Southern Leyte | Town-Hopping The Towns Of Maasin, Padre Burgos And Sogod

The Eastern Visayas region is comprises of six provinces namely Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar. My objective with this recent trip is to visit all the six provinces. It took me hard times in preparing my itinerary since I only have 5 days allotted for this. There so many interesting places this region could offer yet some traveler tend to ignore it.

Upon arriving at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City I headed to the Van-Van’s terminal where I eat lunch in the eatery beside the terminal then after that I boarded a van bound for Maasin in Southern Leyte. Tacloban City, the regional center of Leyte and Samar, is the main gateway if you’re flying out of Manila.

My first stop is the city of Maasin in Southern Leyte. After checking in at GV Hotel I wash up then started exploring the city. I asked the hotel staff about the waterfalls in the nearby area but sad to say they don’t have any idea about it. It’s late in the afternoon though so I just spend it roaming around.

The 300 years old Maasin Cathedral was built in 1700. There is a huge painting in ceiling of the church. It is also well lighted.

Along the Espina Boulevard, locals spend their afternoon chasing the sunset and enjoying the fresh air.

On my second day I headed to the town of Padre Burgos. This is the jump off point to the island of Limasawa  this island is where Ferdinand Magellan celebrated first mass in the country.

Heavy rains welcome me and it so risky if I will push my plan of going to the island riding a boat. Instead i contended myself watching the island from afar and eating a burger I bought in the port area.

The next town I explore is Sogod in Southern Leyte. The breathtaking view of Sogod Bay blew me away. In the nearby is the Agas-Agas bridge which  is the tallest in the country. There is a zip line and cable car ride as an added attraction but due to unfavorable weather I wasn’t able to drop by instead decided to go directly to Tacloban boarded an ordinary bus with the locals. I spend my second night at Tacloban Village Townhouse.

This part of my Eastern Visayas trip series.

Budget | Southern Leyte | Samar | Northern Samar | Leyte

Backpacking Eastern Visayas Expenses

day 1-Southern Leyte
airfare from Manila to Tacloban (Tiger Airways) - 261.12
donut & coffee  - 65.00
jeep from airport to vanvans terminal - 50.00
lunch @ eatery near van-van - 73.00
bottled water - 16.00
van to maasin city - 220.00
hotdog - 14.00
bottled water - 44.10
trike to gv hotel  - 7.00
gv hotel-maasin  - 350.00
halo-halo - 45.00
trike to/from s.leyte capitol - 30.00
internet/bread - 70.00
total-day 1------------------------------->1,245.22

day 2 - Southern Leyte to Tacloban City
jeep to padre burgos  - 30.00
burger - 50.00
soft drinks  - 10.00
jeep to sogod - 50.00
lunch - 100.00
porksilog @ zilog - 69.00
jeep to village townhouse - 8.00
village townhouse tacloban(a/c) - 420.00
globe prepaid card - 100.00
total-day 2-------------------------------->837.00

day 3  -Samar & Northern Samar
trike to vanvans terminal - 15.00
van to catbalogan - 120.00
lunch-tinola malasugi - 70.00
van to calbayog  - 90.00
bottled water - 25.00
trike to grandtours terminal - 5.00
van to catarman - 100.00
gv hotel-catarman - 400.00
jolibee - 80.00
bread - 20.00
turon  - 10.00
trike to n.samar capitol - 25.00
total-day 3------------------------------->960.00


day 4 - Northern Samar
jeep to lavezares - 50.00
banana que - 10.00
boat to/from biri island - 600.00
habal-habal - 200.00
tourism fee - 25.00
trike to allen - 20.00
trike to jeepney terminal - 10.00
ice cream - 10.00
jeep to calbayog - 80.00
van to tacloban - 190.00
village townhouse tacloban(a/c)  - 420.00
bottled water - 23.50
totla-day 4------------------------------>1,638.50


day 5 - Tacloban City
brunch @ mads - 35.00
coffee - 5.00
jeep to robinson mall  - 8.00
jeep to palo - 8.00
soft drinks  - 15.00
jeep to robinson mall  - 10.00
jeep to airport - 20.00
hotdog sandwich - 20.00
terminal fee - 75.00
airfare from Tacloban to Manila (Zest Air)  - 585.76
total-day 5--------------------------------->781.76 

grand total  ------------------------------->5,462.48

This part of my Eastern Visayas trip series.

Budget | Southern Leyte | Samar | Northern Samar | Leyte

Rizal | Higantes Festival Of Angono

Higantes Festival highlights the annual celebration of the people of Angono. This festival features a larger than life paper-mache. It is also pays tribute in honor of San Clemente, the patron saint of the fishermen. Those higantes depicts image of famous personalities and some local farmers and fishermen. 

The streets of were filled with locals and tourists waiting for the grand parade of the higantes, majorettes, bands and floats. The higantes were wearing a colorful costumes and dance gracefully in sync with the drum beats of the musicians that following them. After the parade there is a cultural presentation by different schools.

Angono is also the hometown of the two great national artists Carlos “Botong” Francisco and professor Lucio San Pedro.  Francisco is a famous painter while San Pedro is music genius. Along the Dona Aurora street in Baranggay Poblacion Itaas displays an array of mural/sculptured walls depicting the famous paintings of Francisco. Most of the murals are pictures of rural life.  The walls show the creativity and love for the arts of the townspeople.

The town of Angono is dubbed as the art capital of the Philippines.

how to get there

From MRT Shaw Boulevard / EDSA Central ride a jeep bound for Angono or Binangonan. Fare is p30.00. 

Know more about Angono, Rizal at www.angono.gov.ph

Negros Oriental | Wandering Around Dumaguete City

I spend my remaining days of my Negros+Siquijor trip in Dumaguete City. Straight from the ferry terminal I walked the long stretch of Rizal Boulevard. This is named after the national hero Jose Rizal who used to stroll in that boulevard before he was exiled in Dapitan. I’m surprised to see a city where you can’t see any single trash. The cleanest city I have been so far.

The city of Dumaguete dubbed as “The City of Gentle People” and truly it lives up to its reputation.

There is more interesting places around Dumaguete and nearby towns of Negros Oriental but I choose to explore the city because I’m run out of budget.

I enjoyed roaming around the campus of Silliman University. It’s one of the best universities in Central Visayas. 

I have dansilog (dangit+sinangag+itlog) for brunch. I tried a slice of sans rival and 

silvanas from famousSsans Rival Cakes & Pastries.

Dumaguetinos and tourist spend their afternoon watching the sun set along Rizal Boulevard. Vendors that sell balut, fishball, kikiam and soft drinks set up small chairs and tables beside the street. When dawn comes most of the locals flock to these area to enjoy the street foods, live bands and relaxing ambiance of the boulevard.

This part of my Negros+Siquijor Trip series

Negros Occidental | Negros Oriental | Siquijor

Siquijor | Circumnavigating The Mystical Island

On the third day of my Negros+Siquijor trip i woke up early as 3 in the morning and boarded a Ceres liner bus from Bacolod going to Dumaguete city. It’s a six hours journey to the sea port of Dumaguete where I took a ferry boat to the mystical island of Siquijor. It took almost an hour going to this island. 

This island is famous for black magic, witchcraft and the unknown. Most travelers were thinking twice before heading to this place because of those nonsense beliefs.

The excitement in me is immeasurable as i walk out of the ferry terminal. The cold breeze of wind, white sand beaches and the heartwarming faces welcome me to this island paradise.

Tricycles outside were aligned waiting for passengers and tourists. They were offering a tour around the island. Past noon when I arrived there and took a tricycle and proceeded to the Diamond de Siquijor Resort where i eat lunch and take a nap. I’m so tired for the long hours of traveling. It’s raining that afternoon that’s why i just stayed inside my room with door open wide overlooking the shores. 

After resting for an hour I check those amazing rock formations just outside my room. You can also do the cliff jumping there were I opt not to because of high tide and the strong waves were rocking the shores. it’s freaking raining the whole afternoon that I was not able to witness the sunset.

The next day the tricycle driver pitched me and toured me to the beautiful spots of the island. My Siqujor tour kicked off with the cold spring in the town plaza of San Juan. The locals flocked here every weekend and enjoy swimming in that spring. The century old balete tree nearby has a fish-spa where you quick dip in its spring water.

The San Isidro Labrador Church and Convent in town of Lazi showcases a magnificent structure. This is the oldest convent in the Philippines. The church is made of coral stone and timber.

After checking the church I took a dip at the refreshing Cambugahay Falls on the Po-oh River. The in charge in collecting parking fee was not around when I get there so I get a free glimpsed of that amazing wonders. It’s quite slippery stepping on the stones that served as stair going down to the falls.

It took me almost four hours to circumnavigate the whole island of Siquijor. My tour ended up in the beautiful town of Siquijor, Siquijor. I spend some time roaming around and took pictures of old church while waiting for the ferry bound for Dumaguete. 

This part of my Negros+Siquijor Trip series

Negros Occidental | Negros Oriental | Siquijor