We arrived in Camiguin at around 9am. At that time, my queer nature strikes again and I was hoping we will have a cute tour guide. Unfortunately.. Nope!, you know what I mean... Grrrr!!!.... Our tour guide fetches us with a Welcome banner (Gee ha!)... and I was amazed by the place.. Rich vegetation.. Beautiful green sceneries.. Crystal blue waters and no trace of urbanization yet... I was so excited to catch the white sand beaches, natural springs, and waterfalls. Taste and buy their famous ever sweet Lanzones fruit.
Camiguin is a volcanic island with 7 and 4 unnamed strato volcanoes.. One of these is the Mt. Hibok-Hibok, the only active volcano. This island province has the most number of volcanoes in the world. Its volcanic origin is responsible for the beautiful and exciting landscapes: Hot springs, water falls, lush forests, and gorgeous beaches. Camiguin has been dubbed as the Philippine's Garden of Eden.
We travelled smoothly since most of the roads there were cemented. Our first stop is the Sto. Niño Cold Spring and true to its name, the water there was sooo cold like an ice water.. I cant even touch my feet into the water at first.. Though I managed to get use to it but Damn! Still very cold..
We spent our lunch in Sto. Niño with some not-so-affordable dishes.. You get to order cuisines like that of a Sutukil.. You buy them in kilos and then they'll cook it for you.. The food was OK but I like the Tinolang Manok better with Buko juice and Lanzones. :-)
Next stop is the Soda Swimming Pool - Locals said that the water from the pool has mineral-contents from the volcano giving the water a distinct sweet soda-like taste.. We seem not contented with our dip in the Cold spring, so we decided to take a plunge into the Soda waters.. Curious about the Soda thing, we decided to taste the water ourselves and it really did taste like Soda but I didn’t dare drinking the pool-water.
After swimming for about 15 mins in Soda waters. We were like craving for some sweet fruities, so we headed down to a Sitio/Barangay where cheap freshly picked Lanzones can be purchased.. Here Lanzones cost 15 Php per kilo.. Shurrlppp!
After eating some few Lanzones, we continue our journey to Catarman (former capital of Camiguin) Church ruins. The whole building was destroyed when Mt. Vulcan erupted in 1871, what is left today are ruins of walls of the church, bell tower and convent.
The Sunken cemetery, on the other hand, which is just few meters away from the church ruins, has been sunk by the same volcanic eruption. A huge cross was installed to mark the cemetery.. We rented a boat to take us to the site for a closer look.. and ohh btw! This is also one of the places where the movie "Ouija" was filmed.
Lastly, We spent our night at Ardent Hot Spring (35 Php/head), the most popular among Camiguin's hot springs. We dipped into the natural hot pool and it felt good. It is said that Ardent's hot water is therapeutic since it contains Sulphur, which is said to be a medicinal element that may cure some illnesses. We spent the rest of night relaxing and chatting beside the swimming pool of Paras Beach Resort.
To be continued........
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