tulang gamay, camotes islands

April 16, 2004 - this is one of those rare occasions when i didn't have to plan the weekend getaway. Actually, the organizers from the North Am team have been unceasingly sending emails about the trip but the idea did not warm up to me until the unexpected news hit. My saner self debated that I would be better off someplace, else, I will find myself moping around all weekend. So, when I finally joined the crew at Hi-way at around 5 AM, the PUJ bound for Danao lurched forward before I have even seated myself in its overcrowded interior. With reckless driving and frequent tests of brake reliability, we gratefully arrived at Danao pier in less than an hour.
An outrigged pumpboat seating about 50-75 heads that took us to Camotes for Php 140.00 left promptly at 6:00 AM. It was an open vessel with 5-seater benches arranged in rows. A heavy tarpaulin overhead protected us from the sun away but not from the smell of burning fuel. It took more than two hours to reach our destination as the boat made a number of stops at tulang daku for other passengers to either embark or disembark. When it was our turn to alight, the boat stopped in the middle of the two islands and paddle boats that were only slightly bigger than a dinghy approached to take us to the shore (for Php 10.00 per head).

A hearty brunch awaited us in the cottage owned by Rhoda's aunt. The rest of the morning was spent on pitching tents, after which the real fun began.
We had the white sand stretch and the clear sea water to ourselves. By the end of the day, the spent energy was replenished with a rather heavy dinner of fried fish and tinolang manok. Coco tody aka tuba was served to warm the body while we were entertained by the island kids with their talents, well after a little prodding from Charlotte.

Like other small islands, tulang gamay has no potable water source. We bought water for rinsing at Php 5.00 per container. Trips like this remind the Asiong Aksaya in all of us to count ourselves blest to not have to deal with water shortage problem on top of all our self-invented issues.

paradise that is bantayan (sta.fe)

One important lesson learned during this trip

was "follow strictly traffic sign" (and beware of shortcuts - the characters of "house of wax" didn't know this).
The week of April 9 has three consecutive rest days so when I heard that Leah's group from college are spending the weekend out of town, Ping and myself decided to tag along. It was a late birthday present for myself.

We agreed to meet at the North City bus terminal at 5 a.m. so we could take the earliest ferry leaving Hagnaya that day. Our van driver

took the matter into his own hands and brightly announced that he's taking a shortcut. Everyone didn't mind as he exuded confidence that tell he knows the place like the palm of his hand, even when he took the turn despite the signage that said "no entry". Well who would have thought that at the end of the road stood guard a tanod who was to be commended for his unbending decision, that is, we trace our path back to the main road. That took about half an hour of precious travel time and we found ourselves an hour later waiting at the wharf for the next ferry trip.
After a rather short yet bumpy ferry ride, we found ourselves mobbed by PUJ drivers at the sta. fe port. Another short ride, and the jeep dropped us at Sugar Beach. Since we meant to camp, we settled at a locally owned resort that rented out shacks at a measly Php 200.00 for a night. Well, we didn't need a big one. What we had in mind was some place to keep our valuables when we were out exploring and some privacy for changing. The owner lent us pots to cook our food with but building a fire (without waiting for the viand to cook on the camping burner that I brought along) has proven to be a challenge.

The days we spent under the sun, with an hour or two bathing in Ogtong cave (Php 50.00 entrance fee for daytime visitors).

At night, as we gathered round the bonfire, Karen brought out the ice cream she bought for our (Esther and myself) birthdays. Then a long "truth or truth" session began which the "kids" so loved. It's fun to hear their love stories. Oh, what a balmy night out on the shore under the starry skies can do! Ping regaled me horror stories before we finally hit the sack.

Having taken the last trip back to Hagnaya, we found ourselves stranded on the pier with all the vans out for the day already. It didn't help that both July and Adrian were so wasted having imbibed a whole long necked bottle of the alcoholic beverage by themselves. It took about a 10-minute tricycle drive to Bogo before a welcoming sight of a city-bound bus greeted us.

...an account of my travels (travails?)

Alas! The ignorance of youth. Who would have thought that of all the Elective subjects in high school, Geography would be most useful when a person comes of age. I remember still how we all scrambled towards enlisting ourselves in Agronomy classes (which teachers gave the highest grades) and Geography was dissolved due to zero enrollment.
Travel blogs have been most useful in my itinerary planning.
I expect that many will benefit from the bloopers and successes of my own backpacking (mis)adventures that will be posted here.