If there's one thing that I learned from this trip it's to always check the distance you will travel on your way to your destination. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but knowing the exact time and distance does make a difference. This trip took 39 hours, 39 hours of sun, rain, sun, dust, rain and mud(not necessarily in that order), did I mention rain? Despite the extreme exposure,believe it or not, I was totally having fun.
Our Destination : Balangiga Eastern Samar
Distance : Approxinately 800 Kms from our home
In the first leg of the trip we decided to split up, I take the bus while Jewell rides our Yamaha Mio aka "Wendy" to Matnog Sorsogon where we will meet and cross to Port of Allen on board a RORO, from there we plan to ride together on our scooter to infinity and beyond...
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| Yummy Kinalas! |
We left at 4:00AM and our teenie weenie Yahama Mio made the trip from Batangas to Naga in 6 hours the bus I was on took 8 hours I was intensely bored. Finally we meet up in Naga and spend the night there. We spent the rest of the day looking for good food which was always on top of our enjoyment list. Our favorite Kinalas which was more or less like mami with white sauce was a real treat and together with puto it was a force to be reckoned with ;)
Up and running again at 4am we head out towards Sorsogon and
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| "Wendy" stapped in for the boat ride |
the port of Matnog. We've traveled to Legaspi Albay before so that part of the trip was more or less "as expected".Then comes the exciting part, riding on unfamiliar scenery. We reached Matnog Port and it's my first time to ride a RORO. Scardy cat is what I am. I hate oceans, especially when I'm on a barge that is probably older than I am and more rickety than my grandmama's century old rocking chair. We loaded our trusted little Wendy to the barge and we went up to the upper deck and enjoy (not a word I'd use but what the hey) the 50 minute trip that will take us to the Visayas Island. The RORO surprisingly (maybe just for me) had a karaoke machine and Jewell belted a few songs to pass the time.
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RORO ride from Matnog to Allen
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We arrived at Allen Port around 9am and was blessed with slightly overcast skies with no rain, perfect for a motorcycle ride. No food, according to chismis (rumors) poisoning is common in this area so no street food for us. With each bay side town passing by my hopes of seeing Jolibee or any other trusted fast food dims.... after 8 hours on the road I was ready to kill for a yum burger. Jewell took pity on my and allowed me to eat skyflakes only because I was complaining louder that the motorcycle engine.
From the time we reached Allen Port the roads were noticeably smoother and virtually flawless (thank you Imelda Marcos) at least we were riding in comfort. Maharlika Hi-way had towns to the left and the sparkling sea on the right, it was a sight well worth the hunger and the throbbing rear end pain from sitting in the not so padded scooter seat for more hours than I can count. When I finally laid eyes on San Juanico bridge I was ecstatic, we were near Balangiga finally! it was almost four in the afternoon and we have been driving for close to 11 hours. Near was not near enough, it still took another 2 hours before we finally reached Balangiga.
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| Trying his hand at fishing :) |
I was greeted with the smell of fried Blue Marlin which I grabbed and gobbled down even before I put my bags down. The house we were staying in had its back to the sea. I was going to sleep in the room which was at the back of the house and I will be lulled to sleep by the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. Come morning I was greeted by the smell of adobong Blue Marlin, you see this fish is abundant in Balangiga in the summer and we were just at summer's end and the Marlins were cooperating really well :) I could get used to this life haha.
After 5 days of ocean breeze and sunshine its back home to the land of coconuts and tulingan :D
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