Images of the Islands of Leyte and Samar

It has been one month since I returned from the Philippines.  I looked back my blog posts and noticed I never posted photos during the first few months in Samar island.  I remembered that I didn't have a good internet access.  I had to go to a net cafe in Catbalogan that was about one and half hours of bus ride from the Samar Island Natural Park HQ, where I stayed at the time. 

This time I posted photos from a long weekend trip to southern Leyte a week before the typhoon Yolanda.  The trip started on Friday, November 1.

 The trip started from Tacloban City where General MacArther returned to Philippine after he was forced out by Japanese army during the WWII with the famous words, "I shall return."  This is a photo of MacArther Landing.  Tacloban was the largest city in Leyte and Samar islands.  I used to go there to shop Japanese food before the typhoon Yolanda.  Unfortunately the shopping mall was devastated and I had to live without Japanese foods for the rest of my volunteer placement.

 This is San Manico (?) bridge connecting islands of Samar and Leyte over Philippine Sea.  Tacloban is on other side of the bridge.  By the way this beautiful bridge was built by Japanese engineering.  When I left Tacloban last month, this bridge was painted red and looked terrible. 

These photos were taken one week before the typhoon Yolanda.  These areas were completely disappeared after the typhoon, but when I visited two month ago these markets looked the way they were.  That's enough for Tacloban.

With two other volunteers: Elaine and Leleth, we headed to the Sogod Bay Scuba Resort, Lungsodaan Marine Protected Area in southern Leyte.  It took about 5 hours from Tacloban riding a packed van and jeepney.  Guess how many people packed in a eleven passengers Toyota van. 18 people plus driver.  I was sting on a small peace of board over the sliding door space.  I forgot to take a picture but you won't believe it.  I don't have to say how sore my butt was when I got off the van.  It was not easy to get to but was a beautiful place.

 This white building was the hotel we stayed.  Three of us stayed in one room with a nice bath room. 

This area is one of the best diving spots in the Philippines mainly because marine environment is well preserved.  Because of the poor access there are not many visitors. 

Unfortunately I don't scuba dive and can't tell you what it like.  But I enjoyed snorkeling.  I snorkeled in other tourist destinations in the Philippines, but this was the best.

Clear water and many kinds of coral with so many fishes.  The ship took me to three different locations for snorkeling while others were diving.  I remembered that stars were so beautiful from the beach during the night. 

 

It was a very relaxing long weekend in southern Leyte.  Two nights with very good food, beers and snorkeling cost me Ph4400 ($110CN).  That's include 6 meals and a lot of beers.  The shared room was P600 per night per person.  It was a clean friendly hotel.  Snorkeling was also P600.  I wanted to go back again but never had a chance to go there before the end of my volunteer placement. 

Of cause at the time we didn't know the typhoon was coming.  we went back to Tacloban on Sunday and I stayed over night the Regional Office's hostel.  I stopped at the office in the morning to meet few people and went home.  One more thing that I like to mention. I received a copy of my budget approval document on the day before this trip at the Regional Office.  This document I brought back to the Park's office happened to be the only proof of my budget approval after the typhoon destroyed all financial documents in the Regional office on Friday of the same week.