Three Things I Love About Eastern Samar

Borongan is 4 hours away from Tacloban, where the airport is.  But the view compensates for the long travel.  On one side would be mountains, and on the other side is the Pacific Ocean and a nice view of some tiny white sand islands or limestone reefs.There are also the beautiful rivers and huge rice fields Despite the many surfers coming from different countries, the beaches of Eastern Samar remains to be very clean, and not commercialized. There are many coves, where one can just go to swim for free or for a very minimal fee.

One thing I love about Eastern Samar is its clean waters, and huge tract of mangroves, which help support a healthy marine ecosystem.  One early morning, we woke up at 5:30 in the morning to go swimming in one of the coves.  I am not sure where it was but it was just by the bridge going to Calico-an island.  The cove has coral reefs which was bombed during the World War 2 and the hole caused by the bomb formed pool-like hole. To this day, different schools of fishes still live in that “pool”.  People go there to swim – together with the fishes. I hope they will be able to keep the place as it is now. 

Another favorite is the very delectable crabs from a village called Caridad.  It was the yummiest I have ever tasted – sweet and very fresh. This also shows how healthy their marine ecosystem is.

And third favorite is the beautiful sunset  which is something I cannot get enough of.

Eastern Samar is now one of my favorite islands in the Philippines.  I travelled for work and did not have much time to see the famous sites. I did not see Linao cave which is one of the most enchanting caves and waterfalls I have seen in the pictures.  I am going back for Linao cave and for the white sand islands, someday soon. 

A Day in Beach Garden Cha Am

I badly needed a break in June, as one would after a grueling first half of the year.  And since I have a workshop in Thailand at that time, and my Ecuadorian friend is coming over for my workshop, we made arrangement for a pre-workshop vacation.

We wanted to see the beach.  Phuket was out of the question because June is a stormy month and storms usually affect Phuket, as warned by our Thailand office security officer. We had to settle for places closer to Bangkok so we went for Hua Hin/Cha am-for some beach getaway and Ayutthaya , for some cultural exploration.  

Having did our research before travelling, we know our way-well, kind of. The mini bus station is located in Victory Monument, which can be reached via the BTS (train). Coming from Asok station, the terminal is at the left side exit of the Victory Monument station (Exit 2), right beside Century Cinema Mall. There are different booths for each destination- most are written in Thai. Luckily , the Hua Hin/Cha-am booth is in English.  

The booths at the mini bus terminal

We paid for our fare, got our ticket for 180 Baht each, and got confused :-D.  We were asked to wait for the minibus on one side-but it did take some time and the lady does not speak English. 

my "confused" friend

When the minibus finally came, we were expecting to board first since we were the first in the queue..which did not happen. So we ended up getting the most undesirable seat at the back-beside the luggages. It was however a fun 2.5 hours ride, with us talking all the way- which could probably have annoyed the other passengers. :)

We finally reached Hua Hin- and looked for a place to eat before boarding a taxi to Beach Garden Cha-am.  

Street food!

We reached the Beach Garden resort- and since we were booked for the cheapest room, we got the garden view, not the beach view..which kinda sucks because we went there for the beach. And so..we rushed to the beach, not wanting to miss the fun. And it was a clean, very nice beach...better than the beach at Amari Hua Hin hotel, where I was in March.

So nice that we stayed on until its dark...and had our Amarula drink, which came all the way from Africa. We had fun catching up, enjoying the wind and the sea, and trying to catch some pictures of lightning just for the heck of it.

And then it was dinner time at beach garden's restaurant.  We called it a day after dinner. We realized how badly we needed to rest.

Early morning was for catching the sunrise..we were surprised to see a bunch of young kids racing to the beach to do the same thing.  

Had quick breakfast, some time at the beach, a dip in the pool and then were off again to Bangkok to get ready for our Ayutthaya adventure the next day.

Blast From The Past: Romblon in 2008 (Part 4)

Day 2- Romblon Island: Pleasant Surprises

And so my brother and I continued our ride. As the view was getting better, the road was getting worst. It was a good thing the motorbike was built for rough roads.

Calabogo

And then we reached Calabogo.

Calabogo seemed an entirely different place. The yellow-greenish hills, to our right, could easily make one think of the grazing fields in a countryside in a European country. The view to our left, however, looked more tropical, with the coconut trees, the view of the beach and the really-blue sea.The only thing that connects the two very different and contrasting scenery is the small island, which looked like it was chunked from the hills.

Islet in Calabogo

We rode few meters up, and we reached the lighthouse. And here is where you get the best view of the entire place. We got off and spent few minutes enjoying the view. This would be a good place for family picnics, just like Tagaytay!

Lighthouse

Beach Everywhere!

We started off again, and wherever we went, there's beach everywhere! What made it more beautiful is that most of these beaches are still undeveloped, and thus, water remained very clean, very clear, very blue. We stopped a lot of times to take pictures. I could not get enough.

Beaches

Sunset at Agnay

I had time to rest after lunch, and started to draft my first story from my interview the day before. At 4 pm, it was time for my next interview. We headed off to Agnay.

We looked for Kuya Pendong, who is one of the leaders of the community-based organization on coastal resource management. We found him drinking tuba (a local wine) along with three others.

He walked us through the mangroves, to their "guard house", (where they guard their fish sanctuary from fishers), which is still under construction. And it was a beautiful place. The guard house is being built on the stone formations, by the fish sanctuary, amidst the mangroves.

It was already sunset when we finished the interview. And talk about being in the right place at the right time. There was one of the most beautiful sunset I have seen, and experienced. The rock formations made it more dramatic.

Sunset at Agnay

We stayed there until the sun has completely set. And then , it was dinner time once again.