Eastern Samar 20170818
2017 was my mayhem year with a full load of outdoor exploration and activity. It was August, the month of Davao's Kadayawan festival that my colleague and i decided to take the longest journey ride for our Luzon to Mindanao by land and via roll-on and roll-off. We spent our first four days in the Bicol region to capture the wonders of Mayon volcano (you can also visit my Albay feature story for more Mayon photos).
After our stay in Camalig and Legazpi city we traverse the road of Sorsogon to Matnog Port where you can see the large formation of Mt. Bulusan, or most known to be the southernmost active volcano in Luzon. Unfortunately as the designated driver, i wasn't able to hand carry my camera during the entire trip and was only able to capture scenic shots from my mobile phone.
For a roughly two hour of travel we finally arrived at Allen port in Samar and drove the night straight to Cafe Eusebio bed and breakfast at Catarman. After settling our quick rest we have decided to circle around the eastern part of Samar. From Catarman we took the route going Calbayog and did a courtesy visit to Balangiga proper, it is the controversial place where our President Rodrigo Duterte once announced to his State of the Nation (SONA) the forgotten historic tragedy of the Balangiga massacre and the Balangiga bells.
After our quick visit to Balangiga we extend our trip at the southern most portion of Samar in Guiuan, then traverse again to Catbalogan for a two day one night stay. Meanwhile, while we were at Catbalogan we did a courtesy visit at the city tourism office and had invited us for a dinner feast, they also offered us to have a special access on their Mutya ng Samar beauty pageant, thanks to Mrs. Charo Miel for giving us the privilege. Aside from witnessing the beauties of Waray, i had also seen a unique and perhaps one of the strangest monument of Philippines National Hero, José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda, widely known as José Rizal.
As much as we want to tour the entire eastern Samar, we only had to be selective to visit places that are accessible via by land. Before we streak our way to the famous bridge of love, the San Juanico bridge, we did a quick stop over at Marabut to talk and gather information with the locals as we look for our lunch at their scenic beach spot. We also had a chance to make a way to visit the most well-preserved church in the Samar provinces, The St. Michael Church of Basey. It is a century old church that is strategically located on top of the hill to serve as a watch tower during the Spanish colonial era.
San Juanico bridge claims to be the longest bridge spanning on a body of seawater in the Philippines, although the Candaba in the province of Pampanga is longer, purist doesn't consider Candaba as the longest because the latter is a land bridge crossing only a few streams and ponds. San Juanico strait, which connects the islands of Samar and Leyte, is still the narrowest strait in the Philippines with proudly two kilometers wide at its narrowest point. Up to this day, the bridge remains to be the main gateway of Eastern Visayas and had attracted a lot of tourists from all over the world because of it's uniqueness and its history.
© by Don A. Clavo de Comer