Libotero – Philippine Travel Photo Blog

Part 5 of a series.

DAY 1.

After that very unfortunate accident (when did accidents become fortunate, anyway?), we had to go on with our journey to Isla Jardin del Mar Resort and still take the faulty “habal-habal”. We saw a road sign telling us that the resort was only 1 kilometer away! YES! We’re near! Just a little more patience and it’s over! But then, that one kilometer felt like three kilometers! Did they actually measure the road distance properly? Hmmm.

Anyway, we finally arrived at Isla Jardin del Mar Resort! AT LAST! VICTORY!
(more…)

Part 4 of a series.

DAY 1.

After being stranded at the Sarangani Provincial Capitol for more than an hour, we were finally back on the road! Yee-haw! I really enjoyed the habal-habal ride, SO FAR. The wind was so cool and fresh! But then, a few minutes later, it started drizzling! Oh no! It was kinda “agonizing” as we were on a speeding motorcycle and we were going against the direction of the rain. That felt like thousands of needles pricking my skin! LOL! Anyway, thankfully, the drizzle stopped a few kilometers after. Then, I asked Eric if we were near. He replied, we’re not halfway yet! What? The route from General Santos to Glan, Sarangani looked quite short on the map but it actually is 45 kilometers long! Yes, you read that right, FORTY-FIVE KILOMETERS on a MOTORCYCLE! So, from then on, I decided to just close my eyes and feel the cool breeze and forget about the number of kilometers. The highway was still mostly flat from Alabel to Malapatan, but from Alabel to Malapatan, the road began to go uphill. It was a long and winding road! There were times that the road was on the cliffside and if you think about it, it’s hair-raising, but then, wonderful panoramic views of Sarangani Bay were the saving grace! Several kilometers later, we already found ourselves at the town center of Glan. I breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that the beach area was still ten kilometers away! Pfffft! From the town proper to Gumasa Beach, Eric and I started to notice that the motorcycle had difficulties going uphill. Manong Driver had to shift to the lowest gear and go very slow in order for us to climb the hills that were not supposedly that challenging. True enough, there was some BAD NEWS. It was only when we were experiencing difficulty that Manong Driver admitted his motorcycle brakes were not working properly but since we were already near, we had to go on! But despite that fact, Manong Driver still advances his habal-habal to unimaginable speeds of more than 100kph! (That’s according to Eric’s GPS application and I hope it is inaccurate, LOL!). And here’s the unpleasant part…

Around three kilometers before we could finally reach Isla Jardin del Mar Resort in Gumasa Beach, there was this one tough and very steep downhill course we’d have to go through and Manong Driver was overspeeding! Manong Driver tried to hit the brakes and advised that we disembark the motorcycle (Manong Driver, are you crazy? You want us to jump?) but in no time, we found ourselves crawling on the ground. GAWSH, we slammed to the side of the road, which was thankfully just a soft hill of soil and dried mud or else, who knows how many broken bones we could be having now. I was shocked! I was in disbelief… I saw stars! Good thing, Eric rescued me right away and I recovered my presence of mind. The first thing I saw in addition to my exhaust pipe burns were additional wounds, bleeding wounds! Oh no, my ever-perfect legs (LOL!) are damaged! (MISFORTUNE #2) That was such a big thing for me as I’ve never sustained any injuries since birth. But looking at the bigger picture, the accident was minor and we are very thankful that we did not sustain any serious injuries and damages. Manong Driver was very apologetic but he also kept cursing his motorcycle, “P*tang ina, ‘di nag-brake! P*tang ina! P*tang ina!”

After that misfortune, we could have FIRED the driver but then we were in the middle of NOWHERE! No houses, no cellphone signal, no nothing! So we had no other option but to stick with our Manong Driver until we reach Isla Jardin del Mar..

A shot of the wounds I sustained a few hours after the accident. The wounds at the left side are the ones I got from the “downhill” accident, while those at the right side are the burns I got from the “tambutso” misfortune. Although the downhill accident was definitely more “traumatic”, the burns were more painful, LOL, how ironic!

(…to be continued)

Part 3 of a series.

DAY 1.

After claiming my check-in baggage from the baggage carousel at the General Santos City Airport, I then proceeded to get a cab to bring me to Hotel Dolores where Eric and I would be staying for the night. The normal asking rate for a taxi from the airport to the city proper is between P200-P300. It is 30-45 minutes away from the airport, depending on the traffic situation.

Upon arrival at the hotel, Eric informed me that Marc, who’s supposedly joining us on our 4-day tour, failed to wake up on time and missed his flight from Iloilo. Awww, how sad, but oh well, we had to go on with our trip. So, I settled my things at our hotel room then we immediately went out for a quick lunch. From the hotel, we took a tricycle to KCC Mall. The mall is more or less 2 kilometers away, so we only paid P7 each. Where else could you eat fast but in a fast food outlet? So, we chose to eat at McDonald’s.

After lunch, we took another tricycle to the Lagao Public Transport Terminal, the jump-off point for our destination that afternoon, Glan, Sarangani. There were a lot of jeepneys and vans bound for Glan just waiting to be filled but there were motorcycles (locally known as “habal-habal”) waiting to be hired as well. I could have easily and quickly opted for either the jeepney or the van but Eric thought that taking a motorcycle to the countryside would be thrilling and exciting. I’ve never ridden a motorcycle, ever!, so it took me quite some time to decide but being someone who likes to try something new when no one’s watching, I thought, why not? But still, I had to rethink and rethink. On one side, hey, I’m not at home, I can do everything I want, but on the other hand, what if we meet an accident (God forbid) along the way? How will I explain it to my parents? Ultimately though, the adventurous me said yes to the habal-habal challenge and just put it as “Thy will be done”! So, we took the habal-habal and off we go to Sarangani but before we could go all the way, we had to stop by a gasoline station. We had to get off the motorcycle for it to be refilled and as I disembarked, I didn’t notice that my right leg was already touching the motorcycle’s exhaust pipe. OUCH! That was so hot! But I didn’t mind it (MISFORTUNE #1). Duh, you could call me “tanga” but yeah, I was really “tanga”, it was my first time to ride a motorcycle.

Sarangani Provincial Capitol

Before we went straight to Gumasa Beach, we decided to drop by Sarangani’s Provincial Capitol in the capital, Alabel. Sarangani is the 29th province I’ve visited! Another one down, much more to go!

As we approached the area, I was pleasantly surprised by the wideness of the area covered by the Capitol complex! It’s actually a very large area, with pine trees and landscaped gardens all over the place. To add to that, the whole complex is gated with security personnel at the entrances.

The Sarangani Provincial Capitol is a massive building and it is, in my opinion, one of the grandest Provincial Capitol buildings in the country. I’ve seen several photos of the Capitol in the past but it looks much, much better in person.

Anyway, Eric and I were just supposed to drop by for a few minutes to take some photos but unfortunately, our habal-habal was caught with a flat tire upon our entry to the Capitol grounds! Gaah! So our habal-habal driver had to scramble to the nearest place where he could have the tires vulcanized. It was already 12:30 in the afternoon when Manong Driver left and promised to be back the soonest possible time but 30 minutes later, there was still no sign of him. We just recalled that we already paid Manong in full, so he might have thought of leaving us stranded there as he already has his “talent fee”. But since the weather was quite cooperative with some clouds covering the scorching noontime sun, we decided to wait a few more minutes and while waiting, we took more shots and I applied lotion to my exhaust pipe burn as an initial remedy. Thankfully, Manong Driver indeed came back, about an hour later!

As soon as Manong Driver parked in front of us, we hurriedly rode the habal-habal so we could recoup some of our lost minutes! Our roadtrip to Glan, Sarangani resumes… EXCITING!

(…to be continued)