MOMENTUM

Just days after my first travel after the lockdown, I was again booked for another getaway trip to the southern part of Cebu (Philippines). One of my colleagues at school wanted to make the most of his freedom and his travel points before they expired. He booked an Airbnb for us.

The trip was 3 weeks away but time just seemed to fly by so quickly. I was quite occupied that month writing my research proposal. I was so cooped up worrying if I would be able to finish my paper on time and have it approved. It felt like after the first trip, things gained momentum and were going through time at a faster rate. The world was suddenly in motion after months of stillness.

I was getting anxious and I know I needed to slow down and take a break. I was very excited on the day of the trip. I remember that a typhoon was expected to make landfall on the country on the second day of our trip, but it was calm and sunny. The "calm before the storm" as you'd call it.

We were bound for Alcoy, a town famous for its white sand beach along the road. But the highlight of the trip was the town next to it which we visited on our second day. The place we were staying was a lovely house that was quite far from the famous beach. There was a Dragon Fruit farm in front of the house but too bad the plants didn't have fruits yet.

The afternoon was eerily calm and after walking around the property and the closest beach, we decided to stay inside the house and threw a Halloween party of some sort.

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SAINTS AND SOULS

"Kalag-kalag," as we call it in our local dialect, is a Christian solemnity celebrated to remember our departed loved ones. It's a two-day occasion--All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2)--wherein people would flock to the cemeteries and visit the resting places of their families and relatives. However, due to COVID-19, the government decided to close the cemeteries on those days and on days before and after the occasion to prevent the crowding of people.

It was the "kalag-kalag" weekend when we went on this trip and normally, some people would feel guilty spending these holidays purely on vacation instead of visiting and remembering their departed loved ones. We even joked around that maybe our departed loved ones would just visit us because we could not visit them.

It's a time when horror stories are shared and after-Halloween parties are held. On our first night, some of my companions whipped up some good food and we shared drinks over card games and board games. I even told them to bring costumes and some of us really wore them. It was a fun night except for the looming danger that was the "super typhoon" coming for the country the next day.

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TRESPASSING

We had no fixed itinerary for this trip but we had a few places in mind. We weren't sure if all of the tourist spots had reopened. In the morning, we decided to head to the next town, Boljoon. We visited an old church. We brought candles with us and lighted them outside the church while praying for our departed loved ones. I tried to remember the names of my dead relatives as I prayed for them.

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Again, the day was eerily calm. You could feel it in the air that something was coming. We wanted to take advantage of the clear skies and so we decided to head for the popular waterfalls in the town, Dayhag Falls. We drove for around half an hour through roads that were paved but sometimes rough and steep.

When we arrived, no one was there to welcome us. Instead, what greeted us was a sign that said the falls were closed due to a cleaning schedule on that day. We were quite disappointed. We drove so far for nothing. We just took out our food and ate on the side of the road while listening to the sounds of creaking bamboos and running water.

I refused to believe that we came all the way for nothing. I thought there was no harm in going in to take a sneak peek of the area. Level 1 of the falls was literally on the side of the road just beyond the signage. Dayhag Falls is a series of different waterfalls with Level 1 at the highest and going down until Level 5. Just as we were going in, we saw a couple coming out, short of breath. We immediately asked them if it was OK to go in. They said the caretaker allowed them to go in as long as they would not go near the falls to bathe. That got us really excited and we went in right away.

Level 1 was a small waterfall. I think it was only 10 feet high and the water at the bottom was very shallow. I was able to get close to it without worrying if I would be "bathed" in its water. Level 2 was the highlight. It was taller and bigger than Level 1. We all wanted to get close to it but that meant one thing, being wet. We have this saying that translates to "If you're going to get wet, might as well take a bath." And that's what we did even though we weren't supposed to. And it was so much fun! The water was very cold and the downpour was quite strong. The river was not deep, only up to the waist. I remember us shouting and screaming as we enjoyed ourselves.

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I mentioned that there are 5 tiers to the waterfalls along the river but now I realized that we were only able to see 3 of them. We missed Levels 3 and 4. Level 3 was supposed to be a small waterfall with a big natural pool under it and Level 4 was actually the biggest wherein you could climb up the cascades of the waterfall. I think it's understandable that we missed them considering we did not have a tour guide and we were practically trespassing.

Anyways, level 5 was a bit difficult to get to. It was the farthest. We crossed a bamboo bridge, walked carefully along a slippery embankment, and traversed the river upstream. Level 5 was also big but we were afraid to get near it because the water looked deep and murky. I didn't notice back then but there was a big tree beside the waterfall with its roots showing because of erosion. I think that tree would eventually fall later on.

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PIVOT POINT

We headed back and just like the couple we met earlier, we were catching our breath when we reached the entrance. We were tired from climbing all the way from level 5. We were eager to get back to the town proper and have our lunch.

We returned to Alcoy and planned to go to its famous beach, Tingko Beach. However, when we arrived, there was no parking space available and we suspected there were a lot of people on the beach. We decided not to go there anymore and headed to Alcoy Seawall instead. Our host told us about it and she said we could go swimming there for free. We arrived at the place and it was an actual seawall. There was a beach beside it and no one else was around. We decided to just sit on the sand and relax. But the skies were getting darker and it was starting to rain.

We walked along the seawall and we knew that the typhoon had arrived. The waves and the winds were strong. According to the forecast, the typhoon was expected to hit the northern part of the country. We were just experiencing the weaker effects of it.

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We returned to the house and had a hearty dinner. The next morning, news broke out about the devastating effects of the typhoon. Cities were flooded and homes were destroyed. It was disheartening to see so many people suffering.

We left the town on a somber note. As much as we'd like to think that things were slowly going back to normal, these times were so far from our old normal. Disasters are made much worse because of the pandemic.

This trip became a major pivot point in my year because, after it, it felt like I was finally moving fast in life again. The effects of the pandemic were already ingrained and to a point, anticipated and accepted. Things were still bad but we're now faced with the decision to accept it and shape our lives around it.

And that's it! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and going through my photos. I will be writing two more posts for this series. Be sure to keep an eye on those. See you in the next post. Cheers!

_{He’s a dreamer and a thinker. He tends to sensationalize a lot of things. He got that from his mother. He’s also a bit melodramatic. Must be from his father. Bear with him as he shares his thoughts and experiences about his travels, dreams, and the variety of things he’s trying to learn and improve (personal development, writing, cryptocurrency, fitness, etc.). If you like this article please give it an upvote and if for some reason you’re interested in more future content, please don’t hesitate to follow.}