3 spots in 3 days

Long overdue. I know. Who cares am the only one reading this blog anyway. Since this is for my own personal consumption I think I am more than entitled to set my own pace. HA! excuses!

Seriously, I've been meaning to put my thoughts on this trip into writing however, since I was so "emotionally involved" with what happened in the Metro during the typhoon Oondoy, I decided to postpone and postpone then postponed some more my blow by blow account of this CDO trip. Now, I think my time is up and am ready to share.

Day 1
RAFTING THE FAMOUS WHITE WATERS

Did you know that Cagayan was derived from the word Cagay which means river? Yes my dear self that's true. And since Cagayan is known for its rivers they naturally named their province after it. As it is a a very logical Filipino thing to do, name your place after what is found abudant.
I love how Filipinos comes up with names like brgy. Baboyan kai daghan man ug baboy! duh?! Kailangan ba imemorize yan?! anyway.....


For a first timer in the river rafting, I found that idea of rapids very exciting and the thought of falling off the rubber boat quite scary. But the truth is, it was only scary in the first few rapids. After that sisiw! HA! It was definitely fun though, most especially watching your friend fall off the boat while you and the rest of her "so-called" friends are just merely laughing their hearts out. I have to admit that was a highlight and a picture perfect moment. On the brighter side, at least she got a rapid named after her - Loura's DROP.

While the ignorant first timers blissfully basked in the adrenaline rush, two of my friends bragged about how BORING the rapids were, coz apparently they tried something more insane than what we had. It's true. Once you get the hang of it it can be pretty much a dull. But the scenery! it was AMAZING! It's like being enclosed by the amazing towering cliff formations as an endangered bird hovers. It was definitely a feast for the eyes, and places like that could never make you any prouder of your motherland. While my heart was swelling with sentimentality my mind was singing the WOW PHILIPPINES jingle.

I wouldn't mind rafting for a second time. Hopefully next time the rapids would be more exciting so I could be like my two friends who could make a comparison between a boring and a not boring rapid.

Day 2
Isla del Fuego - CAMIGUIN

If I haven't mentioned it yet, we embarked on this trip during one of the worst typhoons in the history of the country, Ondoy. Understandably, the weather wasn't as good as we hoped for, in fact we were even just lucky to cross the island of Mantigue, because after that the waves were just so huge that bankas could no longer properly dock on the shore. But island of Mantigue was just plain worth it!.

I don't know why every time there's a nice sandy white island, everyone else likes to christen it as the little Boracay. I just can't see why they have to compare everything to Boracay when their natural wonders could pretty much stand on their own. Oh well, another cultural faux pas.

Nonetheless, Mantigue Nature Park is this little island that could be toured on foot in just an hour or so . What I love most about this island is its natural diversity. Walking within their small forest is a pretty awesome thing to do. It can be quite a "twilight-y" experience, except that there's no Edward Cullen around coz you're definitely no Bella. duh?!

But what really makes this trip memorable was our close encounter with their Mayor. Si Mayor Alex. He struck me as one of those politicians who aren't really politicians. I like that he was really down to earth and passionate about the preservation and rehabilitation of the environment, especially Mantigue. Right now he is working on relocating the residents of Mantigue so the island can be fully rehabilitated for eco-tourism use. I think that it's a very smart move considering that it's a win-win for both the people and the environment. And just so you know, no one is allowed to stay overnight in the Nature Park so as to lessen carbon footprint. Swell!

Katigbawasan Falls was a brrrrr......... It was like dipping into a pool of ice on a rainy day! Our tropical bodies couldn't last that long and tita myra's strict military sched was more than useful on this occasion. ya know what i mean! haha.


16th Century Catarman Ruins, was caused by a nearby volcanic eruption during that period, and so was the Sunken Cemetary. After all that small island has a total of 7 volcanoes. Another FYI! ;)

Partay at night!

Cagayan has probably one of the most bizzare party place I've been to. I don't wanna delve into details but Pulse certainly made a mark on our trip!. It was just shockingly unreal, and so was the fact that we had clean good fun that night.

By the way I envy the empty bridges at CDO. It's definitely the hangout place to be. It's a perfect place to chill, and have a good drink at the back of the pick up while listening to some great music. The last night was definitely a shout of HURRAH!

Day 3

CHICKEN AND FALLS - ILIGAN

I have to admit that the reason why I really really wanted to go Iligan was the Sunburst. I wanted to try what the Orginal Sunburst tastes like and guess what? I can't taste the difference coz my tastebuds weren't trained for that kind of thing. To me it simply just tasted like how a chicken should taste, same way as how turtles and snakes and everything exotic tastes - chicken.

We then headed off to Maria Christina Falls which was quite a sight to behold. Seeing the Maria Christina Falls is just so surreal, coz normally I just see and color it in our gradeschool textbooks. I never expected that the tiny picture from my Araling Panlipunan book can be very grand and majestic in flesh! Just imagine the height and the impact of water as it falls. Unbelievable. And those river rapids?! well, they sure are far from boring!

Our last stop by the way was the old mansion of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's family. It was okay, typical house of the 40's old rich, but the GMA's playhouse was cute! Now you could just imagine our cute President playing tea parties in her cute house.... kyooooot.... :)

I like Iligan. I find it clean and green. There are certain areas of the roads where you can say "parang wala sa Pinas." The abudance of trees on the side roads just makes all the difference. It's about time we learn that trees makes fine ornaments.

*****

WOW PINAS! more to go...