Romblon Archives - Page 2 of 6

Dam, Dalipi River and DENR Substation at Magdiwang, Sibuyan Island, Romblon

February 26, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

After warming up on the hiking tour of Sanctuary Garden Resort in Magdiwang, Sibuyan Island, Romblon we decided to do what the lady on the restaurant suggested to hike to the DENR Sibuyan Substation passing by a dam and Dalipi River. We first asked some of the staff there on how we could go to the places, they told us a series of complex directions and waypoints that I easily disremembered. They also suggested that we could hire a guide for 500 Pesos to accompany us, unfortunately, we were going low on funds. Good thing that Dazl and Jessica was here. But if all else fail there’s still the option of wearing my clothes inside-out to catch the locals attention and ask them for directions.

Dam near the Sanctuary Garden Resort

I thought that the Dam would be more than a couple of hundred meters away from Sanctuary Garden Resort but it was just less than 100 meters away. The clear waters from the Dam and the people already swimming on it was really inviting! I wanted to swim but I can’t as we still needed to continue walking. I thought that maybe I could go back later in the afternoon after our hiking trip to take a dip at the cool waters of the dam. But that did not happen.

Sanctuary Garden Resort in Magdiwang, Sibuyan Island, Romblon

February 25, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

When we arrived at Ambulong Port in Sibuyan Island, Romblon for the second time, we were planning to visit the tourist spots of the Municipality of Magdiwang. First things first we needed to look for a place to stay so we could rome around without being restricted by our bags. Dazl already had a plan to stay at Sanctuary Garden Resort and so Jessica and I followed her commands. We negotiated first with a tricycle driver and agreed on a price of 45 Pesos per person for the 15 minute ride to the resort.

Tricycle at Ambulong Port

We passed by the National Highway and saw Mount Guiting-Guiting. According to one of the locals that we talked with on our first trip to Sibuyan Island, he told us that Mount Guiting-Guiting always had a cloud covering it, therefore if we saw the peak of Mount Guiting-Guiting we would eventually marry someone very soon. So if you’re looking for the girl or boy of your dreams maybe you want to try your luck on Sibuyan Island.

View of Mount Guiting-Guiting from the road

Going back to the tricycle ride, we finally arrived at the Sanctuary Garden Resort and I quickly liked the welcoming spacious garden of the resort. On the left was a big pavilion which is their restaurant. On the upper parts of the hill at the back of the restaurant there were rooms. At the farther side there were big houses made from wood and stones.

Comfort Rooms and Houses

February 24, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

When we were doing our Motorcycle Tour around Banton Island in Romblon Province I saw a sign stating the statistics of Barangay Balogo. I found the number of Comfort Rooms a bit funny. Growing up in the city where a house usually has one or more comfort rooms, I always thought that when a house was built a Comfort Room would automatically come with it. I found the answer to my ignorance in the Waste Management Seminar of Northern Palawan Provincial Hospital in one of the islands in Taytay, Palawan.

Statistics Board of Barangay Balogo in Banton Island, Romblon

When the participants were asked on what were their common/major environmental problem, one of the participants answered that there were only a few Comfort Rooms in their town. This leads to citizens urinating and defecating anywhere there is cover. Nature could handle a certain amount of excrement to decompose, but for a community it’s too much.

Motorcycle Tour around Banton Island, Romblon

February 21, 2013 by Josiah 1 Comment

The afternoon that we arrived at Banton Island in the Province of Romblon, we inquired on how we could go around the island. Ate Osing of A & A Lodging House told us that we could rent a Single for us to go touring around the island.

In the Municipality of Banton, roads are designed only for motorcycle, that is why most of their roads only has a width of less than 2 meters. Some of the residents have their own motorcycles, but for people like us that do not have one, the Single would be our faster means of transportation other than walking.

The Single is a motorycle that has an extended railing at the tail to accommodate more people. That’s why a Single could accommodate Dazl, Jessica and me plus the driver… plus a possible person to be seated in front of the driver. On other parts of the country the Single is popularly called Habal-habal.

The next morning we negotiated with the driver and agreed to pay hime 500 Pesos for him to tour us around the island. Here’s how our motorcycle tour around Banton Island went.

9:12 AM – Start of Tour via Single

Roads along the shore

Mossy Road around Banton Island

Tiamban Beach, ITT Tower and Agbaliga Waterfalls in Romblon Island, Romblon

February 9, 2013 by Josiah Leave a Comment

It was the 22nd of May 2012, I was happy that this day was a rest day as I was tired from continuously traveling the Province of Romblon for 17 days. The plan was simple that day, for Dazl to spend time with her family at Tiamban Beach in Romblon Island. But seeing that I was only going to be here for a few more days before going back to Manila, I quickly hid my tiredness and decided to do more than just lie on the beach. I asked Jessica on what other places we could visit on Romblon Island, she answered some waterfalls and ITT Tower where I could see a great view of the island of Romblon from a higher vantage point than Fort San Andres.

View from the ITT Tower

A friend of Jessica fetched me from where we were staying. He was riding a motorcycle so we could go move around and stop as we pleased. We first stopped at a gas station little under a kilometer from town. We loaded the motorcycle with a hundred pesos of gasoline and continued through the circumferential road around Romblon Island.

We passed by Tiamban beach as we were decided to visit ITT Tower first. After a few minutes we turned left and was now battling our way on the rough-uphill road passing by fewer houses and sometimes quails running across the road. As we quickly ascended I saw glimpse in between trees on how high we were as the town was significantly smaller. I wanted to stop the motorcycle but stopped myself from requesting as I find it important our momentum to not be stopped. I just hoped that we were going back the same route.

Rough road to the ITT Tower

Less than 30 minutes passed since we left the town we were now at one of the highest points of Romblon. The weather was cooler than the usual from above and the dark clouds floating above may have added a chill factor to the air. I looked at the transceiver in front of us and turned around to one of the best views I have seen in Romblon Island. Lush green trees on mountains, some where covered in coconut trees. The town was below us showing different colors from paints of houses and roofs. Different coves and islands that explains why the Romblon Island port was a refuge from rough seas of the boats.