPCR).
And yet one more FYI: the way to that now-getting-famous Matikawol Falls is via this same river going upstream. That waterfall is part of Mapanas, but near its boundary with Gamay. And on this river, from its upstream banks, is your only way going there!
Pacific Coast
Anyway, I looked left, and this is where the river empties out to the pacific ocean.
That beach across? That would probably be a 2-km-walk (or less) to Mika's Resort. Yes that's the left-end of the beach if you were standing at the resort facing the sea.
That is: kung mag-lalakad ka, at kung ma-lalakad na ba yan!
Kasi, as I said in an earlier story, this wide area, though just near the center of town, is not yet 'humanized'! No paths or anything. There may still be some obstacles. Du!
That is the beach side of the "middle of nowhere" I described earlier.
Interesting Edifices, Alluring Residences!
Anyway again, I continued my morning stroll of Gamay heading eastward, still along Sta. Maria St. Great to see that by-and-by, neighborhoods are changing, urbanizing!
Who knows.., next time we come this way, it might already be full of highrises, diba? Then we'll say: 'alam nyo noong May of 2025, si Mana Fely pa la an may building dinhi'!
O, forda nostalgia!
Then I saw this (still closed) store that perked up my morning, and my day truly alive!
They want to use "checken joy", so be it! At, meron din naman hindi ni-"lutong ulam" katulad ng kinilaw! To each his own. Walang basagan ng trip at maki-basa lang tayo!
Smiling, grinning, I kept walking aimlessly, intermittently looking at my photos of the checken joy and lutong ulam! I think I turned left to a hospital area (daming farmacia).
There was also a school, a chapel, another chapel, and... I told my self oy anay daw, Sto. Niño St., parang papuntang karimadimahan na yata ito! So I turned left, westward!
I kept walking until I reached the corner of another school, where it looked like I was also already going out of Gamay. Ta! So I turned left again towards the town center.
The markings on the concrete fence told me this was an elementary school. What a long, all-concrete fence. All segments marked by donors' names. Wow! Impressive!
Then I saw this hip-looking house that did not seem to belong to its neighborhood!
I was torn between admiration and disbelief why it was here. A resort hotel? I think I saw a guard, but there were no signage nor markings that it's a hotel resort or resto.
My trend of thought went that way, because of that big classy swimming pool. For a remote town in a remote province, to have something like that, ang ganda, ang gara!
Bahay lang ba yan, or what? Ganun na nga ang tought process ko hehe!
Then, the true-blue promdi in me barged into the thinking process (yes, me ganyan!) and said ka-kuphaw ka-taphaw ka-halawhaw (ay, I don't know how to translate those)!
Basta, parang hindi ko kaya mag-tampisaw or humila-hilata diyan in full view of the madlang provincial public! Kalsada yan, wala man lang bougainvilleas o tarukanga?
In full view ka of elementary school children (just diagonally across the street, where I took the photo from), eh it is not as if a swimming pool scene is common to them!
And my nagkukunwaring conservative na diwa at isipan even said... kalaw-ay!
Hahaha! Oist, on that expression 'kalaw-ay': if in Ilonggo or all of Western Visayas it means 'how ugly' or 'ang pangit', in Waray that means 'how vulgar, lewd and sleazy'!
Ayaw na pag-swimming, pag-iristorya nala kit sin mag-law-ay!
Hehehe, anyway.., I turned right at this elementary school with such a wide campus!
I realized, my walking beside it earlier was just along the width of the campus, but it was probably already more than a hundred meters. Yet this, the length, is twice that.
Wow, Gamay Central Elementary School is such a vast 'real estate'!
Hey that corner fence at left. Yes across the school. That's actually already the back of the old munisipyo that I was at, earlier on this stroll! Woah, naka-ikot na pala ako!
And the slab of dark concrete at that 'dilapidating tiny building' is now historical. Can you see that? It says "Telecommunications Office Gamay, N. Samar". This one here:
I'm not saying it should be preserved, but they should at least take some pictures of it, before it is finally demolished. Not many know now, but once upon a time it was a very crucial facility of any town or city, undeniably more important than radio or TV.
The 'telegrams', especially 'telegraphic transfers' were why the said office existed. It was a lifeline, both of individuals and businesses; more important than a telephone!
In olden days, calls could not transfer money, telegraphic transfer was the only way!
Wow, by strolling around Gamay, we got to reminisce the technologies of our past.
Alright, I kept walking on this road (Losanto St.?), it passes infront of the munisipyo, I knew this would've taken me back to the St. Michael Statue, but I went elsewhere.
Look at the picture above again. That tall building. Across it, there are 2 old wooden houses there. The 'still better' one (Inday Store?) had a number of folks in front of it.
Some were inside (having breakfast?), but many more were just outside bantering. I was waiting for them to dissipate hehehe, so I could take a pic. I couldn't do it while they were still there, as they were aware of my presence, some even glancing at me.
Buti kung po-pose lang sila at ngingisi. Eh kung kuyugin at pag-darabalon ako? Na!
I instead went to the park and turned left, for I earlier missed to take a photo of this:
Sun was already up and shining harshly on the lens. I had to hide under the roof of a scooter to do that shot. Mahirap pala maging kodaker 'no? But I think I got that well!
Well and good-enough a pic for this blog! Actually, that was the first old house I saw earlier when I arrived on the van c/o Sonny. But we were turning fast on that corner.
After church, I also passed by that same corner, but many scooter drivers were here and there, all looking at me! Not that I don't like them in my photos, and not that I'm afraid of them per se. I just don't want to "shine" as "tourist", as that jacks-up prices!
O, did you know that?! So I came back when they were all gone driving haha!
Okay, back to that house. Why the interest? Aw.., 1) it's a big old wooden house, that most probably won't anymore be replicated, ever; 2) it's a memory of our past ways-and-means, our ancestral structures, our culture; 3) gusto ko eh, me angal you? ha?!
Hehehe, as if on cue, then came this scooter driver inviting me to hire him. Aw, GO!
Exiting Poblacion
I said: Mika's Beach Resort. I knew he wasn't listening when he said: aw dida? kadna! I repeated what I said with elaboration: Mika's Beach Resort, diri dida, didto sa hirayo!
He looked at my left hand pointing to the south, and he scratched his head, but took me anyway. Napasubo ang gi-ahak hahaha! He was/is a jolly scooter driver anyway.
But I quickly changed the itinerary (sori naman, that moment ko lang naalala)!
So I told him, I was just going to pick my bag at Mika's, and going straight to Potong (Lapinig), but perhaps have a brunch at Marcela's. He was up for it and off we went!
O di ba? Let's move!
I like doing this kind of walk, where I don't know which way to go, what to see, what to expect. Come what may or where my feet lead me to. Here I said: "which way now"!
That big building is their municipal gym (or whatever it's called nowadays). I started my walk there going leftwards as I earlier saw a row of big houses both old and new.
Ancestral Houses
I was certain some would still be made of wood and old-era-style. Like this one:
I went closer. Oh, the big doors are still made of wood, but the walls are 'corrugated galvanized iron sheets'. Oo, 'sim' or 'yero', rivited to probably already a concrete wall.
But upstairs is generally still wood, and we can see some decay on the lower parts. Oist I'm not even sure kung me nabibili pang tabla na ganyan kalalapad. Mahal yan!
Let's hope the owners are blessed enough to maintain that lovely structure.
Interestingly, the adjacent house (right edge of picture) is already all concrete but the walls on both floors were designed to look like the old wooden tabla. Ang galing 'no!
On hindsight, I should have shot a separate picture of that one. I like it - looking still from the past era, but made of modern sturdy material. Ground floor is a restaurant.
That street with one way signage goes to the river (just a block). I wanted to already go there, but realized I must go to where the old bridge is, maybe at the next corner.
A block more to the east, beyond the left edge of that picture above, is that corner. I however turned left, instead of right (to the old bridge) since I saw the municipal hall.
New Municipal Hall
This is the (rather new) municipal building of the local government unit of Gamay.
They must have their reason/s for that recent renovation. Walang basagan ng trip!
Nga pala, iyang Rizal nila, parang isang paligo lang mag-mumukhang si Mabini siya! But we cannot and must not blame anyone for that. Kasi ganyan lang ang kinaya ng mga iskultor noong unang panahon. Basta, saludo pa rin ako doon sa nasa Luneta!
Trivia: masyadong "foreigner" and hitsura ni Rizal doon sa Luneta hehehe! Ay titigan nyo, pati ang physique nya, parang European! And did you know 2nd place lang pala sa contest ang rebulto na yon? Yes, noon pa me intellectual property issues na tayo!
Oops oops.., malalayo nanaman ang usapang ito. Back to Gamay!
Old Municipal Hall
I walked on to exit at the other side of the field, and I saw this intriguing building...
But another thought kind of bewildered me - grabe, sobrang liit naman nyan! It must have been quite cramped before that new building was finished - eh, kelan lang yan!
*Update AUG2025: I got this 2017 screenshot from google maps.
 |
| Confirmed: Indeed it was Gamay's (tiny) Municipal Building! |
I stood there imagining how the LGU employees fit in that small house. Ilang mayor at kawani ba ang nagdusa sa sikip nyan, eh wala pa namang Work From Home dati!
Until two men came out that door, mga pulis pa 'ata, as if trying to figure what I was doing, looking at their building, early on a Sunday morning. Ayay, move-on agad ako!
Mahirap na mapagkamalan tayong anything but visitor hahaha!
I got out of the gate to my right, then headed-right to the back of the municipal hall, and turned left on the street I was earlier on (Sta. Maria). So I missed the old bridge.
Yes, left ako sa Palawan Express, as I felt the 2 policemen were still looking at me!
Gamay River
So I opted to see the riverside some 2 streets away nalang from the municipal hall.
Look at the water. Clean, to say the least, right? FYI, that river was Eastern Visayas' only qualified entry to a DENR national contest named 2020 RIVERs for Life Award.
That was eventually won by Naguilian, Bued and Naga Rivers. But we at least know, that Gamay is THE river to be proud of, and emulate in Eastern Visayas. Magaling!
Before I came, I also read (aba, nag-research!) that the LGU enacted a Gamay River Protection Ordinance, to support and sustain their strategic river rehabilitation plan.
Their slogan: “May forever sa Gamay River”! O di ba? Ever!
The Old Bridge
Of course I looked right, to see their old walking bridge just recently refurbished.
It was just a wooden footbridge. I heard news that it was recently improved, so it is now made of steel, but still a footbridge hehe! Why won't they make it a real bridge?
That was, and still is, what I'm curious about. They'll need it soon anyway, right?
Oo, all those government-led programs and privately financed investments will lead to more urbanization. They will eventually need a 2nd or even a 3rd bridge. Sure yan!
Now, another FYI, the Gamay Bridge along the new highway is further upstream (not seen in picture). Ah I keep forgetting it's called Samar Pacific Coastal Road (SPCR).
And yet one more FYI: the way to that now-getting-famous Matikawol Falls is via this same river going upstream. That waterfall is part of Mapanas, but near its boundary with Gamay. And on this river, from its upstream banks, is your only way going there!
Pacific Coast
Anyway, I looked left, and this is where the river empties out to the pacific ocean.
That is: kung mag-lalakad ka, at kung ma-lalakad na ba yan!
Kasi, as I said in an earlier story, this wide area, though just near the center of town, is not yet 'humanized'! No paths or anything. There may still be some obstacles. Du!
That is the beach side of the "middle of nowhere" I described earlier.
Interesting Edifices, Alluring Residences!
Anyway again, I continued my morning stroll of Gamay heading eastward, still along Sta. Maria St. Great to see that by-and-by, neighborhoods are changing, urbanizing!
O, forda nostalgia!
Then I saw this (still closed) store that perked up my morning, and my day truly alive!
Smiling, grinning, I kept walking aimlessly, intermittently looking at my photos of the checken joy and lutong ulam! I think I turned left to a hospital area (daming farmacia).
There was also a school, a chapel, another chapel, and... I told my self oy anay daw, Sto. Niño St., parang papuntang karimadimahan na yata ito! So I turned left, westward!
I kept walking until I reached the corner of another school, where it looked like I was also already going out of Gamay. Ta! So I turned left again towards the town center.
The markings on the concrete fence told me this was an elementary school. What a long, all-concrete fence. All segments marked by donors' names. Wow! Impressive!
Then I saw this hip-looking house that did not seem to belong to its neighborhood!
My trend of thought went that way, because of that big classy swimming pool. For a remote town in a remote province, to have something like that, ang ganda, ang gara!
Bahay lang ba yan, or what? Ganun na nga ang tought process ko hehe!
Then, the true-blue promdi in me barged into the thinking process (yes, me ganyan!) and said ka-kuphaw ka-taphaw ka-halawhaw (ay, I don't know how to translate those)!
Basta, parang hindi ko kaya mag-tampisaw or humila-hilata diyan in full view of the madlang provincial public! Kalsada yan, wala man lang bougainvilleas o tarukanga?
In full view ka of elementary school children (just diagonally across the street, where I took the photo from), eh it is not as if a swimming pool scene is common to them!
And my nagkukunwaring conservative na diwa at isipan even said... kalaw-ay!
Hahaha! Oist, on that expression 'kalaw-ay': if in Ilonggo or all of Western Visayas it means 'how ugly' or 'ang pangit', in Waray that means 'how vulgar, lewd and sleazy'!
Ayaw na pag-swimming, pag-iristorya nala kit sin mag-law-ay!
Hehehe, anyway.., I turned right at this elementary school with such a wide campus!
Wow, Gamay Central Elementary School is such a vast 'real estate'!
Hey that corner fence at left. Yes across the school. That's actually already the back of the old munisipyo that I was at, earlier on this stroll! Woah, naka-ikot na pala ako!
And the slab of dark concrete at that 'dilapidating tiny building' is now historical. Can you see that? It says "Telecommunications Office Gamay, N. Samar". This one here:
The 'telegrams', especially 'telegraphic transfers' were why the said office existed. It was a lifeline, both of individuals and businesses; more important than a telephone!
In olden days, calls could not transfer money, telegraphic transfer was the only way!
Wow, by strolling around Gamay, we got to reminisce the technologies of our past.
Alright, I kept walking on this road (Losanto St.?), it passes infront of the munisipyo, I knew this would've taken me back to the St. Michael Statue, but I went elsewhere.
Look at the picture above again. That tall building. Across it, there are 2 old wooden houses there. The 'still better' one (Inday Store?) had a number of folks in front of it.
Some were inside (having breakfast?), but many more were just outside bantering. I was waiting for them to dissipate hehehe, so I could take a pic. I couldn't do it while they were still there, as they were aware of my presence, some even glancing at me.
Buti kung po-pose lang sila at ngingisi. Eh kung kuyugin at pag-darabalon ako? Na!
I instead went to the park and turned left, for I earlier missed to take a photo of this:
Well and good-enough a pic for this blog! Actually, that was the first old house I saw earlier when I arrived on the van c/o Sonny. But we were turning fast on that corner.
After church, I also passed by that same corner, but many scooter drivers were here and there, all looking at me! Not that I don't like them in my photos, and not that I'm afraid of them per se. I just don't want to "shine" as "tourist", as that jacks-up prices!
O, did you know that?! So I came back when they were all gone driving haha!
Okay, back to that house. Why the interest? Aw.., 1) it's a big old wooden house, that most probably won't anymore be replicated, ever; 2) it's a memory of our past ways-and-means, our ancestral structures, our culture; 3) gusto ko eh, me angal you? ha?!
Hehehe, as if on cue, then came this scooter driver inviting me to hire him. Aw, GO!
Exiting Poblacion
I said: Mika's Beach Resort. I knew he wasn't listening when he said: aw dida? kadna! I repeated what I said with elaboration: Mika's Beach Resort, diri dida, didto sa hirayo!
He looked at my left hand pointing to the south, and he scratched his head, but took me anyway. Napasubo ang gi-ahak hahaha! He was/is a jolly scooter driver anyway.
But I quickly changed the itinerary (sori naman, that moment ko lang naalala)!
So I told him, I was just going to pick my bag at Mika's, and going straight to Potong (Lapinig), but perhaps have a brunch at Marcela's. He was up for it and off we went!
O di ba? Let's move!
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