Chasing Waterfalls and Beaches in Leyte
Leyte is another beautiful province in the Visayas part of the Philippines. It is famous for its beautiful virgin beaches and breathtaking waterfalls.
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itinerary
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Day 1 Itinerary
Places visited: Sambawan Island
Sambawan Island
Last 2016, my friends and I decided to go to Leyte in the hopes of visiting Kalanggaman Islands. Unfrotunately, the weather did not permit us to visit the island so we had to change our plan and made our way to Biliran and found this very amazing island called Sambawan Island. This isolated island has a very beautiful view from the top of the mountain which we climbed. It was a perfect way to start off our journey to this amazing province.
Places visited: Ulan-ulan Waterfall - RECOLETOS FALLS - Tinago Falls
Ulan-ulan Waterfall
After staying a night at Sambawan Island, we got up at 7am to head back to Naval (the main of Biliran) to go to our next destinations: Chasing Waterfalls in Biliran. We rented a habal-habal (motorbike) and made our way to the first waterfalls on our list. It is called Ulan-Ulan Falls. Ulan-ulan means "Rain" as the waterfalls looks like a rain falling down the stream. There are no cottages in the area but there are big rocks where people can stay and leave their belongings.
RECOLETOS FALLS
Our next stop was Recoletos Falls. This is a small falls but what is so interesting in this is that the stream is really deep, people can jump off the tree next to it for some fun "cliff" diving experience (or we can call it tree diving).
Tinago Falls
Tinago Falls is my most favorite amongst the three waterfalls we visited that day. It was so magical and very nostalgic. Maybe because the weather was gloomy due to some storm but it just took my breath away when I first saw it. This falls is well-maintained by the locals and there are even some cottages around it. This was where we took our meal for the day before we headed back to our hostel.
Day 3 Itinerary
Places visited: Higatangan Island - Higatangan Lighthouse
Higatangan Island
On our third day, we decided to go to Higatangan Island. This is another separated island from the main island where we found the Higatangan Shifting Sandbar. We rented a boat that brought us to this island. When we got there, there was this low-key resort just right next to the shifting sandbar. We rented a kubo (small kayawan house). There was no fan or aircon on it. Our only way to get some air was to open the window overlooking the beach.
We talked to the owner of the kubo and he told us that we could go around the island to visit the Higatangan Lighthouse, a cave, and get to know the local community. We did that and took us four hours to make our way to these places.
We also found out that during the super Typoon Yolanda (Typoon Haiyan as its international name), they were not able to get some food supply from the mainland as the water was so rough and no boat was able to pass through it. They waited for five days before they could get some food and water supply. Three years after the typoon, the island was still being renovated as it was in total destruction during that time.
Higatangan Lighthouse
Day 4 Itinerary
Places visited: M/V Eva Jocelyn Shrine - San Juanico Bridge - Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum - Santo Niño Parish Church - MacArthur Landing Memorial Park
M/V Eva Jocelyn Shrine
San Juanico Bridge
The San Juanico Bridge is the longest bridge in the Philippines that connects two provinces in Visayas region: Samar and Leyte. It is 2200 meters long and has been a great help to its people for easy transportation of goods from one province to the other.
Santo Niño Shrine and Heritage Museum
Santo Niño Parish Church
