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.