to be continued at home. time out na ko e :P

Nov 29 2008 -Dec 1 2008

I have always been intrigued by Camiguin as long as I can remember. I was told of it's beautiful sights and it being the perfect escape to all the urban noise, so after our booking to Palawan was cancelled, we shifted gears and booked for CDO to Camiguin instead. Finally, we were about to demystify Camiguin!

Our first option was to get one of those beach front rooms but I ran across this website that tells of Enigmata Treehouse - an artist's haven that is perfect for backpacker wannabes like us. We were sold when I showed him the place, so months before getting there, Enigmata's Eagle Nest Suite (at a cheap P950/night) was already booked for our arrival.

DAY 1

The journey to Camiguin began at the Agora terminal over at CDO. It was a two hour drive before we got off at Balingoan Port at Misamis Oriental. From the Port, we have to ride one of those ferries similar to the ones who sank claiming lives during the rainy season. He told me it wasn't a good time to discuss ships and ferries sinking so I contented myself shooting them children who would happily jump to the clear blue waters for coins. We reached Camiguin's Benoni Port a good one hour by the ferry. we planned not to look like tourists, but iba na ang mga mukhang artista (bwahahaha! adventure namin to! walang pakialaman!), so we had no choice but to be hounded by porters the moment we set foot on the island.

The lucky driver whom we hired to bring us to Enigmata Treehouse (at P250) would be Mang Dadoy.. and this is where our friendship with him started. We reached Enigmata by 430 pm, and upon seenig the place, we were already enthralled by it's artistic nature. A couple of setbacks though- being the aircon baby he is, poor Hans has no choice but to spend the next few nights with a fan and the cool Camiguin air. Also, the ceilings are too low for him (as always), and it's a non smoking, no junk food, no foul words, no soft drinks camp so it was like penitensya on a vacation. The artsy fartsy nature of the place well compensated for that though, and him being an architect and me being a born diva and his best actress bet, we were at one with the place.

We don't want to spend the day without having a taste of what Camiguin has to offer so we decided to tick off one of our destinations in advance - the Ardent Hot Springs. We rented a habal-habal for P200 that would take us back and forth Ardent. It was his first ever motorcycle ride so he was kinda ecstatic about it (STILL, BABY, THAT"S NOT ENOUGH REASON TO GET A MOTORCYCLE! .... sorry for the interruption, I just have to reiterate that to one particular reader). After swallowing some bugs while doing that typical "aaaaaaahhhh" thing when you marvel at something, nearly kissing Manong driver's neck (because I instinctively kiss back when Hans kisses me on the neck), seeing Camiguin in the dark, and having enough of Manong driver's smelly pits, we arrived at the Ardent Hot Springs. Entrance was a cheap P30 and cottages can be rented for a minimal fee too. When it comes to relaxing, this one takes the cake on the whole trip! The water is so warm that he compalined of it literally boiling his family jewels. We decided to get out just in time before he can be clinically declared sterile. Two things you have to learn about Camiguin - 1. When they say one place is malapit, prepare to travel several kilometers 2. People get to sleep as early as 8pm... di pwede ang call center dito! We went back to our place in time to watch a muvee on his laptop (no architectural work for Twiggy the laptop! Yipee!) and have mind blowing...

DAY 2

Mang Dadoy, our driver/yaya/tagaboo (that's tagabuhat for you)/interpreter/photographer, picked us up at 8am. I swear he looked like a malnourished Jay Sonza (may God bless his soul), but his hospitable nature made him more than those in slashes above.

- first stop was Katibawasan Falls- a good 72m drop of cold water deep into the mountains of camiguin. We took pictures wherein we learned that it's hard to pose in freezing water. Our bodies weren't that tough to withstand the cold so we got out after a few minutes.

- Second stop was at the town plaza of Mambajao to get their ever famous Pastel from Vjandep. We were just curious and wanted to end all the fuzz about them Pastels, but when we took a bite, we became addicted. Now we know what the fuzz is all about. Breakfast was at the Vjandep restaurant where I had my share of their Consilog. Now that we're nutritionally recharged, we ventured on to more of Camiguin

-We stopped along the Green Church along the way. The good men of the parish were kind enough to tour us into their museum which housed some very interesting artifacts with some as early as the 1800's. People here are religious, I tell you.

-next stop was taking pictures of Camiguin's mountainside and oceanside. That includes sitting in the middle of the road to capture some of the island's beauty.

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