Three months ago, mom and I decided to take a trip to Leyte following lola's passing. Lola used to come visit her hometown every month of May for the fiesta. When her health deteriorated late last year, the fact that she might not make it to this year's trip was already foreseen. Unfortunately, she did lose her battle to cancer. But we decided to take the trip for her. It pained me somehow to think that we could have visited her hometown all together, but I'm just as well comforted by the fact that her new home up there is better tenfold.
It may have been a sad purpose of going on a weeklong vacation but having many of our relatives meeting us there turned it into a rather fun mini reunion. The trip wasn't easy for me and mom. Since there is no airport in Southern Leyte, we had to choose between Cebu (five hours away by ferry) and Tacloban (four hours away by land). Being in charge of the itinerary, I took this advantage of taking a side trip to my favorite city in Visayas: Cebu. We'll get to that later.
Since we did not want to miss the disperas ng piyesta, we headed straight to Pier 3 in Cebu from Mactan Airport, literally sleepless as we were already at the airport at 3am. So after the 8-hour journey to the remote province of Matalom, Leyte I looked as if I could pass for a zombie extra in a post-apocalyptic film. I slept through the entire "disco". It was a loud party at the town plaza in probinsya style. There was a stage in front, tables and monoblocks set up forming a U-shape around the plaza, and the old school dance floor in the middle. Lights and sounds were blaring from every corner and people both young and old were dancing while I just slumped there in the sidelines with my forehead over my arm. People probably thought I was drunk. The best part was we went home at 1am and woke up at 4am as we were scheduled to climb Hanginan in Maasin, Leyte the following day. I climbed a mountain with only 3 hours of sleep you guys.
View from the summit of Hanginan
Hanginan is a traditional pilgrimage site in the City of Maasin, well-known to many local devotees. People climb Hanginan to reach the church at the top known to be the dwelling place of the image of San Francisco Javier. It takes 1-2 hours to reach it depending on your pace. They say all wishes made to Senyor San Francisco shall be granted so long as you treat this climb as a sacrifice and if possible, without any complaints on the way up. Many attest to this myth. On your hike up, people whose wishes were granted (especially the sick who were healed) donated in paving some parts of the trail that were difficult to climb. Their names are etched on pavement and cemented stairs. Mom said her wish was granted when we first climbed Hanginan over ten years ago.
With mom, aunts, and cousin. Co-sleepless climbers.
We stayed in my lola's old home and the worst part of the trip was having limited water supply in the area. The climb was a real sweat-jerker and we were yearning for nothing but a good long shower afterwards. Sadly, we would have to walk a mile or ride a habal-habal from lola's house to ask our relative if we could use the poso in her backyard. For days we stripped half-naked in my tita's backyard taking turns in pumping water from the poso just so we could get a bath. Kicking it old school, yes. I also slept uncomfortably on a wooden chair for three nights. I'd be lying if I say I didn't complain about it at first but remembering the good laughs we shared during the most inconvenient moments, I'm glad I had the privilege to experience everything.
Canigao Island. Matalom, Leyte.
Even Canigao Island, the paradise island of Matalom didn't make it easy for us. To get to Canigao, you'll have to ride a boat from Matalom's small port and sail for 10-15 minutes. Since this is the only decent island resort in Matalom and its neighbor towns, taking the fact that it was a Saturday, the crowd was pretty intense. From the line at the port to the island itself. We had to go around the island to find a spot that doesn't have too many people swimming so we can take pictures and better appreciate the raw beauty of the beach. Canigao boasts of its crystal clear waters and powdery fine white sand similar to Boracay's. It was just too bad that the series of mishaps poured along with the heavy rain. Dark clouds brought heavy downpour and since there were too many people, we weren't able to get a cottage. We camped under a tree and got soaked by rainwater. There were also no decent comfort rooms. The line to the shower area and only two functioning toilets in the island was unbelievable so we gave up. Given the unfortunate circumstances, we went home not bothering to shower and ended up riding another habal habal to the next town so we can bathe in our neighbor's backyard. But as I said, all part of the fun. :)
It was a Sunday when we went back to Cebu. It's been a while since I last boarded a ferry and I forgot that unless you're on a cruise ship, there's nothing to do in the middle of the ocean. But all worth it since things have been turned around once we docked in Cebu. From papag to a comfy bed, from pashmina to a comforter, from poso to warm shower. 0 to 100 real quick!
Not only did I get a comfy bed, I also had breakfast in bed!
The next day we went to visit the Temple of Leah.
This Roman-inspired temple is owned by the Adarna family dedicated to Leah Adarna (Ellen Adarna's grandmother). The purpose of building this place kind of reminded me of the Taj Mahal. The beauty of its structure is just exquisite, as if you've set foot in a foreign country. I can't imagine how many millions were spent constructing this. It's not finished yet but visitors can already enter the site for Php 50.
But my favorite part of our trip was our stay in Mactan Island. On our last night, we checked in at Mövenpick Resort which is truly a man-made paradise.
The view from our balcony. They gave us a full ocean room view upgrade FOR FREE!
The swimming pool
The beach garden
Ibiza Beach Club. Best place to chill in the afternoon with a few beers perhaps.
We ran out of time but there are still so many places to visit in the promising land of Cebu. I didn't make it to Oslob or Kawasan Falls. I didn't even get to try wining out at La Vie Parisienne. Nevertheless I am elated to have had this breather. I'll come back, Cebu. I always do, right? ❤️
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