I got a decent night’s sleep and was awake around 6:00AM. A simple breakfast was included with the cost of the room and I asked the staff to make it for me in the form of a sandwich so I could take it to go. I wanted to save it for later.
Before falling asleep, I had decided to go and see the tarsiers first thing in the morning. The Tarsier Conservation Area was a half hour away from the hotel. The place opens at 8:00AM and isn’t busy at that time so I aimed to be there for then. The entry fee was 80PHP.
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| A Tarsier (taken with iPhone 7+) |
I arrived at 7:50AM and was the first person there. I had to wait until 8:00AM to buy a ticket. It took about 20 minutes to wander through the viewing paths at the Tarsier Conservation Area and I saw five or six tarsiers. They were much smaller than I thought they would be and getting pictures of them was hard as I don’t have the right kind of camera and one isn’t allowed to use a flash. Also, the area was dense with greenery and they liked to hide under the leaves. It was neat to see them though!
On my way back, I passed by a sign that said Pangas Falls. I decided to have a look. The road, if you could call it that, was tiny and broken. There were a lot of little shacks along it. People were tending to the land or hanging laundry and I got many smiles and waves as I slowly bounced my way down the road on my scooter.
The waterfall was 30PHP. I was the only one there at that hour except for two workers. One was scooping leaves out of the natural swimming hole while the other was sweeping the surrounding area. I spent an hour or so in the area and enjoyed having the pool all to myself!
After the waterfall, I went back to the hotel and ate my breakfast sandwich. The weather was showing a high percentage of rain from 11:00AM to 2:00PM making it hard to decide what to do for the day. I did bring a rain poncho but didn’t want to be driving on unfamiliar roads in the rain. My plan was to stay at the hotel and catch up on photos but by 11:30AM the skies were still very blue.
One of the places on my list was the Sagbayan Peak, which boasts nice views of the chocolate hills. There is a small water park there and life-size cartoon characters. It was about an hour away from my hotel. Along the way, was another place called the Hilltop 360 View Park, which I found on Google Maps. It also has lovely views of the hills and the selling point: hammocks. I wanted to see both.
Dark clouds were forming in the sky as I was nearing the Hilltop 360 View Park. I decided to stop in. Getting to the place involved an extremely slow and bumpy ride up a 500-meter rocky path, passing cows and horses on the way. There was a 50PHP entry fee.
The owner had dogs, chickens and turkeys running around on his property, which made for an entertaining afternoon! He had snacks and drinks for sale and areas where you could walk on the hills. The views, in my opinion, were way better than the views from the lookout point beside my hotel. I was the only one there that afternoon and got to enjoy the place in peace.
After looking around the property, I plopped myself in a hammock near a set of wind chimes and read. I ordered some passion fruit juice and got through a huge chunk of my book. Around 3:30PM, I finally pulled myself out of the hammock for the ride back to my hotel though I was seriously contemplating staying there until sundown. I never made it to Sagbayan Peak.
I hit some light rain on my way back to the hotel, but not enough to pull out my rain poncho. The last few kilometers were in the hot sun and I was dry by the time I reached my room.
I took a shower, put my photos on my computer and then headed up to the hotel restaurant. I ordered some Filipino spring rolls, which were delicious and had a cold beer. I ordered a second beer and watched the sun do down from the restaurant. I then ordered a Caesar salad, which wasn’t great but I wanted some greens and a bit more dinner. (490PHP)
I retired to my room around 7:00PM and watched the first episode of ‘This is Us’, season four. It didn’t make me cry like most episodes have in the past and that could be because it introduced a handful of new characters. I am looking forward to getting into this new season.
My lights were out by 9:00PM. There was a birthday party going on upstairs at the restaurant but that didn’t stop me from quickly falling into a deep sleep.
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