The Best ang SURIGAO!

I’ve been to Paradise.

This is how I described my two day adventure in Surigao del Sur. I took the opportunity of long weekend as I decided to come along with my friend, Chen, in their Surigao trip. Her officemates in Kapitolyo invited her to go there, and because she knows that I also want to travel, she invited me. As for me, I also encouraged Imang to come with us.

August 18, 2012 – Saturday

Snacks at Gaisano (From Left to Right: Imang, Me)

Our tour package will only start from Davao City at around 1:00 am the next day. So, we need to commute from Marbel to Davao. Since Davao is a four hour trip from Marbel, Chen, Imang and I decided to take the 5:00 pm trip. And before we meet at the terminal, Imang and I went to Gaisano to buy some things needed for the trip.

Boxy at Mcdo

After a long hour sleep while in the bus, we went to our meeting place which is Mcdo Bajada. We ate our dinner there while waiting for others to come. Unfortunately, rice and chicken is unavailable, so we only eat cheese burgers and fries. While waiting, we’ve come to know that it is Kadayawan festival and Mcdo prepared a program for those who dine in their place. Our group volunteered Boxy, the only guy in our group, to be the pinakagwapo in the place when the emcee asked us to bring the pinakagwapo in Mcdo. And since the emcee noticed that our group is having fun with the program, she asked me to join one of the games.  Luckily the game is easy that they don’t need to interview me. Unlike boxy, he was asked to give a corny pick up line to his partner.

Celebrating Kadayawan at Mcdo Bajada

August 19, 2012 – Sunday

Coffee Break (with Chen)

After almost two hours of waiting, our tour guide arrived. We departed around 1:30 am. After almost an hour of travel, we bought some food in Jollibee which is needed for our breakfast the following morning. I asked Imang to buy me chicken meal while all of my friends only bought burgers. After two hours, we had our coffee break somewhere at Compostela Valley.

My breakfast: Jollibee chicken meal

And the real adventure began when we arrived around 6:30 am at Tinuy-an Falls. We ate our breakfast there. All of my friends envied me as I indulge in my chicken meal while they only eat burgers.

Only the five of us decided to take a shower in the falls. When the cold water from the falls hits you, it seems you’ve gotten yourself a free massage. We also climbed the top of the main falls and we've seen amazing waters there.

Tinuy-an Falls (Left to right: Pam, Princess, Boxy, Imang, Chen, Shean, Erma)

Imang is playing with waters from the falls

After two to three hours in Tinuy-an falls, we dropped by at the famous doll house. Thousands of different dolls from different places are displayed there. The name of the doll with highest value is Anne. The caretaker there told us that anne is made from a daughter of an emperor. Although she is rich, she is very lonely with her life. The doll's hair is really from the real person Anne and her body is made of porcelain.

Anne

At the doll house

After a short trip at dolls house, we went to enchanted river. It was lunch time when we arrived there and unfortunately, the place is packed with so many people that we decided to go to our resort first. We went to Sibadan resort by a boat. There we rest while waiting for our lunch to be prepared. We ate our lunch around 2:00 pm.

Before swimming at the enchanted river

After the meal, we finally decided to go back to the enchanted river. There, we have experienced the real beauty of nature. The river is 80 ft deep as per Sir John, our tour guide. It is called enchanted because there is a rumor that those who swim in the river will have their bodies be taken by the unseen guide of the river. But as for me, I consider it enchanted because of the extraordinary color of the river and because of the different kinds of fishes swimming there. Since this is just a rare experience for each one of us, we didn't hesitate to plunge ourselves into the water. 

Just having fun at the enchanted river

We also have the opportunity to see clearly the water by using the goggles we've borrowed from the divers. The moment I saw the deepness of the river, I just exclaimed "Daw mapatay na ko!" or "It seems I'm gonna die" in English. Because I just see the darkness at the center of the river, I don't even know what's inside it. Beside the river, there is a small cave in it. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to go there. Only the professional drivers are allowed to enter the cave.

Let's dive at the enchanted river

After almost 2 hours of immersion in the enchanted river, we went back in the resort. The moment we went in our room, the dark clouds came and a bad weather has just arrived. Heavy rain pours around us that we haven't a chance to dive into the water again. However, we managed to take some pictures.

The rain is coming but we still manage to take a picture

After a while, we took a bath and prepared ourselves for our dinner. Shrimps, squids and other kind of sea foods has been served before us. After eating, we try to find phone signal in the area but unfortunately, we haven't found a good signal. So, we just decided to go back to our room and we just fall asleep.

August 20, 2012 - Monday

A view from the resort

We woke up around 5:30 in the morning the next day. We went around the floating resort and find a beautiful view as the sun rises from the horizon. We took pictures of ourselves as if we own the ocean. We also watch the feeding of the fishes in the fish cage. The fishes are so big that we jokingly told Chen that she can be eaten by them once she dive in the water.

Yes, I own the ocean.

After our breakfast, we bid farewell to Sibadan resort as we are going to Britannia group of Islands which is 3 towns away from Sibadan resort. As we went there, we stop over at Barobo to buy some drinks and biscuits. As we are stopping there, we got to see a motorcycle with so many mirrors on it. 

Also, we have seen the local transportation used in the town. Maybe this is one of the reasons of the slogan, it's more fun in the Philippines. The slogan didn't really pertaining to the place, but more to  the culture of the Filipinos. It just shows how innovative the people are that they can think of these ideas.

Local ride at Surigao. 

We have our shortcut trips also from Barobo to San Agustin where Britannia Island is located. It is not necessarily a shortcut, we have our naps while in the van that is why we called it shortcut. We sleep before the trip and we also wake up whenever we are in our destination. 

When we arrived at Brittania Islands, we need to cross this bridge for us to go to our boat. I find it hard to walk on it that I asked Imang and Chen to guide me. Maybe because fear comes first in my mind, it seems that I might slip on it and I might fall.

There is a 30 minute boat ride to the first Island. We managed ourselves to have a jump shot in the first island. We ask Kuya to take pictures of us and it seems we just had our photo shoot there. 

Jump shot at naked island

The second island is very near from the first island. It is called the naked island since there are no trees or anything on it, its just a piece of land which is composed of white sand. We again try a group jump shot there. We also swim there. And there was a time that we are the only people in the island.

Let's smile and pose.

The third island is much bigger than the first two island. It seems 80% of the island is composed of a big rock where people use it as a shade. There are so many people there and some of them are playing games and eating their lunch. Maybe they camp themselves there. As for us, we just took pictures there.

The last island that we visited has coconut trees. I haven't got a chance to be in the land on the fourth island. Imang, Erma and I just swim there and have ourselves pictures taken by Kuya John.

just having fun with water at britannia group of islands

After a tour there, we seem to be exhausted because of the sun's heat. It was noon time when we have our island hopping, so there is no wonder that the heat of the sun will really go beyond our skin. As we went back to the main island, we just ate our lunch and jump off to the next destination which is the Bogac Spring.

When we arrived at bogac spring, Ate Pam asked Kuya if we will still need our life jacket. He just smiled to us and said that we don't need it. So, we went immediately to the spring. As we soak ourselves into the water, it was very cold and very shallow. We laugh as we imagine ourselves if we bring the life jacket in the spring. 

Let's take a bath at bogac spring.

While in Bogac, we are wondering if we can take a bath there where we will use soap and shampoo. Kuya said to us that we can take a bath but we are hesitant with his answer that he might be kidding us. But when we saw that there are other people who have soap in their hands, we immediately get the shampoo of Imang and use it. Yes, we took a bath in bogac spring. Look at how funny our pictures. It is an incredible experience. We jokingly agree that the spring is like the downy fabric softener which has a tag line "Isang banlaw lang" since the soap vanishes from us once we immerse ourselves in the water.  

Shampoo and soap all over the spring.

And since our time is only limited there, we get out from water as soon as we finished taking a bath. There are no CR's there and the house where we should suppose to wear our dress is closed. So, we asked another house to let us wear our dress. Surprisingly, the owner of the house is very accommodating that she even allowed Ate Pam to use their room while some of us just dress in their kitchen.

So, Bogac Spring is the last stop in Surigao. We also went to Agusan del Sur to visit Lolong, the biggest crocodile that has been captured in the Philippines. It was almost 5:00 pm when we went there. 

Say Hi to Lolong!

We again take our shortcut trip from Agusan del Sur to Tagum City as we took some nap while travelling. We stop by at Tagum because some of us needed a comfort room. Davao is almost an hour trip from Davao, so some us didn't sleep. We arrived at Davao around 8:30 pm. We had our dinner again at Mcdo - Bajada and this time, rice is available. As we ate our dinner, we decided to spend our night in Davao. So, Kuya john help us find a hotel where we can sleep over. Almost all inns are full that we found the hotel almost 10:00 in the evening. We occupy three rooms. I am with Chen and Erma as we will be going to get the first trip of bus the next day.

August 21, 2012 - Tuesday

Atlast, we woke up around 3:00 in the morning. As we went to the terminal, the bus for the first trip is already gone and we need to wait for the next bus. While waiting, we ate cup of noodles at the terminal. Again, we took the second bus which leaves around 5:00 am from Davao. We arrived home safely around 9:00 in the morning.

So, this is how my trip to Surigao, the tour is tiring but it is worth it. As Imang says "the best" everytime she drinks the cup of coke in every meal, this is also how I describe my trip. I've been to Paradise. The Best ang SURIGAO!

 Note: The pictures are taken by Imang and Kuya John. Thanks to them. 
           Bayan ni Juan, the name of our tour package, is owned by Kuya John,