This post kicks off my Semana Santa series where I feature rituals and traditions observed in certain places during this most solemn week in the Catholic calendar. Click on the image at the right to check the rest of the articles.
For purposes of travel for the visita iglesia, I have compiled a series of churches primarily found in Central and Southeast Cebu and Bulacan at simbahan.net.
Early morning at Ormoc, the jeep terminal is already alive with commuters.
This is the 8th installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.
Ormoc at last! Despite not having made it to the midnight boat for Cebu, I was just glad that I finally reached this city at around 0400H from Tacloban. Its been a year since I’ve last visited this place while I was in transit to Guiuan in Eastern Samar to shoot the church there for the book. But back when I was still based in Cebu, Eastern Visayas was part of my area of responsibility and have constantly been here for work as well as leisure.
Its a small city and the domain of a few rich families who dominate local politics as well as businesses that were offshoots of the sugar industry. It was also here a little more than two decades ago when the tragic Ormoc flood happened and wiped out thousands of its inhabitants. But now, walking through the quiet streets, its a distant memory and no trace can be found of the event unless one visits the memorial near the city center.
A crowded van (or vhire) from Allen in Northern Samar to Tacloban City in Leyte.
This is the 7th installment of the Luzon – Visayas – Luzon Loop series. Click the image on the right to check out the rest of the posts.
See the photo above? That’s me at the extreme left with only my left ear visible still taking this shot. If you noticed, thank you, the row I’m at is already full while I was given the kiddie seat just beside the sliding door of the van. It was small for my 5’10” frame. Really. To give me a semblance of comfort and spare me less of a sore butt, they had these wooden stool, around 4 inches in width propped up beside the kiddie seat that is removed whenever the door is opened as it might fall. I was seated there and used my 5 year old North Face jacket as a cushion. For 8 hours.
Now just think of how the Samar road network looks like. From San Isidro near Allen in Northern Samar to Calbiga in Western Samar, around 5 – 6 hours of countless potholes and craters, probably the worst national road system in the country. It might even be called as the National Sunka* Highway. With apologies to this once popular game.
That’s what you get when you don’t buy your tickets earlier than the usual. When you get to decide, come hell or high waters, you need to be in Ormoc City in time for the last boat bound for Cebu at 0000H that night.
The San Bernardino Strait or better known during the Spanish colonial era as the Embocadero de San Bernardino is a narrow waterway separating the islands of Luzon and Samar.
Eons ago: worldwide waterlevels were so low that the islands of Luzon and Samar were connected by a land bridge that made it possible for species to cross and disperse both ways.
Travelers ready to board the Santa Clara roro ferry in Matnog, Sorsogon.
1300H and I was just at the nick of time that I arrived at the pier after a long journey. I was still able to catch the roro ferry in Matnog, Sorsogon bound for Allen, Samar and was thankful enough since I was spared of waiting another two hours for the next trip.
What I like about the Matnog – Allen route is that its just short: one hour and a half compared to longer roro trips (about 4 hours and more) that I had before like the Palompon (Leyte) – Danao City (Cebu), the Argao (Cebu) – Loon (Bohol) or even later, if you’re lucky to clock in at 4 hours the Caticlan (Aklan) – Roxas (Mindoro Oriental) routes. Here, you just sit, or watch the seascape or ruminate on the historic San Bernardino Strait, eat some snack and, BANG, your already at your destination!