Philippines Expat and Travel Blog March Archive

The Tacloban Advenure

By ProTraveler at 03/08/08 14:32

Me and my a few of my classmates went to Tacloban, Leyte yesterday to attend a business symposium. I'm home now and a bit tired but satisfied. It is because aside from the good trip to a very exquisite place, that trip also marks the end of our thesis. Yes, we're finally done with it.

Things went great. We had a nice dinner at Tacloban's airport, then we straight head to our hotel. Our hotel and venue of the symposium, Eco Inn And Spa is such a nice one. Its very accessible and you only need 10 minutes from the hotel to the airport. They offer full meal stay. That means even if we already had our dinner in the airport, we were also offered a new dinner in the hotel, haha, and we didn't turn their offer down. Their food is great. Its very tasty and irresistible. The rooms are very much fine. Air conditioned, fully furnished rooms was given to all three of us. We shared the room but its still very comfortable. The view from the hotel's veranda is also amazing. You can see the lights of the city clearly.

At 7 in the morning we woke up with breakfast ready to be serve and is only waiting for our call. It was then served to us when my friend called the reception. It was a wave dash service I should say. As usual, its delicious. By 8am we went to the grand hall, where 100 other people are waiting. It's very big, I guess it can accommodate 200-500 people. The symposiums started, we listened, at time we got bored, but most of the time, we yawn, lol haha kidding aside. Most of the time we are listening haha.

The symposium ended at exactly 12pm. They served the mouth watering lunch, let us stayed for a few more minutes, and finally went back to our respective rooms and get our things ready to go home.

All in all it was such a great trip, though short. I really love Tacloban!

Grotto of Vizcaya

Two day ago I went to Leyte, a province in the Visayas region to do a photo project. It was a 25 minute flight from Cebu via the Mactan International Airport to Leyte's main city, Tacloban. Our guide said if you prefer a ferry ride, it will took us an hour or two, depending on what kind of vessel we are boarding. From Tacloban, a team of other photographers are waiting for us. They at students from the University of St. Peter in Ormoc, also a key city of Leyte.

The journey to our destination was quite entertaining. There are lots to see on the way. The green vegetation of the province is showcased every time our vehicle traveled on the roads dividing the mountains. But for the greater part of the ride, we took the coastal roads that satisfy my hunger for sea water and sea air. The breeze is simply fulfilling.

After a 40 minutes ride, we arrived at our destination. It was a sound trip and I was enthralled more seeing our destination was more interesting. It was a grotto above the mountain. Yea, we're on the foot of the mountain, no vehicles allowed above, so we have to trekked up to have our goals completed. It was like a pilgrimage, lol.

So we head start the mini mountain climbing. There are concrete roads that can only accommodate a wide span of 5 people horizontally so that made our journey a bit easier. But as the place gets higher, the pressure is getting stronger too. If you're the type of person who can easily get tired, I suggest not to go to this grotto. Its becoming harder and harder to breathe.

Alas, halfway above the mountain, my circular bag for lenses fell and rolled down. I was in a hurry to catch it, my heart pounding and I feel worried that I will have to trekked it down and start trekking up again. Luckily the other photographers about 12 meters I'm ahead off, caught my rolling bag. Gee, I was really tired and there are no words thats coming out of my mouth to thank them I gave them my smile haha.

We arrived on a resting ground. I was in complete awe with the panoramic view. Breath taking, and what more if we are on the peak. I am so excited. But I'll cut this for now haha. I'll talk about this next time. See yah!