The Healing Water of Aliwagwag Falls.

“We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

We went back to our hostel after we had dinner at County Chicken.  A Vietnamese friend once commented "Filipinos must love chicken, I've seen friend chicken sold in every corner." And you'll know the best ones if you see people patiently waiting and standing in line. After dinner I was craving fro pastry, luckily I found a bakeshop that sold a moist chocolate cake.  For 20 pesos a slice, that satisfied my cravings. I kept reminding myself I'm not at home so don't expect too much, probably a wisdom I learned from couple of days.

The hostel was neat.  The beds were comfortable.  The receptionist was kind to give me extra pillow.  I needed a good rest.  The toilet was clean. The room got TV and cable, yay! On screen was National Geographic featuring the hostage crisis in Manila last 2010 until I dozed.  There are only 2 bus schedules going to Davao from Mangagoy, 6:00AM and 12:00PM.  We opted for the early morning ride since we still had to go to Cateel for Aliwagwag Falls and that would take another 2 and a half hours.  So if we'll take the 12:00PM, we wouldn't have time to see the falls since the only trip from Cateel to Davao was scheduled at 3:00PM. Time was important we couldn't afford to miss the bus or we would end up missing our flight back home or cutting some places to visit.  In as much as I wanted to feel the sheets longer I woke up as my alarm rang.

August 24, 2013 @ 6:00AM

With only a cup of coffee as breakfast, we bade goodbye to Surigao del Sur and welcomed Davao Oriental.

The town of Cateel was one of the areas that were greatly affected by typhoon Pablo last Dec 2011.  They were surprised by the storm as they rarely get hit by tropical typhoons compared to the rest of the country.  It is a coastal town with mountain ranges on their west border and the pacific ocean on their east.  As we descended from the north border, we saw the whole town and it was picturesque as the pacific ocean glistened.  Ironically, it was a poor community.  After several months have passed they haven't recovered from the typhoon.  You can still see shanties with donated tarps as their temporary roofs.  Several, headless coconut trees scattered in the area served as evident how dreadful the storm was. Roofless abandoned buildings. Several piles of destroyed house materials. Just can see how progress was very slow to think several months have passed.  Blessed with natural resources but lived poorly.  What have our government been doing? I was disheartened by the sight of it.

When we arrived we were on our own, their local tourist offices were not as active as in Surigao del Sur. The people were not as friendly. Their faces tell a story perhaps about the tragedy that made me hesitant to ask around.

After late breakfast, we took another bumpy habalhabal ride to the falls, roughly an hour ride. Magically, this site healed me.

It was so huge that you can visibly see it using Google map satellite imaging. 

           A tree fell during the storm.  For comparison, see how I became a dot on this picture.

The moment I stepped on the water, all the negative energy in my body drained and flowed with the water.

Water is my element so I practiced my water bending skills. (haha)

Believe me the water can make you dance like a swan.

Whatever you're thinking the water always meets the sea at the end. Just open your channels to keep the water flowing.  Let go of negative vibes, once it builds up, it can destroy you.  Your friends are there to help you!

The Magical Music of Tinuy-an Falls

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get"

August 23, 2013 @ 11:00AM

So we left Hinatuan after our sumptuous lunch at Drawde's Kamayan. For someone who does not eat red meat, I was still able to find good food.  It's important you fill your stomach when you are on-the-go. You'll never know when hunger strikes and that's the use of your zip lock plastic with saltines and bottled water.

A little disappointed with the Enchanted River (again not that it wasn't a beauty, it wasn't just what I expected and I expected too much) being on the road for 3 days became a drag already.  My muscles started to ache. my butt hurt after hours and hours on the bus, nothing really much to see along the way but vast rice fields! It would have been inspiring but too bad I didn't bring canvas, brush and paint. So I plug the earphones and started playing with my phone for some music.

Then we arrived in Mangagoy (and for some reason, I always incorrectly say it as "Magakoy").  Another friendly people everywhere.  It wasn't really some sort of a help desk but this guy from the local tourism office, welcomed us with a smile and answered us with delight.  He referred us to a super accommodating habalhabal driver who took us to our hostel (sheila or tifanny's? pension house) for free after we agreed with the price going to Tinuy-an Falls, 300 pesos for both of us round-trip.

After we settled our things, off we go again in a bumpy habalhabal ride which by the way I slipped coming back to the hostel. As a frustrated gymnast, I landed on both feet and kept my balance. that was embarrassingly funny! After several uphill and downhill. Let this be worth it.  The entrance fee was 20 pesos. So this was the first view I saw:

It was amazingly beautiful. It brought the kid in me like I just want to play. I was too excited to come closer.

The water current was strong it created spays that chilled the air.

We climbed to a cliff going to the next falls.  We had guides.  They made the path easier and put some handrails.

 I couldn't resist the water any longer so I took a dip. Better than a shiatsu, the water massaged my back. I just sat there and felt the water.

 I started my meditation. I emptied my mind while I was listening to the music the water created as it cascaded from layers and layers of rocks. It was accompanied with the wind as it whistled and accentuated by the movements of the surrounding leaves.  Peaceful.  

The guides asked if we want to continue climbing but we went back to the bigger falls and tried the bamboo raft for 100 pesos a round instead.

We stayed for a couple more hours.  They have side benches and picnic tables available. I felt happy and satisfied, we went back to our hostel. We didn't want to be on the road when twilight comes.  There were no streetlamps and we wouldn't know what might happened.  Then that's when I slipped.  Our driver was surprised but I landed on both feet and kept my balance.  No broken hips and bones I was fine.

Strolling the streets of Mangagoy, I didn't expect to see a Starbucks but a sari-sari store with some tables set up outside and ornamental plants gave the same comfort.  The nice lady poured some hot 3-n-1 coffee which I learned they don't serve normally. Lucky me they had hot water prepared from their kitchen and that made her nice. Alfresco! I was just observing the people that passed by as I emptied by cup.  Then I asked myself, why am I complicating my life again? It was just a different world while I live in a concrete jungle, just too chaotic!

The Enchantress from the Enchanted River

Aug 22, 2013 - 4:00PM

That was the fastest island hopping I've ever tried.  There's something about ocean that is so mesmerizing. Part of me wanted to stay a little bit longer but we were on the go.  We didn't want to be on the road when night falls.  Our next destination would be 4 more hours.  We planned to stay in Hinatuan for the night for our next destination, The Enchanted River.

The same habalhabal driver waited for us and took us back to the main road. It cost us 15 or 20 pesos per ride. Then the sky became gloomy.  That's just great I thought because I didn't do water proofing.  If you're backpacking you needed to be ready with all weather conditions and I simply forgot.  Then there were light showers.  While in the main road we found a shed, thank god!  We took 2 buses because there's no bus that will go to Hinatuan directly.  First we took a bus going to San Frans (I remember I asked my friend, "Are we going to France?" For some reason locals couldn't understand me even we speak the same dialect, I usually let my friend do the asking and she was good with it, haha! nothing new actually, I even have to talk slow when I talk to my mom.  I mumble a lot, I really think words are coming out of my mouth but to the listener they were all gibberish.)  We alighted in Barobo terminal and waited for 20 minutes.  There was no bus going to Hinatuan. Actually there was one but all seats were taken and some people were standing already.  Luckily there was a van and the driver changed his signage to Hinatuan.

Four hours, it was a long wait. It would have been a great opportunity to talk to the person next to me at least get some direction and know more about the town we were heading.  This was time I realized, I'm not friendly enough.  First there's the speech barrier, second most people first impression on me is that I'm a snob. So i just let go of that thought instead I tried to feel my butt. At that moment, I just really wanted a bed.

We arrived in Hinatuan around 8PM.  We took a pedicab from the terminal to the hostel. I was craving for bread already. After we settled our bags, the receptionist recommended Jams Native Cuisine for dinner, then the power went out.  We brought our headlamp and strut the dark streets. It was just a few blocks away.

So read good reviews about Enchanted River.  It was the main reason I asked my friend if I could tag along. The next day after breakfast, we took another habalhabal ride for roughly 45 minutes from the town proper to the Enchanted River.

The first question that came into my mind was "what makes this enchanting again?" It was high tide when we arrived so the salty water mixed with the fresh water made the water brackish.  A local said that when sea water receded it would be more clear.

So while waiting I took a plunge.  The water was so cold. And since I was not as buoyant as in a sea water, we rented a floater for 15 pesos per hour. In less than an hour my hands got wrinkled already.

After some hours the water begun to be more clear already.  Too bad we couldn't stay until feeding time normally during noon, we needed to be back to the town proper and be in time for the next bus ride going south. Perhaps that would have made this experience magical.

Another friend of mine said we should have tried the banca cruise leading to the sea. It would have made the experience better. Maybe that's what you get for expecting too much.  It was fun really but not what I expected. I expected Tinkerbell to show up and leaked fairy and pixie dusts. or Ariel to go splashing and sing a marina song.. haha. By the way, one of their boards/signage has a picture of turquoise but I didn't see one. Nemo where are you? now I'm starting to read weird, perhaps this is the enchantment! (wink)