I have always wanted to go to Surigao when I first heard about how Enchanting this much talked about Enchanted River is, so when my friend mentioned about it on our Dahican Summerfrolic 2014 getaway, I immediately asked ze boyfie if we can go and of course as what good boyfriends always do, he said YES!
The trip was going to be 2 weeks after our Dahican getaway so I was hesitant about our (Siege and I) wallet situations, but when my friend said it's only 2k pesos per head, I was like "Really?!" and the friend was like "Lagi! (Yessss!!!) and I was like "with breakfast, lunch, entrance fees, van and gasoline and all that??!!" and the Surigao trip had us when she answered "Yup".
To be honest, I had some hesitations. Aside from my health situation which would make my body bloat like a balloon when stressed and tired (was so sick that week), I was also having some apprehensions because of how cheap the tour is going to be. I know, I'm THE Streetsmart Fashionista and I'm supposed to blog about cheap finds and travels but this tour is unbelievably cheap. But as what I always do, when in doubt, I trust my first instinct and so, I went.
The meet-up time was 12mm and because I have crazy friends, we met up in a bar in Lanang.
It was already 1am when we left Davao City. The RTours Mindanao Travel Escapades who hosted our Surigao tour used a D4D which is my favorite van. Aside from a quick coffee break stop that we made somewhere in Compostella, we had a very comfortable travel. Next thing I know, we were stopping for breakfast at 5:30am.
Because I was not feeling well and my legs were already starting to swell, I wasn't able take any pictures from that really nice karinderya (food kiosk) that we had breakfast in. I was more focused on how painful my legs were than remembering that I needed to blog about the trip. What I can say is that the place was nice and clean and they served really yummy Filipino food that it reminded me of my lola's (grandma) weekend specials. They served different types of food like dried fish, bulalo, pinakbet, shrimps, giniling and menudo. They also served us instant coffee. We literally have to tell them to stop serving us food before we explode. I was not kidding about exploding though because my bloating quickly escalated from feet to my upper body... Ugh!
Next stop was Tinuy-an Falls. Alright I may get a lot of boos from here and there about this observation but I'm sorry, I have to say this, I was really disappointed with the place. Having seen a lot of great pictures of Tinuy-an Falls from blogs that I read that showed it's bluish-green colored water that made me wanting to go to the place since God knows when, I was really disappointed. The water color was not even close to the pictures that I saw. And the water was dirty.
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| unedited picture of Tinuy-an Falls |
I don't know, it may have rained the night before or whatever the reason is.. All I can remember was there were times when I didn't want my feet to touch the water especially when I saw bubbles which to my knowledge are a group of bacteria in the muddy part of the falls. BUT, this didn't stop me though from getting on that floating bamboo and go to the middle of the falls even on my three-fourth shirt and enjoy the water falling on my back!
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| Travel buddies and the water bubbles that I was talking about! |
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| On our way to the water falls on the floating bamboo |
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| Us enjoying the water falling on our bodies. It was like a hard massage! |
We also went to the 2nd level of Tinuy-an Falls. It was challenging and exciting at the same time. Challenging because I was suffering from a swollen body, exciting because the view on the 2nd level is magnificent!
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| 2nd Level of Tinuy-an falls |
What amazed me in my Tinuy-an Falls experience was that rainbow. Can you see that rainbow in the picture where we were soaking wet? That is literally within my reach. It was like a childhood dream fulfilled. Didn't find any pot of gold at the end of the rainbow though because the water is like 30 feet deep. It might be there but then again, it might not be there. I guess I will never know.
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| My travel buddies with the Tinuy-an Falls |
Next stop was Enchanted River. And man, it is REALLY enchanting! I don't even know how to explain it. You have to visit the place in order for you to see what I mean! The water is so blue and clean plus you get to have the chance to swim with hundreds of fishes! Here's some great pictures.
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| Super bloated and swelling me with Nicey and the enchanting Enchanted River. This is an unedited pic. Can you see how blue the water is? Magnificent! |
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| Boyfie and I underwater. I love this pic of us! |
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| The hundreds of fishes under the Enchanted River. And oh, can you see the cave? |
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| Siege holding The Streetsmart Fashionista hehehe! |
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| My friend Albert swimming with the fishes. |
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| My friend Kim as she swam to the deeps of the river |
We stayed for a good 2 hours swimming in the Enchanted River. We never wanted to get off but we got really hungry from swimming so we had to go.
Next stop was le lunch. And it's probably the best lunch I've ever had in my entire life! We had lunch in a neat little resto made of bamboos, it's not lavish looking but it's clean. And man, did we enjoy our unlimited shrimps, crabs and fish!
The food was great! We could barely finish all the crabs that were served. I particularly loved the sweet and sour fish fillet that I wasn't able to enjoy the shrimps and crabs as much as the group did.
Next and last stop was the Britania Islands. My bestfriend Ken have been telling me for 3 years now that I needed to go to Britania Islands and that's one of the many reasons why I wanted to go to the place. I did not regret following my bestfriend's advice!
Next stop was le lunch. And it's probably the best lunch I've ever had in my entire life! We had lunch in a neat little resto made of bamboos, it's not lavish looking but it's clean. And man, did we enjoy our unlimited shrimps, crabs and fish!
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| of course we used our hands! ;) |
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| man vs. food I think we all know who won. |
The food was great! We could barely finish all the crabs that were served. I particularly loved the sweet and sour fish fillet that I wasn't able to enjoy the shrimps and crabs as much as the group did.
Next and last stop was the Britania Islands. My bestfriend Ken have been telling me for 3 years now that I needed to go to Britania Islands and that's one of the many reasons why I wanted to go to the place. I did not regret following my bestfriend's advice!
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| The 4 islets of Britania Islands |
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| The boat we were in |
It takes at least 5-10 minute boat ride to get to the first island that we got on which is the farthest among 4 of the islands. I saw a lot of foreigners swimming in the area and it looked like they liked the waters.
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| Ze super bloated me and ze boyfie. This is an unfiltered pic taken from my phone and yes, the view is that awesome! |
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| Of course we had to have a jumpshot! My body got so sore that Siege has to help me jump. LOL. |
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| here with the lovers on the 2nd island that we went to |
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| My favorite island among the four. |
What really amazed me was the experienced tour guide that we had, Arthur Yap of The RTours Mindanao Travel Escapades. If you are not the type to document every move that you make in your travels then no problem at all, he has a DSLR camera that he uses to capture everything for you. He even has an underwater cam that was really nice because we got to have pictures taken underwater. The van also has leather seats that was so convenient for us. We didn't have to change to dry clothes because it was okay to just get in the van all wet transferring to places. We also got back home on time. We arrived in Davao City around 12mm too!
Contact Rtours if you want to book your tour now. You must have a minimum of 12 people to avail this package.
7 tips for the tour:
1. Bring only one swimming wear. There's no need to change. Best to use a rash guard swim wear
2. Bring at least 1 liter of distilled water.
3. Bring antihistamines if you are allergic to seafoods or even if you are not, just bring. You might save a life.
4. Bring alcohol, vicks and efficascent oil. These essence helped me so much!
5. Bring a big cellophane for your wet clothes
6. If you are suffering from any kind of illness, DO NOT forget your meds. I'm glad I didn't.
7. Bring at least 500 pesos for extra money.
Enjoy! Don't forget to Stay classy! Have fun! Be a Streetsmart Fashionista!
Contact Rtours if you want to book your tour now. You must have a minimum of 12 people to avail this package.
7 tips for the tour:
1. Bring only one swimming wear. There's no need to change. Best to use a rash guard swim wear
2. Bring at least 1 liter of distilled water.
3. Bring antihistamines if you are allergic to seafoods or even if you are not, just bring. You might save a life.
4. Bring alcohol, vicks and efficascent oil. These essence helped me so much!
5. Bring a big cellophane for your wet clothes
6. If you are suffering from any kind of illness, DO NOT forget your meds. I'm glad I didn't.
7. Bring at least 500 pesos for extra money.
Enjoy! Don't forget to Stay classy! Have fun! Be a Streetsmart Fashionista!
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