THE PLEASING City of Ormoc has been marked by most people as City by the bay. It is the largest city by land area in the island of Leyte. The city has a stunning Ormoc bay that overlooks the beautiful Magsanga mountain peak.
Before the destructive attack of the typhoon Yolanda in 2013, the city faced a devastating typhoon on the 5th of November 1991 that submerged some parts of the city. After the two highly destructive natural disaster ruined the beautiful City of Ormoc, it gently got back on it feet. The people slowly returned to a normal state of living and slowly regained one’s strength.Nowadays, Ormoc City’s tourist attractions are progressively getting the attention of many travelers from different places of the world. And one of its main attraction is the Lake Danao Natural Park. A guitar-shaped lake nestled in upper barangays (villages) of Ormoc City. It is simply the largest fresh water reservation in Western Leyte.
Well, let me share with you about my invasion in the beautiful attractions of Ormoc City. This is actually one of the unforgettable travels I had so far, because visiting the city of Ormoc is not really on my list.Over the weekend, my plan was to come over again to Camotes island since I was not able to see all of their natural attractions during my 1st visit way back last year. It was a sunny Saturday at around 12:30 in the afternoon, I arrived at the Ocean jet ticketing office in the port of Cebu to get a trip ticket for Cebu-Camotes. It happened that the next trip schedule is 3:00 PM and I can’t afford to wait for 2 hours and 30 minutes before the next scheduled trip. I became impatient because I just came from working overtime and was feeling exhausted. And that made my mind a sudden change for that weekend trip. I quickly approached the teller and asked if there are any available sooner schedule to any Visayas destinations. The teller promptly replied, “Yes Sir! Naay para CebuOrmoc 1:30 PM”. (“Yes Sir! there is a schedule for CebuOrmoc at 1:30 PM” ). After hearing it, I was not hesitant about buying the ticket.
Since this is an unplanned trip, I immediately pulled up my Agoda online account and searched for cheap hotels that I can possibly stay in Ormoc City. I even posted on Facebook and asked assistance from some of my friends who knows about the City. Luckily, I have one virtual friend who’s originally from Ormoc and he just arrived that time from Cebu. What’s even good about this unplanned trip was that he voluntarily accompanied me in my quick jaunts to the Lake and the newly discovered natural wonder of Ormoc which is the Sayahan Falls. (Nhagz piece about Sayahan Falls was re-printed in this paper last week, however, a correction as to the distance have to be made. He originally printed 72 kilometers away from the City, but actually, it is just around 30 kilometers, more or less. Gaas is around 25 kilometers away and the falls is estimated to be 3 - 5 kilometers hike from the village.)
After the 3 hours of traveling, I finally sat my adventurous spirit in the City of Ormoc and got ready to get lost. And briskly started a dealing for a motorbike to take me to Rizal Street where the pension house that I booked is situated. Well, enough of my personal thoughts about what I did during my first day in Ormoc. Lol! Because I just stayed inside the room and decided to hit the hay early
After gaining consciousness on the next morning that is full of excitement. I got a chance to take a simple breakfast in the number one snack house in Ormoc, the Mayong’s Bakeshop. I tasted their bestseller cheeseburger that only cost me 40 PHP. At exactly 7:00 AM, my friend and his Dad finally arrived riding on a motorbike. While driving up going to the mountainous part of the province, I was pleasantly surprised its rich green sceneries and the cool temperature. My friend told me that it is because the mountain going through Tongonan village is the second highest peak in Western Leyte. Also, the location of the lake is highly elevated and about 650 meters above sea level.
After 30 minutes of driving, a big sign along says “Welcome to Lake Danao Natural Park”. I quickly jumped from the motorbike and immediately moved nearer to the entrance and paid for the amount of 25.00 PHP.
When I finally saw the spectacular Lake, it was really astounding because it is really huge. Aside from that, the lake offers the very best of nature plus some exciting activities to enjoy such as kayaking, boating and floating cottage. I was able to take a pleasant ride on their floating cottage that gave me an opportunity to experience and explore more ways into the heart of the lake. While spending my time enjoying the ride on the lake, we had lunch as well as we requested someone to cook for us some tab sisig ir “bland clams” from the lake.
There were a lot more activities to try in the lake but I had enough with their floating cottage ride. In this place, you can also enjoy a full body massage offered by some local therapist there. It only costs 250 PHP for an hour whole body massage. Before proceeding to our next destination which is the newly discovered waterfalls in Brgy. Ga-as which is the Sayahan Falls.
I tried to have some chit-chat with the 2 kids who lives there who’s name is Clark and Brian. They told me a lot of interesting stories about the lake. Many divers attempted to dive to get the measurement if how deep is the lake. Unfortunately, no one was able to get the measurement successfully. But there is one story that makes my eye teary. I was told that the lake looks extremely attractive before the typhoon Yolanda. I can really see how tough it was for them. And it is truly inspiring that they are able to overcome and how the tragedy made them better.
This story makes me more proud being a Filipino because despite of the challenges we can still smile and remain optimistic. While we are on our way to our next destination, I discreetly smiled and realized that visiting the Lake Danao is one of the best travels I had and this is something I have always to share about with my friends. I am so thankful that I was able to step my foot in such beautiful place. I am so grateful to spoke with the locals because it encourages me more to inspire people through traveling by sharing the experiences I had and the learning that I received from the people we encounter and interact with.
Be A Responsible Traveler!
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