Philippine Travel Notes

Do you know what that is? That would be what you and I might otherwise call the “pedicab” or “padyak” or so many other names else. Yep, the trike powered by the driver’s own feet – a bike with a sidecar. That is only it! But they call it Pedalcab in Danao City, Cebu. And, I have yet to see a place in this country that has the same “sosyal” term for the lowly pedicab. Aliw ‘no?! Maybe they got it from foreigners or foreign lands. That square white board posted on the fence says pedalcab fare is 3 pesos.

This was planned. Though I had no clear idea on how to do it, I wanted to leave Camotes by going to Danao City so that I would arrive there in time to watch the Caransa Festival. Note I am now talking about the City of Danao. Not the lake anymore, okay? The lake was two days ago. Fortunately for me, the crews at My Little Island Hotel are experts in everything Camotes. I just had to mention I wanted to go to Danao City as early in the morning as possible and they arranged everything for me! There are ways to approach Danao from Camotes and I listened to them discussing my options. The JUNMAR (boat) leaves Poro at 0630H but it still passes by Puertobello in San Francisco before proceeding to Danao. Plus they heard it was still undergoing repairs and might not sail tomorrow. The RJR would be a better option as it leaves 0600H from Consuelo. But that means my leaving the hotel very early as it takes at least 30 minutes to even more going there. This was still the better and sure option. T...

Immediately upon arrival from that great roam of Poro and Pacijan Islands, I settled at the videoke area of the hotel. It is actually a hallway / verandah just outside of their big ‘Celebrity Hall Function Room’, overlooking and has easy access to the swimming pool below. Just placed my things on one table and went straight for the pool. Seeing me do that, Manong Liloy (pool attendant cum gardener cum repairman) turned the Jacuzzi on. So I just sat there for a time to relax and let my tired body recover. Ahhh, the life! I heard a soft karaoke music and some guy singing. Stood up and looked out towards the sea. I thought it must have been from that famous (or infamous?) beerhouse far down from the road. But I could see it was closed and nary a sign of any living animal in there. Looked up to the hotel and oh, it was them the crews at the videoke area. They noticed I was looking at them and probably wondered if they should stop the singing. I signaled for them to increase the volume an...

This is not literally a 'beach resort'. Rather, it sits on a cliff above a beach. From Mangodlong we forded southwards on a good road that circles the island of Pacijan. The road seemed to be climbing uphill with good views of the sea. Just a little over 5 minutes at leisurely speed and we were already at the entrance of Santiago Bay Garden and Resort. Mangodlong, the Green Lake Park and this resort belong to one owner. Entrance to this resort is generally beside the road that is way high up on a hill overlooking the sea. Parking is across the road from their entrance gate. And mind you, for choices, there are other resorts or accommodations just beside Santiago Bay Garden and Resort. A guard ushered us in and everyone seemed to know my pilot! I asked about rates while other crews chatted with Randy. Ah now there were guests hehe! I counted at least 3 different sets of guests. Plus those curious day trippers like me. Two couples were having meals or snacks at the restauran...

Approaching the resort from Lake Danao is via the well-paved highway that comes from San Francisco town proper circling the island. When we veered right from that highway towards the resort though, the area seemed cluttery with fallen coconut leaves strewn all over the area, the parking area is beside some houses, the gravel path turns to wherever and everything just looked haphazard. There is a dilapidating archway made of bamboo to welcome guests of a previous suroy-suroy sugbo activity. Unattractive actually. But when we entered the main area of the resort, the picture radically changed! And I said… wow! The gate or archway is concrete and made to look like two coconut trunks. Atop is another coconut-trunk-looking concrete with the word “welcome” painted in pink and white! To its left is the reception area / front desk, while to the right is a big and colorful fish (concrete) that seemed to be feeding via an oxygen tube or dextrose hehehe! Well, okay, you can imagine that as the ...

From Timubo Cave we drove on good concrete roads amidst farms towards Lake Danao. And take note, I was still on Camotes, so this is not Lake Danao in Ormoc nor anywhere else of the many lakes in the country named Danao, okay?! This Lake Danao is still part of San Francisco town, which is actually the whole island of Pacijan. From the main highway, there is a dirt road that goes 1.35kms to the lake. Oh it’s a park! Wow! What a serene breezy place! Nature at its ultimate in tranquility and beauty! Beauty I said? Well, I meant the beauty of nature. However, and am not joking, when we drove into the entrance of Lake Danao Park, an excited beauty (a woman) waved and greeted us with “hellooooo”! Randy whispered to me that she was/is a prostitute who seemingly mistook us for some “client”. She seemed to know Randy and asked “ikaw diay?” He answered a defiant “di oi!”. And I overheard her say that her expected “client” is also Japanese. And referring to me he said “he is not”. The girl gig...

After wandering around town, we decided to proceed to our next destination, the Timubo Cave in the outskirts of San Francisco. This time the road was not anymore concrete but of finely constructed asphalt. I thought our motorbike even traveled more efficiently on that asphalt road. I could feel that there was more traction than at the very dry hard concrete roads. Ah the sights along the way were equally fantastic. Most people travel on motorbikes – even if they have to carry things that I thought were unimaginable. Like? Well, how about bundled long strips of wood and/or bamboo sometimes 2 or 3 times longer than any motorcycle? How about live chickens? And how about live pigs incessantly shrieking as they traveled? Now combine all those in one motorbike driven by a man with his wife as passenger! Amazing! Alright, we arrived at Timubo. And if like me your idea of a cave is some hollow dark chamber carved out of a mountain, start changing that point of view. Timubo cave is yes, a hol...