Hello weekend! Hello dear hivers! I hope everyone will have a great weekend may it be at home relaxing, trying on a new hobby or travelling to tick off that bucket list.
Today, I'm going to share with you one of my weekend getaway spent here in Leyte, my home province. Just a short context on travelling in Leyte; it has its upsides and downsides. The upsides, you have the luxury to enjoy nature at its purest, from pristine beaches and coves, island hopping, mountain trekking, river cruising, sightseeing, and that is just to name a few. The downside is that since the island province lies on the Pacific ocean, it has become a usual track for typhoons throughout the year. Aside from typhoons, habagat and amihan seasons bring forth so much rain and we only get to experience a really good weather without worrying about getting drenched is during the month of April and May. These unforgiving forces of nature are the ultimate mood slayer and plan wrecker. And we can only hope and pray that weekends will be good to us when we have laid our plans for a weekend getaway or a long awaited travel goal.
So it was a beautiful weekend . The sun was up with no eminent rain. We headed to our destination which was Lake Danao Natural Park in Ormoc. I am not a fan of lakes because it feels gloomy. And maybe because I am raised with superstitious grandparents, I think places like lakes, rivers or forests have to be shown reverence. You cannot just revel in there. I even feel the need to say "tabi tabi po" [ excuse me] to give respect to those entities that we cannot see. Though I am a skeptic, I do think nothing's wrong with following this custom. We rented a van to take us there. It was an approximate two hour-ride from our town to the City of Ormoc. But on our way, our vehicle had a flat tire so we stopped by and waited for the other van to fetch us. While waiting I found this sidecar [tricycle] with interesting color because it matched with my backpack's color so I took a photo.
After a few moments, the other van came to fetch us. We had our breakfast in Ormoc City and then continued our way to Heaven's Peak in Brgy. Cabintan, Ormoc City before going to Lake Danao. It was a 40 - minute ride from the city. The road was paved and safe to traverse. When we arrived, we were welcomed by a picture-postcard view of mountains surrounding a garden full of flowers. For anthophiles, this place is truely heaven. The flowers were in full bloom unfurling its beauty and fragrance all over the place.
After filling our galleries with photos of this beautiful place, we headed to Lake Danao, 15 minutes away from the area. We arrived there during lunchtime. We bought our food from the locals and also rented their floating cottage.
When our food arrived, the floating cottage was brought to the deeper part of the lake where a majestic beauty of the lake met our eyes. The air was cold and clean. The whole ambiance was very quiet and calm, you can fall into slumber.
We tried kayaking on the moss-green colored water of Lake Danao. Though the color of the water scared me a bit, it did not stop my eagerness to do it anyway because it was my first time to experience it.
I did not try swimming since the water was just too frightening for me. We never knew what's deep down [heheh]. But I really enjoyed the place and I had a great time. I realized my fears to this kind of places were void. How can you be scared in this wonderful creation of God. Just be always mindful of your safety.
Thank you for reading my blog. Be safe. Have a great weekend.