I'm tired of traveling!
Just kidding. Well, maybe a bit. I've been traveling a lot for the past few months, and it's taking its toll on me. I guess I'm not cut out for traveling. Or maybe I'm getting tired of it. I just turned 29, and as dramatic as it sounds, I am starting to feel my age.
I had this belief that a man peaks when he's 28 years old, physically at least. I know that's not true, and I may have been influenced by the idea that my parents married at that age. It's grim, but I can't help but think that I'm no longer growing stronger each day. Instead, I'm now slowly dying towards my end.
This is quite a sad introduction for a travel blog, but I can't pretend to be fully okay as I write this. Not all travels are happy and dainty, and this particular travel I'm going to share with you is a mix of both. The trip itself was extremely fun, but I was still on the brink of coming to terms with the pain of heartbreak.
Early morning adventure
Most trips demand you to get up early. That in itself is extremely tiring. But you don't go on a trip every day, so waking up at dawn for a vacation is okay. I met with my friends from college, and we rode a bus that would take us to Kawit, Medellin, which is at the northern tip of Cebu. The trip would last for almost 4 hours.
This trip was organized by one of my close friends, Queenie. She has family up north and had the chance to visit the beach in Kawit during a company outing. I don't remember why we had this trip, but do you need any good reason to go on a beach trip?
Sunrise welcomed our road trip to the north. The landscape of the northern part of Cebu is quite familiar to me because my father's hometown is San Remigio, a town on the island's northern part, and we used to visit a lot. I've also traveled a number of times to Bantayan Island, which is an island north of Cebu. Now, I'm becoming more familiar with the sights in southern Cebu because my girlfriend lives in the southern part of the island.
We passed by the majestic mountains of Danao, Carmen, and Catmon. I heard there's a mountain you can climb and a spot where the three towns share a border. You can be at three different places at the same time. This trip happened in June, which is just the beginning of the rainy season here in the Philippines, but the weather that day looked like we were still in the middle of summer.
A paradise beach
After hours of enduring my aching butt, we finally arrived in Kawit, Medellin. I honestly had no idea what to expect about the place. I didn't organize it, so I didn't look up where we were staying and what the place looked like. We walked a few minutes from the main highway and arrived at a resort called Paradise Beach. And paradise it was!
I was astonished to see such a magnificent beach. The sand was white, and the water was so clear and had this captivating shade of blue. We took shelter under the shade of a Talisay tree as we marveled at the beach. There was an island across the beach, and it was called Gibitngil Island. I didn't know when and before we arrived that we would be crossing the waters in front of us to get to that island.
A whipped up feast
We arrived at the resort in mid-morning, and we planned on cooking our own lunch. We went out and visited the local market to buy the ingredients we needed. I wasn't in charge of the cooking, so I just went along with them. We returned to the resort, and my friends took care of everything we needed for our lunch.
They did an amazing job with our food. We had grilled pork, pancit, and lato. We even had fruits. We enjoyed our food in front of the beach and decided that we would go to the island across the beach. There's another resort on that island called Funtastic Island, which sports a 40-foot cliff jumping platform. I didn't know it was 40 feet, so I had zero worries about the adventure waiting for us while we devoured our food.
To fun-tastic island
After having our lunch, we approached a boatman and asked him how much it would cost for a trip to Gibitngil Island. He gave us a reasonable price, and then we were off. We could literally see the island from the beach but the boatman told us we had to circle around the island since the Funtastic Island resort was located on the opposite side.
As we neared the island, we could see the rocky sides of it. There weren't any beaches we passed by. The island was surrounded by rock formations showing caves made from the constant battering of the waves. Despite this, we still saw some people swimming near the rocks. I figured they must be locals who are familiar with the waters because I wouldn't dare swim near those rock terrain with the water looking very deep.
A stupid jump
After going around the island, we spotted a small cove with cottages constructed on some rocks. The water was also getting shallow and turning into a lighter shade of blue. We had arrived at the Funtastic Island Resort. I was tasked to pay for the fees while my friends hurried to the cliff jumping platform. I saw one of my friends coming from the deeper part of the waters. He'd already jumped.
I made my way to the top of the giant rock formation where the platform was. The attendant told me that the tide was getting low and that I was the last to jump before he'd close the cliff jumping for the day. The jump was extremely high, but I didn't have time to think because of what the attendant told me. I just walked to the platform and jumped. It was probably the longest cliff jump I've done in my life. I did not close my mouth before hitting the water, and the intense impact tore the inside of my upper lip.
The adrenaline rush from the jump energized me, and I would've wanted to do it again, but the platform was already closed. My friends and I jumped on a shorter platform, but it was more dangerous since the tide was now lower. We made the best of our time on that island before returning to Paradise Beach.
A missed sunset
It was late in the afternoon when we returned. The beach was facing the west side of Cebu, which meant amazing sunset views. My friends worked on our dinner while I looked for a store that sold beer. I bought a couple of bottles. I was prone to drinking by myself and drinking a lot during this time because of a breakup. It had been over half a year since the breakup and although I didn't feel any heartaches anymore, I still wanted to feel something. Oddly, I often resorted to alcohol to feel something. Just as a wave of sadness rushed over me, I dozed off and missed a beautiful sunset. It was already dark when I woke up. Dinner was ready and my friends showed me the photos of the breathtaking sunset I'd missed.
All of us slept in one room and I honestly don't remember who we fit. There were seven of us and the room was only good for three or four. I think I was just too tired to think about anything, so I immediately went to sleep.
A beautiful morning to leave paradise
We woke up early in the morning since we still had to catch the morning bus. We had a light breakfast and freshened up before leaving. We had a quick photoshoot around the beach and the lighting during that time was extremely good. We had excellent group shots. It was a lovely way to end our trip.
We left Paradise Beach Resort with fun memories, and as for me, my only regret was sleeping on an amazing sunset. I promised myself that if I got to return (yes, I returned), I would enjoy the sunset in all its glory.
That's it! It's way past summer here in the Philippines, but here I am writing about my summer travels. I've been missing the sun and its raging heat every time it rains (which now it's getting more frequent). For my next blog, I want to write about the most recent trip I made, which is to Cagayan de Oro City. See you in the next one. Cheers!
