How this trip was conceived is still fresh in my mind. Eric and I were unwinding at Caffe Firenzo in Davao with Blogie on the afternoon of August 23, 2010 after experiencing the Kadayawan Festival. We had a laptop each and were doing our usual rounds of quick blog updates, checking Facebook and e-mail when suddenly Eric blurted out, “May promo! May promo! Dali!“. Airphil Express had an P88 promo for all their domestic destinations, for travel on June-July 2011. Since I didn’t know what destinations I’d be booking, I asked Eric where he’d be going on those dates and he quickly suggested, “Mag-Pintados tayo”. He was quite sure of the dates as the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival is held on a fixed date every year. For that, I was able to book a round trip ticket (CEB-TAC) for only P231, ALL-INCLUSIVE!
Anyway, Eastern Visayas has always been one of the regions that I have long wanted to explore as I’d always see images of the San Juanico Bridge and the Leyte Landing on my Civics and Culture books back when I was in grade school. And finally, I have conquered Eastern Visayas!
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran. To the west of Leyte across the Camotes Sea is Cebu Province.
Samar, formerly Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar island as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland. Catbalogan City and Calbayog City, two of the three cities of Samar Island, are located in the province of Samar. Bordering the province to the north is Northern Samar and to the east is Eastern Samar. Samar is connected to Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge, which spans the San Juanico Strait, the narrowest strait in the country. To the south of the province is the Leyte Gulf.
Preparations before the flight. Here are some of the things I usually do before a flight:
- Place your valid identification card (I use my student ID) and air ticket in your hand-carry bag on the night before your flight so you won’t leave them behind.
- For carry-on baggage, liquids, aerosols and gels exceeding 100mL is a no-no so I bought small “made for air travel” containers so that I could include toiletries and other hygiene essentials in my carry-on baggage.
- Don’t forget your vitamins and first-aid needs, although you can opt to buy them when you arrive at your destination.
- Tripods and umbrellas cannot be carried on board so they need to be checked-in.
- For a comfortable travel experience, don’t bring a lot of stuff, especially if they’re totally unnecessary!
- The night before my flight, I fully charged my camera and flash batteries, cellphones and laptop so that I could ready the chargers in my bag and not leave them behind.
- For clothes, just bring enough and not too much. If your travel itinerary doesn’t involve a lot of “physical and sweaty” activities, clothes could be recycled so as to reduce your baggage. Remember, carry-on luggage should not exceed 8 kilos!
- And yes, I did mention the word itinerary. Long before a scheduled trip, you should prepare your itinerary so that no time is wasted and your trip is maximized.
– If you’re travelling with a buddy, plan together.
– If you’re travelling alone, research, research, research and do not hesitate to seek help from friends who travel a lot and friends who live in the place you’re about to visit.
- Finalize your hotel bookings months or weeks before your trip.
- Buy maps (I recommend EZMaps) so it is easier for you to familiarize and navigate within a new place. Maps are really a big help as you could already visualize and cluster your target destinations even before your trip, it is another essential if you want to maximize your trip.
- Another thing you must not forget is CASH! Prepare some cash that would just be enough in case of a worst case scenario of having no ATMs available or ATMs bogging down at your destination. You may place your cash in an envelope in your bag. I don’t recommend placing big amounts of cash just in your wallet. My advice is to spread chunks of your cash, some in your wallet, some in your bag, some in some other places but do take note where you actually placed them as you might be scrambling around looking for your cash, that would be worse.
- And finally, the biggest preparation comes from WITHIN. Get enough sleep before your flight! That never happens to me as I always get too excited everytime I travel. The best thing I could get is two hours of sleep before a trip!
I can’t wait to share with you all the adventures I’ve experienced in Tacloban one-by-one in the next few days so stay tuned!
Ack! This is probably the worst seat in the plane for aerial photos!
