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The end of the 1,710-km journey 2
Source: Manila Bulletin
Author: Pinky Concha Colmenares
Date: 2001-07-09
 
continuation...

A sentimental sunset

That evening, we got used to being on the ground and not driving. We waited for the sunset, a ritual the three of us look forward to in every road trip. This sunset was more subdued and did not paint the sky in the magnificent colors of Boracay and Pagudpud.



It looked like a sentimental sunset to me because the stillness of the sea and the silhouette of Negros Island inspired thoughts of childhood. I was born and lived most of my life in that island where I was watching the sun setting at that moment. Yet, this was the first time I was seeing it from this point of view.



I thought of the many other people like me who have lived most of our years on an island, but have not ventured to explore the island nearby. Most of us have seen other parts of the country and the world farthest from our native islands.



After a few bottles of beer flavored by cross country talk, Aris and Anjo were in the mood to explore “downtown.” That is the term the resort owners have given to the one-kilometer end of the village where more restaurants and bars operate. I chose to go swimming; after all I had invested in a new bathing suit (which to Aris’ disappointment, was too tame, “not even high cut,” he commented).



In half an hour, the boys were back, feigning concern for leaving me alone. (I think they were just tired.) With the bag of beer and chips they had bought from a nearby store, we had a party by the pool.



It is moments like this that make the long drives really relaxing. The company of friends, cheap beer, local chips, a swimming pool with very warm water, the sound of the sea beside you. How lucky can I get to have a job like this?







Kawasan Falls in Badian town

The next morning, while Aris was diving in nearby Pescador island, Anjo and I followed the road to Badian town about 20 kilometers away. There, we found the Kawasan Falls in Matutinah.



A sign along the road and beside the Sto. Tomas Parish Church will guide you to the place where you start a kilometer-and-a-half walk into the forest to view the falls. They charge R10 per person for entrance. Beside you will be a clear, gurgling river where some kids swim in.



We only had time to view the first waterfalls. Our guide said another 20 minute climb (there are steps beside the cliff) will take you to the second falls. By then we did not have the time – and the energy – to climb. We thought of driving back to get Aris from Quo Vadis, then driving the same route again towards the southernmost tip of Cebu Island – Santander.



Aris had just finished the dive and was in no mood to drive. I sensed that Anjo was hungry. That gave me enough reason to take the wheel while both of them feasted on the hamburger sandwiches we bought from the hotel.



From Malabuyoc, the roads got rougher, mostly gravel and sand. The wooden bridges over creeks looked like they were ready to collapse but we still drove over them. We only realized much later that those bridges were not already in use when we saw a Ford F-150 drive down to the creek to cross it!



Meanwhile, the landscape was becoming more interesting. Mostly, we were now driving along a coastal road which hugged the mountainside. The distance of the sea and the altimeter in the Trooper told us how high we were climbing. We could now see more of Negros Oriental, the rooftops of some houses and a cluster of structures which we thought must be an oil depot.



In Santander, we sighted a Roll-on-roll-off ferry crossing from Negros Oriental. We stopped to admire the scene because we had taken the same mode of transportation many times while crossing islands. Santander is the southernmost point of Cebu island, the closest to Negros island.



Anjo and Aris began to wonder aloud: “What if we just take that and cross to Negros?” I would have wanted to do just that; my brother and his family were spending the weekend in Bais and Dumaguete (they were also on a motoring holiday around the island). I had to say a firm “no”. We had schedules to keep, like the press conference with Isuzu the next day, and the flight to Manila soon after. And more important, the magazine deadline was waiting for us!







Aris hijacks the Trooper!

Aris decided to hijack the Trooper; he refused to give the wheel to me. I regret allowing him to do that while Anjo was doing the pictorial. (Aris has acquired a skill in reading Anjo’s gestures during a road pictorial.) After the pictorial, it was “all systems go!” for Aris. He refused to slow down; he ignored our hunger and pit stop needs; he was Aris, the driver!



I was by now feeding my hunger with bits of candy. My last meal was at 8; theirs was a sandwich when we left Moalboal at 12 noon. Since I was driving, my sandwich bread became too hard to eat. By 3:30 p.m., Aris slowed down when he saw the beaches in Argao. He stopped at a pension house and restaurant named Bamboo Pensione. They were closed but the lady allowed us to order anyway.



We had a lunch of unlikely lunch fare: pansit, spaghetti and sausage. Aris even got my hard-as-stone sandwich which I abandoned in the car and decided to eat it.



Anjo and I were quiet until the food came. Only Aris was still fully alive, talking about his text messages and his political analyses of the EDSA 3 situation.



When we finished the meal, Aris hurried out to take over the wheel again. He refused to give it up to me or to Anjo, even if I complained all the way to Cebu City!







The end of the road

We arrived in the city in the early evening but were kept on the road due to Saturday night traffic. We had called the Royal Pensione to book our rooms and the roomboys were ready to meet us when we drove into their driveway at eight.



It was an uneventful last night that ended our six-day Cruising Cross Country Year 2. Aris was by now ready to get really sick, the two dives in Moalboal and the long distance driving, taking its toll. He decided to retire early.



Anjo’s family, who were in Cebu City for a vacation, was meeting him for dinner.



And I was ready to meet the Jimmy Sy who had helped us through our route, from the weeks before the drive until that afternoon in Argao.







1,710 kms

The next morning, we turned over the Trooper to Tony Pineda and Ana Padilla of Isuzu Cebu. It had carried us through 1,710kms. in six days, from Manila to Cebu Island.



(Reprinted from Cruising, June 2001 issue.)



 

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