Stormy Trippings
Cagayan de Oro - Camiguin
Northern Mindanao
18 to 21 January 2014
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It's been quite a while since I last updated and pretty much everything in my life has gone down in a spiral drain. I figured though, I am morally obliged to post this trip because I vowed to myself that I would document my travels for reasons that only the future would know. :)
To begin, this wasn't one of those ordinary happy trips that I had previously because of (1) there was a storm of irritating proportions, (2) I didn't like that we spent more than what we should have, (3) personal problems; and (4) cancelled flights.
Was it a trip to hell and back? Not entirely. But it definitely made me want to kiss the dirty asphalts of Manila when we got back. XD
18 January 2014
Day One
The usual troupe met up at work and we rode a taxi bound for NAIA Domestic Terminal at around 11am for our afternoon flight. Most of today was rather uneventful and we got off Laguindingan Airport to our hostel in CDO without a hitch-- except that it was raining and the wind was picking up speed. That was the first thing that greeted us and we began praying to the Heavens for better weather.
After a few minutes of resting in Casa Isabella, we decided to do a city walking tour... or, at least, the most that we could do in that kind of weather. A few minutes of mishaps later on (we wanted to go to Penong's but when we finally did, it was still closed boohoo), we decided to settle for a college diner near Xavier-Ateneo called Anna's Kitchen and ordered several viands which did not disappoint-- especially their sisig which, interestingly, tasted a LOT like lechon. Yum.
After which, before returning to Casa Isabella, we decided to walk a bit further and find something interesting to do. True enough, after a bit of poking around, we managed to walk-on-by a KTV place. The team decided, this was as good as it was going to get in this kind of weather.
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| Wat Ever Family KTV |
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| Interesting. :) |
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| The KTV Room |
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| Merry Troupe |
We figured a few rounds of booze won't hurt, especially since Cess was nervous for tomorrow's activity: White Water Rafting. :D
19 January 2014
Day Two
We decided not to check-out from Casa Isabella yet because we couldn't just afford to leave our stuff somewhere during the Rafting escapade. We brought stuff to a minimum and hurried off when Kuya Bam of The Red Rafts came to pick us up in Casa Isabella. The meeting place was near the plaza, so it wasn't really that hard to find. We waited for about an hour since we were decked with another (bigger) group. The funny thing was we were more rowdy than they were.
Bumpy roads, rain, wind, and thirty minutes later, we finally arrived at the Red Raft's "office"...
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| wooohooo! this is eet! XD |
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| in full gear |
Incidents include one man-overboard moment, boat tilted too precariously on one side we almost fell over, that big-ass rock got TOO-close-for-comfort I almost hit my head, and other priceless things that the camera wasn't able to pick up. Haha. It all happened too fast. XD
After our rafting experience, we hurried back to Casa Isabella; packed our stuff, checked-out, and met with our driver who would send us all the way to Balingoan Port. We simply grabbed a to-go order from McDonald's because we just don't have that much time, which was funny because for the entire duration of the trip we were thankful that cheap fast food chains existed. :))
One windy, rainy, scary boat ride later... we finally arrived at Benoni Port, in Camiguin Island.
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| Benoni Port |
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| To Camiguin... with the storm in-tow. -_- |
The weather was really bad, and we heard from that locals that the alarms were already raised to signal number 1. It was rather gloomy, but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. By the time that we managed to reach Agohay resort, it was already pitch-dark... and the only thing that we wanted to do was have dinner and go to the Hot Springs. And so we did. :))
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| yup. it was THAT dark. x_x |
20 January 2014
Day Three
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| good morning! :) |
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| beach-side. |
No, the weather still didn't let us up. We were tired as heck from the activities yesterday, so we managed to wake up at around past 7am already. We had breakfast and decided what to do amidst this God-forsaken weather. The hotel staff though tipped us that there were boats that could still head for The White Island, and if we wanted to take our chances, we should head for the docks located beside a different resort. At this point, we were willing to take all of our chances. We've come this far anyway... so off we went.
True enough, we weren't disappointed. :)
Miraculously, the weather was fine while we were fooling around the sand bar. For a moment, it made me forget about the storm and all other things; and had me vowing in no time that I'd return to Camiguin someday soon with someone special. Not sure if that's going to happen at this point in time though (read: BITTER haha).
We ran back to the island and did a quick tour because the rain was really pouring, and we were tired...
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| Cold Springs: we had quite a disappointing lunch here. I guess the experience vary from person to person. |
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| The Church Ruins: braving the rain with my SLR. Not today bitch, I won't have you ruining my vacation. :D |
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| Sunken Cemetery: we managed to cross the water with a small banka. Suffice it to say, I just didn't post the other pictures anymore. Hahaha. :) |
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| Katibawasan Falls: didn't even dare go down. The water was overflowing and the falls was crashing like thunder overhead. |
Dinner take-out from Luna Ristorante. Extremely disappointed. If we had known, we should have just ordered from the hotel. It would have been more filling and satisfying. -_-
21 January 2014
Day Four
We woke up at 2am to catch the first trip heading back to Balingoan Port. Nothing was amiss, so to speak, but I already received a call from our driver that part of the bridge that connected Balingoan to CDO fell away. I didn't quite catch this, but we assumed that it's really bad. How bad?
We had our first clue upon arriving in Balingoan Port. Streets were empty and everyone was walking towards the equally empty bus terminal with everyone haggling for transportation.
Second clue, the jeep that we managed to hire stopped a little bit too far from the damaged bridge itself.
And the reality of the situation only managed to hit us when we were just over a few feet away from the destruction...
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| sweet jeezes. |
And that was another thing too.
We had lunch by the bay-- it was mighty expensive, mind you, but it was helluvalot better than what we had in Camiguin.
We thought the worst was over with the bridge and all. What we did NOT expect, however, was the airplane and the airport of fail-- in epic proportions!!
Flights were all cancelled due to weather conditions; air traffic control was impossible because the airport wasn't equipped to handle such things as of yet-- no lights in the runway and all that shit. Luckily, because the airport lady felt our desperation to get home TODAY, she lined us up as chance passengers on the 4pm flight. I don't care if I had to wait two fucking hours. I just want to go home in one piece.
Things ran smoothly from then on, and I nearly kissed the grounds of NAIA domestic terminal when we landed afoot. Hahaha.
If it's anything, this trip has been quite a learning experience, a test of faith, and the importance of having a home to look forward to. Hahaha. XD
Despite all these, I would definitely return to Camiguin-- probably at a time when the weather is more conducive and my life is more relaxed.
But I don't see it happening any time soon though.
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