To be able to travel is probably a part of everyone's bucket list, may it be locally or internationally. To be able to travel, enjoy and be enchanted is another story.
When my mama told me that the whole family with her colleagues would be having a vacation on Surigao, I couldn't contain my happiness. Hey, that's Surigao, known for its great waves for surfing and its Enchanted River. So yes, I cannot wait to get home as I was studying in Manila (Surigao is in Mindanao).
Fast forward. From where I live, took us 8-10 hours to get to Surigao del Sur by land as there was no other means of transportation to get there. I live in South Cotabato (that's in southern part of Mindanao) and Surigao is in somewhat northern region. We had to cross 3 regions - Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN, our region), Region 11 (Davao region), and Region 13 (CARAGA, where Surigao is).
Our first destination was in Bislig City. I found Bislig City a little different from the cities I am used to. From what I saw it is a small striving city, a lot of room for improvement. Anyhow, Bislig City has far more to offer. It has the Ocean View Park and International Doll House and its Majestic Tinuy-an Falls.
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| Nice ride from Bislig City. |
The Ocean View Park and International Doll House is a common stopover for locals and tourists alike. As its name implies, it has a deck that has a good view of the Pacific Ocean, vast and blue. the International Doll House presents you with different collection of, well, dolls, from Asians to Europeans, classics to girls' fave Barbie dolls. There's also a restaurant where you can enjoy Halo-halo, perfect for summer and the usual favorite burgers and fries.
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| Pacific Ocean. |
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| Perfect for the weather. |
Tinuy-an Falls is far from civilization (as they say, the wonders of nature are mostly hidden from the civilized world). When I finally laid my eyes on this great creation, I was at awe at its majesty and ready to dive in. It was that tantalizing! There were cottages around the area, big and small that caters both during the day and night. Oh, and there's a
balsa ride that will get you closer to the falls and have the falling water massage your back. finally, there were this small falls atop its taller falls that you can fully appreciate when you hike it up. Yeah, little wonders like that absolutely needed effort on our part, after all it's worth it.
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| Their legend, their story. |
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| a Panoramic view of the Tinuy-an Falls. |
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| Some feelings from me as I present you the front view. |
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| Hiking up to the smaller falls. |
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| Here we go! |
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| Family picture (minus my brother) |
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| Panoramic view of what's on top. |
The second stop was definitely enchanting. Approaching the place, we had to stop to buy lunch, which might I say, fresh seafoods at very affordable prices. Just like in some places in Manila, the sellers were also the ones who cooked, only at a cheaper price (yes, it's province-ly, if there is such a word). Welcoming us were large letters of the very place, "HINATUAN ENCHANTED RIVER." I first heard of this wonder when we happened to browse and stop by an episode of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho. The episode explained of how the river is enchanted. As far as I can remember, it can be because of a lot of reasons one being its end is still unknown. Nobody has yet reached the end of the tunnel which is under the river. Another is because of the many incidents of people who had mysteriously drowned. They say the river is kept by a
diwata or fairy, whoever defies her by taking her fishes, or the other way around, anyone who is to her liking is being drowned. This is commin belief for us Filipinos. It's your choice whichever you believe. But for me, what makes the river enchanting is because of its beauty, just be careful of its strong current. Let's not forget the 12 o'clock habit in this place, when no one is allowed to swim as it is time to feed the fishes accompanied by a lulling music.
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| Try reading that black part. |
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| Delicious treats! |
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| I'm trying to get some "feels" from this. |
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| These are actually large fishes. we tried. |
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| I also tried to capture that wonderful blue fish. maybe next time. |
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| the onlookers |
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| Papa and I in the middle of the river |
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| This. |
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| Another fam pic (my brother was not able to join our trip) |
Final stop was the pristine Brittania Islands in San Agustin, Surigao del Sur. Three small identical green islands that look more like 3 scoops of ice cream were lined up in the middle of the ocean as we traverse the road leading to our next destination. The place were we stayed was no where near perfect (yes, let me not sugar coat that). It was may be the only flaw on this trip. What can you expect, though, from a resort that was cheap, and we had no other choice because all the others would not allow us to pitch out tents or would make us pay more for the tents. For the whole trip, we had slept in our tents. It was far from the comforting beds of hotels (which are scarce) or houses but it was that part of the experience that makes this trip complete and unique. Anyway, the resort was poorly maintained anyhow, we have to make use of anything thrown our way. After all, it wasn't the resort that were after. It was the Brittania Islands. This destination required us to just jump into a boat and hop to islands after islands.
Manong bangkeros promised to bring us to 4-5 islands. Unfortunately, we were only able to reach 3 due to the rising tides. Anyhow, it was the unspoiled beauty of this island that captivated my heart.
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| Approaching the scoops of ice cream, I mean the little islands. |
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| Start of a new day. |
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| In the middle of an island. |
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| My sister standing before converging waves. |
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| It was scorching hot but all worth it. |
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| I tried to model the rocks, guess I failed (lol). |
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| These are big rocks! |
As I've mentioned earlier, Surigao is known destination to surfers, Siargao that is. Sadly, we weren't able to get to Siargao for reasons I don't understand. Maybe because it's in Surigao del Norte not in del Sur where all the other 3 destinations were located. Anyhow, I really wished that the souvenir items were a little bit more affordable just like in Baguio or Boracay where I can buy 2 shirts for 150php only (haha).
I don't know about the others who had come to Surigao, but Surigao has this beauty that screams to us tourists to come back. I know I would, someday. and I promise to drop by Siargao too! And to those who read this, I dare you to visit this majestic, enchanting and pristine beauty that is Surigao. Trust me, the pictures did not do justice to it (especially when we're only using our cellphone cameras).
