Unforgettable Tawi-Tawi

Tawi-Tawi is the southernmost province of the Philippines, its location is close to Sabah, Malaysia. Not much have been told about Tawi-tawi as a tourism haven but more of a rusty, chaotic and dangerous place for tourists. However, despite the so called feared-reputation, I went to Tawi-tawi with little fear and much excitement and discovered how Tawi-tawi captured my heart.

[Zamboanga Airport - Sanga Sanga Airport]

A view onboard AirPhil Express Q400, I saw some beautiful islets with white longstretched beachlines are a sign that we were about to land on the newly expanded runway at Sanga-Sanga airport located at Bongao, the capital of Tawi-tawi. When we landed smoothly, it was a beautiful day, perfect for walking and exploring. I was surprised to see packed of people outside the airport and I learned at those people were waiting for their families who went to Mecca, KSA for the Hajj activities, I noticed passengers were carrying bulky items perhaps for pasalubong for their families. 

When I exit the airport building, I was puzzled how to get a ride to Bongao proper because there were just too many people outside, perhaps thousand of people outside waiting. It was like a superstar was coming to their town. So, I asked the security officer for some directions and tips and he referred me to his cousin who later adopted me to their lovely home in Bongao.

His name was Kuya Saddar, he was so friendly who works in the mayors office. Kuya Saddar, took me to a trike and we went looking for a hotel but it was very expensive so he offered me his house for me to stay. Although its a rule that we should not trust strangers but with no hesitation, I accepted his offer, I felt something nice about this person although my heart is quite beating fast.

So we arrived at his home which is built on water secured by wooden poles. I was warmly welcomed by the whole family as if we were already connected, surprisingly, they also have relatives in Davao where I came from. They served me a delicious meal, fried fish and fish soup which is tastety because they just brought it for me from a badjao vendor. Later that afternoon, we went to a nearby island where we went to a grave of one of their family. It was a unique experience, I’ve never done like this before in my life, trusting to strangers in an unexpected place.

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Mt. Pinatubo Conquered at last

We reached Mt. Pinatubo after a grueling 2 hours of walking. I learned along the way that supposedly there is shortcut that will cut the walking time by half. They call the road, Skyway but unfortunately the road was badly damaged by a previous storm so its not passable at that time. 

The view was so amazing, the long walk was all worth it. During my trip, boating was not available. I wished I could do kayaking here just like I saw on Tv. After an hour, we left the crater and start to descend down. The descend was even more difficult for me because my knees are badly aching. Everytime I step, my knees would really hurt alot. Next time, I learned my lesson to bring pain medications like Celecoxib for pain relief. 

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Mt Pinatubo conquered

Mount Pinatubo was once a very destructive volcano, it erupted in early 1990s that resulted into a total disaster, many people were killed and thousands were left homeless. The blast was even worsened when tropical rains mixed with ashes that turned into a deadly wave of lahar. However, things have changed now as Mt Pinatubo became todays one of the Philippines best destination that something I am very proud of.

When I was in Manila last November to attend a conference, I have 3 days spare time before it will start. I decided to take a trip to the mountain. While I was searching on google, I stumbled upon Travel Factor, a local tour operator for the trip, coincidentally, my friends from Travel Bloggers Facebook group also reccommend TF and I immediately signed up with them and fortunately, they have available slots for me.

The trek started very early in the morning, we met up with the TF Group at McDonalds El Paso Ortigas Center near SM MegaMall. At 2:30am, I arrived and had breakfast there. We were about 5 and picked up 2 more at Pampanga. I slept during the whole trip until we reached Capas, Tarlac where we begin our ascend to the mountain. 

We embarked our trip on 4×4 Jeep and made our way to the rocky terrains and rocky rivers with a stunning background of the mountain ranges and wide ashfields. As we go on, we saw few Aetas (native residents of the mountain) walking perhaps to their village.

The vehicle could not carry on to the trail anymore so we have to stop and start a long walk to the crater. The trail was very rocky but the views were awesome. The rock formation of the path were beautiful. I’m also glad that I’ve made new friends from the group tour so we spend talking, just having fun as we traverse the uphill trail.

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