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Cebu Island Northern highway leads to beaches for all budgets
Source: Manila Bulletin
Author: Pinky Concha Colmenares
Date: 2001-07-02
 
One thousand ten kilometers and three days from Manila, the Isuzu Trooper and the Road Team were ready to do two things at the same time: sleep and travel. An inter-island ship allowed them to do these, providing a comfortable cabin with clean bath for the Road Team, and a parking space in its belly for the Isuzu Trooper.

A ferry named “Lady of Mt. Carmel” operated by the Cebu Ferries became our “Midnight Trip” to Cebu Island, sailing from the Ormoc port at exactly midnight, and promising its passengers a 5 a.m. arrival in Cebu City. Only Anjo felt it dock at 4:30; Aris and I slept through the unloading and disembarkation of the passengers. When we walked out of the ship at 6:45 a.m., the ship was nearly empty; the only people left were some of the crew fast asleep on cots and sofas.



The comfortable cabin decorated in pastel colors contributed to our restful sleep. Of course it helped that we had driven through Luzon and two islands of the Visayas; Aris had taken cough medicine; and I had a Bonamine. The only disturbing thing about midnight trips is that the purser wakes you up at 12:30 a.m. to check if you have the tickets which entitles you to the cabin.



The air-conditioned cabin with private and clean toilet and bath is about R1,200 for two. If you want another person to share your room, book him in Tourist Class (about R400) and request the purser to allow him in.



We paid a much bigger fare for the Isuzu Trooper, which occupied a space in the belly of the ship – about R5,700 (according to the dimensions of the vehicle) plus arrastre, etc. of about R500). For the trip back to Manila, we paid about R11,000 for the fare of the Trooper.



We drove into the heart of Cebu traffic that Thursday morning. Before we started exploring the north of the island, we decided to survey the hotels and pension houses recommended to us by friends, stop for breakfast and pick up our plane tickets at the Cebu Pacific office in the domestic airport. Even with the traffic, we did all that and were on the road to the north by eleven.



Compostela, 35 kilometers from Cebu City, was our first stop. It was for a visit to Sapak Farms, a school run by a Jesuit priest, Fr. Emmanuel Non. The school holds a special place in the attention of my friend Bibot Gotianun, who I had promised five years ago for a story on Fr. Non’s exceptional school for street kids.



By lunch, we were on the road again. In nearby Danao, a row of makeshift barbecue stands at the road shoulder easily convinced us to stop for lunch. All the stands were broiling a kind of tuna fish in an interesting fashion. The fishes were strung on a long stick, its meat sliced to form a design that allowed the inner meat to be broiled evenly with the skin.



The fish cost R20 each and the rice contained in palm baskets the size of your fist, was for free. Our meal cost exactly R57 for two fishes and some onions and tomatoes we asked a girl to buy from the nearby stall. We ate the meal in silence, mostly because it was so hot and we only had a beach umbrella to shield us from the noonday sun. The ambience hardly invited a running conversation: chickens and naked children roamed around you, the smell of sea seasoned with human habitation was strong. And the girl assigned to drive off the flies with her handtowel was no match for the agile flying insects. After a fist-sized serving of rice, I opted for the air-conditioned comfort of the Trooper where I found crackers and cheese to complete my meal.



Meanwhile, Anjo and Aris were amused that I could not stomach the “roadside cafe.” When both of them are hungry, nothing can go between them and their appetites.



The beach and the barbecue stalls are the main attractions as you pass the towns of Compostela, Danao and Catmon. Along the way, many signs advertised beach houses for all kinds of budgets. One sign took Anjo’s attention: R2 entrance fee; R5 table rental.



We followed the concrete highway to the north leading to Sogod, 60 kms from the city. This is the home of the Alegre Beach Resort, a five-star resort, which we have heard about. We were curious of its published rates of about US$260 a day for the cheapest rooms (it was $280 when we were there), that we decided it would be worth driving about five kilometers off the main road just to see it.



Alegre Beach Resort was worth thousands of miles to foreigners who come just to spend a weekend in this “world removed from the cares and trappings of daily life...”



 

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