Biliran is an island province at the northern tip of Leyte. And just like Samar, it's connected by a bridge so there's no need for a boat ride.
From Tacloban, I took a van to Naval which was about 3 hours away. I took some photos at the Biliran Bridge. They don't make infrastructure with character nowadays. If there's one thing I liked about Marcos, he made infrastructure grand such as the San Juanico Bridge, and not like the ugly, kitsch infrastructure our current DPWH churns outs.
The next day, I took a habal-habal ride to Tinago Falls. The drivers charge so much here in Biliran, it's so difficult to get to these out-of-the-way places without creating a big hole in your pockets. The local government should enforce standard rates to get to these places to save tourists from the hard-bargain, especially since they are vigorously promoting their many attractions which are most definitely worth the visit.
There are more waterfalls such as Casiawan Falls, Casabangan Falls, Bagongbong Falls, etc. and the Mainit Hot Springs in Caibiran. Just like Camiguin, they also have a sandbar in Higatangan Island here in Naval. I'm saving them for my next trip. The weather cooperated with me while I was in Biliran since the sun was out. But when I got back to Tacloban, it was raining again. More photos in Multiply.
Day 4 of my Eastern Visayas trip was around Calbayog, known as the City of Waterfalls. So it's a shame if I didn't visit at least one. After going around the city's historic core, I proceeded to the terminal to take the jeep to Allen. The jump off point in Brgy. Tinaplacan is an hour away, halfway between downtown Calbayog and the port town of Allen in Northern Samar. Looking at the map, Calbayog is almost twice as big as Biliran Province!
I ended up in Brgy. Bugtong, a few meters from Tinaplacan. The waterfall is in the territory of Bugtong but you need to pass through Tinaplacan. It's 3 kilometers from the road. And the locals suggested I hire a habal-habal so I have a guide to the falls which turned out to be a good idea since the path was very muddy. The motorbike actually slipped and we fell off on the way there. Luckily, I escaped with minor scratches.To get to the main falls, you had to walk on several cascades. There were some slippery parts so I had to take off my shoes. I injured my toe when I slipped on one of the rocks which left me limping for several days. Good thing I had the guide with me since it was really difficult to walk on the rocks.
I asked around if there was another falls nearby and the driver brought me to the next town (the next province too) San Isidro, Northern Samar. Veritao Falls, is in Brgy. Veriato, one of the boundary barangays.
I was planning to stay over in Allen so that I could visit Capul and Biri Islands. But since the weather wasn't cooperating, I decided to abort that plan since I didn't want to ride a pump boat for over an hour with strong waves. I took a jeep back to downtown Calbayog and since I was wet from the rain, I decided to ride on top. That was a great experience and it was fine until it started to rain again just when my clothes where getting dry. What the heck! So I just stayed up the jeep while it was raining cats and dogs.
From Calbayog, I took a bus back to Tacloban City. For dinner, we went to Calle Zaragoza Cafe owned by my brod Gerry Ruiz. The meals were very cheap. The bulalo and ribs were under P100 each. We also checked out the ihawan that are set-up along Rizal Street in the evenings. Reminds me of Larsian in Cebu City. I'll definitely get a bite there when I arrive Cebu next week.
Day 7, my last day in Eastern Visayas... I stayed in the hotel the whole morning since it was raining cats and dogs. It was a pity since I wanted to explore Palo. Anyway, after lunch, my brod Gil passed by for me at the hotel and we stopped by an area along Zamora Street near the corner of Rizal Street where vendors sell binagol, moron and sagmani.
We also passed by the Leyte Capitol and the Sto. Nino Shrine. As much as I wanted to enter the shrine, the tickets cost P200 for the first five people. Talk about pricing! We should fry the PCGG for this!
Anyway, my flight was still at 4:50 p.m. but we decided to go to the airport early since there was nothing much we could do given the weather. I'm sure to go back to Eastern Visayas if time and funds permit and when the sun is out most of the time. I heard rainy season here starts in November. There's still a lot to be seen and its a pity I missed Southern Leyte too.
