Camiguin - Cagayan De Oro 2012: a Photo Blog [Part 1]

Dear Juliet,

This is a backdated entry. Since I wouldn't be able to recall everything, I decided to just use our photos to narrate my most adventurous trip yet. Check out the captions for further details and stories. To save my readers [as if napaka-dami nila at pluralized pa] from photo bombardment, I'll first talk about our DAY 1 in this entry. Note that this is a guided tour, so the itinerary was provided by the agency which our travel idol, Shaine, booked for us.

At NAIA with High School loves! We were a group of 8 including the person who took this photo. Kawawa, hindi nasama.

Cagayan De Oro: The City of Golden Friendship. This is my first time in Mindanao!

From the airport in Cagayan de Oro, we were fetched by our overly accommodating and trusty driver-slash-guide, Kuya Jimmy. He drove us from the airport to the seaport where we'll board the RORO to Camiguin. We traveled for three hours or so.

I think this is everyone's first time to ride the RORO, except for me. My first time was when we went to Alabat, Quezon for a shoot. This was an interesting experience. While the boat was docked at the seaport, there were kids who dove from the top of the boat to the waters. Then, they asked for some coins which they will sisid. Wow, "which they will sisid" talaga? Shet, di ko alam ang English ng sisid! Ano nga ba? Hahaha.

By the time we got to Camiguin, we were all famished since it was past our lunch time. A certain "kuya" was waiting for us at the seaport. We didn't bother remembering his name as he was a cranky guy. We boarded his multicab which will take us to the different tourist spots in the island.

First stop: The Giant Clam Sanctuary. As you can see, I don't have a decent photo of what this place is all about. This is for the reason that we were so hungry and all we wanted to do was have lunch! In this place, tourists are supposed to snorkel and check out the hundreds of giant clams. But being the famished bitches that we were, we just chose to see the clams in the make-shift aquariums and most importantly, EAT. Too bad the service in the place was horrible and as for the food, we only ate them all up because we were dying of hunger. LoL!

The fun begins at Katibawasan Falls. Entrance fee for adults: PhP 20. This waterfall will get you shivering! The water was ice cold, literally. I was hesitant to jump in at first, but would I miss the experience just cos I'm a scaredy cat na takot sa tubig? Heck NO! This place must be a sure hit during summer!

After a fun swim, we tried out Camiguin's version of KIPING. It's a crunchy snack made of kamoteng kahoy. Think casava cake, only flat and crispy. This kiping is smothered with sweet latik caramel which got us crazy. Naging man vs kiping ang peg namin once we boarded our multicab. The caramel was all over the vehicle and our clothes, especially Mary Ann's!

Next stop: The Sunken Cemetery. According to the stories told to us by the locals, this cemetery used to be DRY. When a nearby volcano erupted, nature re-designed the place and the sea rose to submerge the cemetery. As per the locals, there are no bones in there. We didn't bother going snorkeling [didn't want to see for ourselves whether there were skeletons or none] nor coming closer to the cross as doing so will cost us a few pesos. 

We just contented ourselves with taking photos and enjoying the view made more beautiful by the sunset. After viewing this place, some of us bought souvenirs [ref magnets, key chains] which were sold by the locals. Then, we were brought to the ruins of a church. I can't remember the name of the church as I wasn't attentive to the "kuya."

As it was getting dark, we had to cut the tour short and just skip the spots which didn't really appeal to us. Then, we then had dinner--a decent meal, at last--in our last stop: the Hot Spring Resort. This is the best meal we've had that day. Fortunately, the resort's restaurant served good food. Their crispy pata was promising! And look, we had lanzones which were really cheap at PhP 50 per kilo. Yum!

What's disappointing about this pit stop, though, aside from it was swarming with vacationers, was that the pools weren't hot. They weren't even warm to begin with. Though I wanted to have a relaxing swim, the pools fell short of my expectations. I was expecting it to be therapeutic hot. Instead, ang ending, mas HOT pa pala kami kesa sa tubig mula sa hot spring. Hay. 

Pardon the photo. Again, I can't find a better photo of how we ended the day. We stayed in a lodge by the sea. Hearing the waves as we were sharing stories was soothing. My friends had a few bottles of beer while I, obviously, just feasted on junk food. I hit the sack early since we had to catch an early-morning boat ride to Camiguin's White Beach.

Day 1 in Camiguin ends here. You might be wondering where all the "adventure" I'm talking about is. Hold you horses! You'll be able to read more of that HERE.

TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST.
TOUGH PEOPLE DO.
★ HAPPIDEZZ