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| Lola with a hat, she found the aircon cold. hehe |
That's when the thought of travelling the East Coast started. John found going back to Davao the same way is boring. :) With my wandering soul, I agreed. Of course, there's fear of the unknown. The farthest I went to is Banganga, Davao Oriental. And that was like a million years ago, when the roads are impassable every time it rains.
It's a good thing that internet is already available these days. Getting facts are no longer impossible, or so I thought.. After hours of searching, I found out that the roads have been concreted, mostly. But there were limited information on hotels and restaurants, after Mati.
So I contacted Ma'am cynthia, the Tourism head of Davao Oriental, through her facebook page. :) Bless her kind heart, she accomodated all my questions. And she even gave me the numbers of who to contact for when I reach there. That's really nice right? You know, that really touched me. Thank you very much, Ma'am Cynths.
Around 6am, we headed towards Sumlog, where my lola lives.
I grew up in Davao Oriental. So I have wonderful memories of the place. Ibing, my best friend , our other neighbors and I used to wash our clothes in Sumlog river. :) Water was difficult back then. We had to get it from a "poso". For a child, the big wooden handle is very heavy. But for onlookers, I think they would find it funny because as we push up the handle, it takes us on top. It felt like being in a seesaw. haha..
After taking lola home, we then proceeded to Mati.
We stopped in Badas for a few minutes and took pictures of the "Sleeping Dinosaur". John said the mountain looked like a crocodile to him. hehe..
As we continued our road trip, we passed by several beautiful sceneries.
The east coast of DavOr is full of surpises. What we've seen are just the ones beside the road. The view of the ocean is spectacular. Now I understand, why surfers go to Banganga. The waves are huge! I was also impressed with the white sand beaches in Manay. I am hoping that someday, investors would build resorts there so tourists can stay and relax for a few days.
I know I would love to go boating. I'm sure others would, too.. Divers will also have a blast checking the underwater garden filled with colorful fishes and corals. I've read online that the east coast is also the home of the gentle seacows.
I know we missed a lot of tourist spots during that trip, but I don't mind. It just gave us a reason to go back one day. :)
I'd like to visit the waterfalls someday. I know the road to the pygmy forest is still difficult. But I would like to visit it. Someday... I just hope that our local government will continue to protect the said forest because it houses thousands of pygmy trees which are probably a century old.
As we reached Cateel, we had a flat tire. :( John and Dan-dan checked and replaced it. So most of us sat beside the road as we waited for them to finish it. It made me realize that the place is safe for travellers. The people greeted us with a smile as they passed by.
We left Cateel around 5pm. By the time time we reached Boston, it was already pitch dark. Since there were no restaurants around, we stopped beside the road again. Got our "baon" (rice, beefsteak and friend chicken) and ate our sumptous dinner. Thanks to my sister Pearlie for being a good cook! :)
I noticed that people were not afraid to walk in the dark. Our van was the only vehicle on the road. We've seen some motorcycles but no private or public vehicles for hours. We wondered why, when the roads are wide and concrete! It made us wonder if it's dangerous in the area. But there we were, eating beside the road and no one bothered us. We said "good evening" to everyone who passed by and they just left us alone.
Then it started raining. We couldn't see the road because of the thick fog. So John just drove slowly. Until we reached Lingig, Surigao. We were so happy to see another busy town. I loved their Sto. Nino church there.
We reached Mangagoy around 9 in the evening. Since we planned on sleeping in Cateel (John did not like the hotel I booked.. lol), we had no prior bookings in Mangagoy. Remember it was holy week. So the place was packed with vacationeers. I've seen friends from Davao when we finally found a place to sleep on.
After breakfast the next day, we then proceeded to Tinuy-an Falls. There's no sense in not checking the place out while we were there right? The problem was the rain never let on. So I lost a lot of picture-taking opportunities. haha..
Tinuy-an Falls is about 10kms away from Mangagoy City. The road is well-maintained. So even if it's not concrete, it's not difficult going there. When we reached the place, cars from all over Mindanao lined up at the entrance. We paid an entrance fee of P20.00 per person.
Finally the rain stopped. It gave us a few minutes to enjoy the place. We took pictures for souvenirs, of course!
So there I was, standing infront of this majestic waterfalls, staring at it with awe in my heart. I felt very small, realizing how magnificent the creation of God is... I stood there in the rain, trying to get a good shot. The rainshower added to the coldness of the place, so fogs started to come out.
It felt so peaceful listening to the roaring sound of the waterfalls, amidst the noise of the crowd. I have no words for it. I'm just happy that I was given the chance to be there. :)
This is only a small portion of the Philippines, a small part where tourists can enjoy its beauty. I am praying that our government will continue to develop the wonders we have in our country. So the Filipinos and the rest of the world will enjoy them, one by one...
Lea C. Walker
leawalker.blogspot.com
www.davaoproperties.com
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