Philippine Travel Notes

This topic started with this article There are 4 towns. First is the town of Sta. Fe in the province of Nueva Vizcaya (Region 2). This town at the southwestern border of the province with Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija just at the end of that dizzying zigzag road called Dalton Pass. Then there is the town of Sta. Fe on the southern tip of the province of Romblon (Region 4B). There are beaches and islets plus the trail up that mountain called Calatong. The third Sta. Fe is a town on Bantayan Island, Cebu (Region 7). Yes this is where boats, fast crafts and ROROs arrive from mainland Cebu. Like the two other towns on the island (Madridejos and Bantayan), Sta. Fe is a beach town and gets to full capacity during Holy Week. Lastly, there is also a town named Sta. Fe in the province of Leyte (Region 8). This Sta. Fe is a landlocked farming community adjacent to Tacloban, Palo. I do like afternoon runs to Ormoc from Tacloban where passing by this town always has great sunsets by the rice fields. ...

This is nature-adventureland Philippines! Region 2 (sometimes written with the Roman numeral as REGION II) commonly referred to as Cagayan or Cagayan Valley Region in the big island of Luzon is composed of five provinces or about 90 towns and 3 cities that make up the north-eastern portion of the country. I consider this region to be the Philippine showcase that truly has everything for the nature adventurer. From leisurely jungle trails to spelunking to whitewater rafting and secluded beaches, this region is just perfect. By the name Cagayan Valley however, one does not readily recognize that this region actually includes the Batanes group of islands in the northern-most tip of the country – even nearer to Taiwan than Metro Manila! This area of the country is culture and nature rich! Attractions in this region are not limited to caves, waterfalls, the Sierra Madres, the biggest and longest river nor the northernmost islands however. The people’s way of day-to-day business...