Philippine Travel Notes

Suroy Suroy Sugbo 2009: Explore the Midwest – At Aloguinsan Arrival at Aloguinsan This is pronounced as \a'-lO-gin-sa'n\ (note that the “a” is pronounced as in father, the “o” as in go, the “gin” as in Guinness and “san” as in son). Top this... people from this town are called Aloguinsanons! A tongue-twister for me but not to others hehe! Ah arriving at Aloguinsan was my first indicator that Suroy Suroy Sugbo is no simple commercial guided tour! As the bus slowed down to a halt, Tony announced we were entering the very first barangay of Aloguinsan and that a local tour guide would join us! I excitedly thought, OMG this is fantastic! The townsfolk made a beautiful bamboo arch to welcome us. Sigh, I wasn’t able to take a pic of that since I was in the middle of the bus. And OMG again, the place (a very rural and hilly part of the locality) was littered with bright little bannerettes. And OMG too, school children, barangay officials and residents lined both sides of the road wavin...

Suroy Suroy Sugbo 2009: Explore the Midwest – To Aloguinsan I was all too happy to have encountered ‘Suroy Suroy Sugbo 2009: Explore The Midwest’ for I had no choice but to experience Aloguinsan, a town that was not even on my “radar”! AND, to say that “it was fine” will be a gross understatement. I was pleasantly surprised that this town is not on the usual tourist’s map. To prove a point… do you ever encounter a travel book that entices or makes mention of the town of Aloguinsan?! There must be just a few, if at all there is! I can’t (yet) even easily pronounce the town’s name but oh my goodness… it intrigued me I must be back there alone or with some friends. Anyway, I am supposed to be telling my Suroy Suroy Sugbo experience, so here I go! Our way to Aloguinsan As we forded the way, I heard from fellow tourists that there are other ways of going to Aloguinsan. Nevertheless, the Suroy way was to approach it from Carcar – which I thought was either a “marketing strategy” or the “best...