December 2011: Soe, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia: The travel

It was close to Christmas last year when I was asked to visit Indonesia to facilitate a workshop for our Indonesian colleagues.  It was almost Christmas break and I had qualms travelling- I have yet to do my Christmas shopping and I will be missing a number of mini-reunions and Christmas gatherings. But then again, how can I say no to travels?

The workshop was be held in Bali but before the workshop, I had to go to our office in Soe to meet with some staff and visit some communities, to get more input for the workshop. Then, I had to come back to Bali. From Manila, I flew SQ to Singapore, then took the SQ connecting flight to Bali, Indonesia.  Travel time was almost 7 hours, excluding layover. I stayed overnight in Bali.The next day , it was another 2 hours flight to Kupang via Garuda Indonesia.  From Kupang, we had to travel another 110 kilometers of winding road by car to Soe. I got tired just thinking about it.

In Kupang airport, my Indonesian colleague, who was supposed to be in the same flight, was nowhere to be found. I tried to recall her picture (we have not met yet) as I searched through foreign faces.  Nada. I grew frantic and called our Indonesian office, who in turn gave me numbers of some colleagues in Soe.  When almost everybody else was out of the airport, I saw somebody running from outside, holding a paper with my name.  As it is, she ran to the exit of the airport as soon as we got out of the plane, held the paper there and waited for me to go out. I, on the other hand, was looking for her inside the airport.  Some luck.:)

The driver from our Soe office was waiting outside for us and I settled comfortably at the front seat.  It was a tortuous ride up the mountains - with never ending bends and turns- but I thank God for bonamine :).  The road, though, was surprisingly well constructed.  


After some 3 hours, we reached Soe. Finally.

Romblon Island: Some Travel Guides

Here are some guides if you're planning to go to Romblon Island.

Getting there:

• Take JAM Transit bus going to Batangas Port. They have two bus stations. One is located along Taft Avenue, Pasay City, Manila and the other one is located along EDSA near Kamuning. You may call them for more information at +632 5414409/9247712/8314390. Fare would cost you more than 200 pesos.
• At Batangas Port, you may buy your tickets either to Romblon Island or to Odiongan Island (if they do not have trip directly to Romblon Island) at Montenegro Lines counter. One way regular fair to Odiongan is close to 700 pesos. Check out their website for trip schedule : http://www.montenegrolines.com.ph/.
  
• If you happned to buy a ticket to Odiongan, you will have to take the bus to San Agustin and get down at the port at San Agustin. And then, take another Montenegro owned boat going to Romblon Island.

Local Transportation:

Once in Romblon, the available means of transportation is tricycle, and boat, if you need to go to smaller islands.

Where to eat:

The most famous restaurant is "The Port" right across the port. They serve Filipino cuisine (sadly, they seldom sell seafoods, as the catch are usually sold to merchants and shipped to other parts of the country). Their best seller is Bulalo (beef).

There are also a number of restaurants surrounding the park (which is also across the port).

Romblon Plaza Hotel likewise serves food at their penthouse.

Hotels:

The biggest hotel in town is Romblon Plaza Hotel located at the town proper. You may contact them at 63 5500 5072269/5072277, 5072169, 5072488.

Places to Go:

I would recommend you visit the following places:

From Romblon town proper, you may just hire a tricycle to take you to the following:
1. Baranggay Dos - this is where the marble "factories" are.
2. Calabugo light house , and beach
3. Agpanabat light house , caves and Pawikan Conservation Center
4. San Pedro beach resorts - hire a tricycle but its a bit costly. They may charge between 200 pesos per trip. Ask them to come back for you on the day when you want to go back to the town proper.
5. Agnay fish sanctuary

From Romblon port, take a boat to the following :
1. Cobrador Island
2. Alad Island

Day 2- Romblon Island: Pleasant Surprises

And so my brother and I continued our ride. As the view was getting better, the road was getting worst. It was a good thing the motorbike was built for rough roads.

Calabugo

And then we reached Calabugo.

Calabugo seemed an entirely different place. The yellow-greenish hills, to our right, could easily make one think of the grazing fields in a countryside in a European country. To view to our left, however, looked more tropical, with the coconut trees, the view of the beach and the really-blue sea.The only thing that connects the two very different and contrasting scenery is the small island, which looked like it was chunked from the hills.

We rode few meters up, and we reached the lighthouse. And here is where you get the best view of the entire place. We got off and spent few minutes enjoying the view. This would be a good place for family picnics, just like Tagaytay!

Beach Everywhere!

We started off again, and wherever we went, there's beach everywhere! What made it more beautiful is that most of these beaches are still undeveloped, and thus, water remained very clean, very clear, very blue. We stopped a lot of times to take pictures. I could not get enough.

Sunset at Agnay

I had time to rest after lunch, and started to draft my first story from my interview the day before. At 4 pm, it was time for my next interview. We headed off to Agnay.

We looked for Kuya Pendong, who is one of the leaders of the community-based organization on coastal resource management. We found him drinking tuba (a local wine) along with three others.

He walked us through the mangroves, to their "guard house", (where they guard their fish sanctuary from fishers), which is still under construction. And it was a beautiful place. The guard house is being built on the stone formations, by the fish sanctuary, amidst the mangroves.

It was already sunset when we finished the interview. And talk about being in the right place at the right time. There was one of the most beautiful sunset I have seen, and experienced. The rock formations made it more dramatic.

We stayed there until the sun has completely set. And then , it was dinner time once again.

Romblon, Philippine Islands: The Trip

"It's all worth it!" That was all I could say about my Romblon trip.

I went to Romblon 3 weeks ago on an assignment for a contract I got from an environmentalist group, headed by my brother. I had to interview people and write articles for their website. Thought its going to be an easy job, but I nearly backed out when I realized how long I had to travel by boat, what with all the sea mishaps I have been hearing from the news. But then again, the sense of adventure comes first, as always.

The Trip

It was a very tedious trip, and my brother and I took almost all the means of transportation there could possibly be (except air plane). From Quezon City, we took Jam Transit for a 2 hour bus ride to Batangas Pier. We were at the port early to make sure we get tickets, or suffer waiting for the next day for the next trip. And we spent four hours (!) waiting to be boarded the boat to Odiongan, since there was no boat going directly to Romblon Island that day.

At 5 PM, we were finally on-board a Montenegro Shipping Line boat. (For information on the trips, you may browse www.montenegrolines.com.ph).I was expecting an airconditioned boat, with upholstered seats. Wrong. What we had is a big boat with rows and rows of double-decked beds, with a kaputt aircon, but was likewise clean. It was a very long, uncomfortable trip, and i wondered how it can be so humid, even with the breeze coming from the ocean, and i slept badly. It felt uncomfortable sleeping at the top of a double bed, in a huge place, with hundreds of people you dont know. Nonetheless, it was a safe trip, with my lack of sleep as the only bad thing that happened (Thank God! and thanks to Montenegro Lines too.).

We reached Odiongan at 2 am, and with my brother's prodding, i had to run, half asleep, to the exit of the boat, before everybody wakes up. Upon docking, we were among the first ones who had to run to where the buses and jeepneys were parked. We boarded an old mini-bus, with around 50 passenger capacity. I was glad we got there ahead of most, because that's the only bus going to San Agustin, where we will take another boat, and if we missed it, we would have to wait for many hours for the next bus, and we would miss the boat to Romblon Island too. But I tell you, it wasnt at all fun running half asleep. Not at all.

Another 2 hours bus trip, and we reached San Agustin, where we had to line up for ticket for the boat going to Romblon Island. At 4:30, with me still half asleep, we boarded MV Querubin which left at 5 am. It was a 45min to 1 hour trip but from the boat, you can see the really nice view of San Agustin. It was very refreshing to see really green mountains, and very clear water, amidst a backdrop of sunrise. It was simply beautiful and my headache from the lack of sleep almost disappeared. But I didnt know it was only a preview of how beautiful Romblon is.

Romblon Island, Finally

We reached Romblon at around 6am. We walked took the tricycle to SIKAT (the environmentalist organization, which is into marine conservation) office/staff house. I chatted briefly with the SIKAT staff before I passed out into a really deep sleep.

I woke up at 1 o'clock, just in time for lunch. After lunch, I was completely up and running, like a newly overhauled machine.

I was ready to work.