Claveria

Where to Stay

Take a Tricycle to Talavera Terminal and ride a van straight to Claveria. We were lucky that there was a van about to leave when lVwe got there. The trip took 4 hours and the cost was 170 pesos per head. That van ride was epic. For the longest time, I thought that the van from Puerto Princesa to El NIdo was too crowded, but the trip to Claveria beat it. They put small wooden stools in the middle aisle to be able to fit in 5 people per row. Those with children below 12yrs of age were required to carry them on their laps. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds but it wasn’t as comfortable either.

When we got to Claveria, the van driver dropped us at Tagat Sur ( Lakay, Lakay), where we needed to be at for our big adventure the next day. We asked people about places to stay at, but most just looked at us blankly, so two of us decided to walk and search while the others looked out for our bags. We found K & C Hotel, owned by their barangay captain. They have a 12-hour and a 24-hour rate, the difference being only 200 pesos for the whole room. We asked Ate Kristine if we could fit 10 people in a room for 8, and she agreed.

Our room had a lot of space for all of us to be able to unpack and repack our bags. It had 3 King sized beds, its own sala set, and a bathroom. We paid Php 1200 for this fan room. We asked for an extra fan but there was none. The bathroom was really big too, but the toilet flush was not functioning, much to our dismay. Have no fear though, right beside it is a faucet and a bucket to remedy the situation. The room was quite good, especially that we were only going to be in it for less than 24 hours. We really just needed a bed to sleep on for the time being.

The only thing about Tagat Sur is that we had to go back to town for necessities like food, toiletries, water, etc. There was also low supply of bottled water for a group of 10. We had to roam around in search of sari-sari stores, as most of them only had 3 or 4 bottles in stock, some of which were not even cold. Nevertheless, the town center was only 15 minutes away by tricycle at 15 pesos per person. It will only leave with 5-6 persons though; with a lesser number, you should be willing to pay the full fare of the equivalent.

My Experience

While exploring the shore of Tagat Sur , someone called out to me saying “ Ading, halika” ( come here ) ” I was wondering what they were doing but as soon as invited, I dropped my bags and helped. They were pulling a fish net of the day’s catch out from the sea. I didn’t know it took that much effort. It was so nice to see community camaraderie, with everyone helping one another. Everyone kept pulling systematically until they finally got the fish net to shore. One of them even joked “They must have caught a shark, as this so heavy”.

Shortly before sunset, we saw a cross on top of a hill and immediately we asked if we could hike to it. The trail was easy but a bit slippery due to dry mud. Once there, we saw Stations of the Cross; it looked like the trail and the cross were there for this purpose. The view was fantastic and very picturesque. We tried to reach more stations since the trail was pretty set, but unfortunately the climb was unexpected. Without preparation, we were not in proper footwear, nor did we have headlights. Given that the sun was already setting, we just decided to enjoy the view and shortly made our way down.

This was when Benj and the rest of the crew arrived in Claveria. We decided to cook pancit canton for dinner and went to bed early, in preparation for tomorrow’s controversial boat ride to our main destination, Calayan Island,

Expenses

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