Getting to Sohoton Park (Bucas Grande Islands)

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At dahil hindi naman pwede maging lagging spoiled sa magulang at hatid-sundo sa airport, I decided to take the MRT to Taft then take a cab from there to NAIA Terminal 3. The standard rate was Php 150 but for some reason, the taxi drivers were bent on charging me Php 200 as a fixed rate because it was “traffic” daw. Weh, di nga? That was enough to drive up my blood pressure so I decided to have breakfast at McDonald’s first. Then... I saw jeepneys with the sign “NAIA 3”. Wohooooo! I see a tipid opportunity! So nag-upsize ako ng fries sa McDo. Hihihihihihi!

It was still a tad early when I reached the airport. The check-in counter wasn’t open yet. I camped  on a seat and charged my cellphone in a socket. The Info desk said there are no charging stations but I can use a socket when I see one. 0_o
Silhouette of fellow airport campers in NAIA 3

Sockets in NAIA 3 to charge your gadgets.
The flight was a bit delayed. Meh. The plane landed in Surigao Airport. I was ecstatic to be reunited with my travel buddies! Yay!
Surigao Airport
They haven’t had lunch yet. We got into a trike and asked to be dropped off at Gaisano mall for lunch. Trike driver charged us Php 20 per person. Not bad, but the mall was so near. Probably just around a 10-15 minutes of walking... under the scorching sun. So we paid for the convenience of not having to walk under the sun.

There were avid peddlers of transportation who offered to take us up to Hayanggabon port. But they were quoting us Php 3,000 for the whole trip. *Faint* They offered to take it down to Php 2,500 but that was till pricey compared to taking the public transportation.

We rode a “recommended van” (read: naki-hitch lang, not really a commuter van) that would allow drop us at Hayanggabon pier for just Php 120. The ride was fairly quick and it only lasted for 1 hour and 15 minutes – compared to the expected 2 hours that the normal route would take. There are commuter vans in Gaisano Mall going to Hayanggabon port that charge Php 120/way. They just take a longer route because I think they pass by other municipalities. 

We arrived in the pier just in time, before those ominous clouds spread their lagim. Be sure to reach the port before the last boat departs.


 
Ominous clouds in Hayanggabon port
We rode the boat that could accommodate 10 passengers, plus the boatmen. It was a bumpy, wavy, and scary ride. Plus, we didn’t have lifevests!!! We reported this to Kuya Tata Bulablog (our contact). We insisted of having lifevests for the succeeding boat rides. That was 40 minutes of praying that the boat won’t topple over. Some of my travel  buddies are not swimmers, so it was one hellish ride.


We breathed a sigh of relief when the waves subsided. Solid ground, finally. 

Clear waters greeted us.
Cinnamon Island
  
We had our snacks and superb dinner in Cinnamon Island. There was no electricity so we just chatted during the night. 
 

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