Philippine Travel Notes

Okay folksiefolks, I thought we passed by two towns after Iligan City, as I said in the previous article . It turns out, there was only one, the town of Linamon Lanao Del Norte, the next town south of Iligan City. Meaning, from the city center, our jeep ride went to a corner in Linamon, which my guide said 'is a well known jump-off point (all jeep drivers know it) goin' up the mountains (of Iligan) where Tinago Falls is. For those not used to riding on motorcycles without sidecars (habal-habal), that ride takes only about 10 minutes - on probably 5 to 6 kilometers of good concrete barangay roads, narrower than the hiway! I'll be honest, I am adventurous, but when riding habal-habal, I use both my hands to cling to anything - that's why you don't see many photos along the way when I take that mode of transportation, hahaha! This is the main entrance. My guide call this place the Linamon Entrance (there's another entrance). This place is already like a fo...

Today's morning roam brought me to Tinago Falls . And, I had a tour guide, ye! But this wasn't a simple or ordinary tour arrangement (as far as the tour company was concerned). The primary condition was I and my tour guide were to take public transportation, to all sites I wanted to see, if/when available ! Excitingly fun, realistic and natural (economical) for me, the solo traveler, right? Very! It had the effect that, as if I was a local, just roaming around with a friend. But no ordinary assignment for a tour guide. This is difficult for them, since they're used to the comforts of chartered airconditioned vans or buses. How was this even possible? Ah, a friend introduced me to Lakbay Diyalogo . It is a travel services and consultancy agency based in Iligan City (I think), but they are experts of anywhere Mindanao. They are a different breed of tour agency (they can customize trips), and they agreed to my requirement above! Nakarining na kayo ng guided tour na nagco...

Lakeside View of Marawi Ground Zero after the siege Let's start with that last picture  I posted in the previous blog entry . That was as we crossed this bridge to enter Lanao Del Sur. Seconds prior to that though, I already took a pic of the river, even if carelessly. I did that to remind me later, that that's Pantar Bridge over the Agus River in Saguiaran , Lanao Del Sur. This river was/is a vital component of the history/story of Marawi . As an only outlet, Agus River flows from Lanao Lake to Balo-i Lake , to Tinago Falls , to Maria Cristina Falls , until it reaches the Iligan Bay . The start-point of this river, is in fact the very same place that we are not being allowed to cross today, because of the announcement, that something exploded at a canal in the city, early this morning. Sus! I wished we could just float on that river all the way to Marawi so as to avoid the checkpoints hahaha! Since our driver saw me taking that photo above, he educated me that wh...