Road Trip Day 7 – (Sogod, Leyte to Butuan City)

Ahhh.. The sun finally came out today. 🙂 The sunrise’ reflection on the calm sea waters of Sogod , Leyte was a sight to behold.

Villa Catalina Resort is a simple facility but the staff were amazing. The rooms were spacious and clean. The bed needed improvements but for the price, it was to be expected. 🙂

I walked to their backyard, just before breakfast. As I am an early riser, I waited for the sunrise. Its beautiful hues lit up the sky slowly , showing a kaleidoscope of changing colors up above. It amazed me how calm the sea was considering the havoc it brought to the residents of Leyte just six months ago.

Then the locals started to gather as the fishermen arrived. I loved the “simple-ness” (if such word exists) of it all. The peaceful feeling that engulfed me while watching the sea after having said a little prayer to start the new day was awesome.

Even the mother – daughter verbal argument I witnessed didn’t leave a negative effect at all. Before I left, I said a small prayer for them. As a daughter, I don’t think I will be able to disrespect my mother that way, but then again we were raised differently. We were very poor but respect was always a big part of the values that was taught us when my siblings and I were still children.

Breakfast was about to get served when I came back from the beach. We ordered omelette, corned beef, dried fish, bihon , fried chicken and vegetable. The food was prepared like you do at home. So I found that delicious. 🙂

We left for the ferry after breakfast. From the resort to Liloan , Leyte is only an hour’s drive.

The View:

But the ferry at Liloan has a longer distance to Surigao. Hence, the ferry trip takes more than 3 hours.

On the other hand, I found out that San Ricardo has a new ferry terminal. From Liloan, it’s just a short land trip of 30 minutes. From there, the sea travel drops to an hour only instead of 3, which I definitely liked! The shorter the time that we are on the sea, the better. I hate big waves! ha ha

I mentioned this in my previous blog. The total cost from Manila to Davao City including the ferry /passenger fares and fuel for the 2 vehicles (SUV and van) we brought that time was about P20,000.00 only.

This portion was just P2,100.00 per vehicle. Plus a hundred or so per head for passengers. Very minimal, actually.

To be sure of their present rate now though, please call / or email them. I did that before our trip and the guy that answered the phone was very helpful. Thank you.

philports

You know I just remembered that I was charged a lot higher for the shipment cost of one vehicle by the dealer even if the unit was sitting in Davao. So I am very happy that we thought of buying in Manila because I saved more. Plus we got to do this trip. With the family. To say that the experience was amazing, is an understatement.

The photos below were taken at the pier. And after we departed for Surigao.

Chillin’ at the beach. 🙂 I bet this is free too! haha

True enough, the travel time was just an hour. We arrived in Surigao City, just in time for lunch. So we ate there first before proceeding to Butuan City. This part of our road trip took about 2.5 hours only.

surigao to almont

On our way to Almont Inland Resort. Still on Surigao side.

The sun was about to set when I took this photo passing by Lake Mainit in Surigao. Sometimes, I get so lucky and end up with amazing photos. 🙂 It’s kinda difficult when the car is running at a highway speed.