Round South

August 25, 2021

The right to travel is one of the few things that were being affected because of the pandemic. Restrictions are found everywhere. Borders were implemented for strict compliance of safety. Some provinces in the Philippines do not even accept visitors. Resorts require swab test results before they allow visitors to have an overnight stay.

So for now we just have to reminisce our previous travel experiences or create virtual travels as what others have made. I do enjoy the virtual travels but for now allow me to recollect my travel experience.

Let me bring you to the south of Cebu and hope you enjoy the ride.

Warning: Expect plenty of pictures as this is a photo blog.

For our summer outing in 2011, we decided to take a leisure trip to the southern part of Cebu.

SAN FERNANDO, CEBU

We travelled early in the morning and have our breakfast at the boardwalk of the Municipality of San Fernando. We were assigned on what food we are going to bring for breakfast. If I remember correctly, we have hotdogs, corned beef, sunny side up eggs and bread. We also brought hot water for coffee and chocolate drink.

We brought old newspapers for us to sit on to have our breakfast.

Before we continued with our adventure, we just have to take more pictures. Their boardwalk is so neat and clean. It would be a nice place to jog early in the morning had I lived in the municipality.

CARCAR, CEBU

Our next destination was the Theotokos Shrine in Carcar. It has a giant statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

When we went there last 2011, the chapel was still under construction The statue of Our Lady of Fatima was erected for the pilgrims to held their Perpetual Dawn Rosary.

Near the Giant statue of our Lady of Fatima stands the Guardian Angels.

The statue of the three visionaries, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, were also at the front kneeling at her feet.

This is the site of the famous dancing sun - Theotokos Shrine in Perrolos, Carcar City, Cebu.

After saying our prayers and paying our respect and asking for Mama Mary’s guidance and protection, we then proceed to the next destination.

BARILI, CEBU

We passed by Barili, the place where the famous milk station is located. We stopped by Molave Milk Station for some snacks. This place is famous for their ice cream made of goat’s milk and cow’s milk. 

Mango ice cream is my all time favorite at the milk station.

Once our tummies were full and satisfied, it is now time to move and continue onto our next adventure.

The town of Barili is full of tourist destinations. There are several waterfalls, cold and hot spring.

While still in Barili we dropped by Bolocboloc Natural Spring Pool. There are two swimming pools with sulfuric water. The water is piped directly from the spring. It has therapeutic effects to those who took a dip in the pool.

We changed attire for picture taking. We just received our Reliable shirts, just in time for our adventure. So we planned to bring it with us for uniformity sake.

Just two kilometers away, is the Mantayupan falls.  So that is where we went next. There is a fishing area just outside the entrance of Mantayupan falls and we planned to have our lunch there.

At least the way is paved with concrete stairs. We don’t have to jump from one stone to another or climb on our way to the falls.

Going down was fast but picture taking took up most of the time.

We changed back to our original attire after the photo shoot at the Mantayupan falls as we were all wet from sweat.

Now it is time for our lunch. While waiting for it to be served we first have a few more picture taking. At least we looked fresh again.

As we still have leftovers from breakfast, we just ordered a few dishes from the restaurant. As taking pictures of food is not yet on trend during those times, we don’t have individual pictures of food but we do have a groupie.

With our stomachs full, it is now high time to proceed to the resort where we booked for our overnight stay. We booked at Costa De Leticia in the town of Alegria.

On our way there, we saw a very nice view that is worth stopping. So again a few more picture taking to preserve memories.

A few more shots and we’re good to go.

COSTA DE LETICIA, ALEGRIA, CEBU

Finally, we reached our resort.

Aside from us, there are only two more guests in the resort, so it is good as if we had the place to ourselves.

We settled our things in our room and after a thirty minutes rest, we were ready again to embark on another adventure. Our driver, Benjie, is from the neighboring town, so he knows some of the places there that is worth a visit.

He said that there is a hot spring and caves nearby and that is where we were going next.

The hot spring and the cave is in the hinterlands of Alegria. We have to cross an almost dry river on foot.

Climb slippery mountains.

Get inside rocks.

 Finally, we arrived. Local residents were having a good time there.

The water here was cold, enough to refresh us from the heat of a lot of climbing.

A few more meters away is the hot spring. There is something that is sort of a well. We sit and put our feet inside to really feel the heat of the hot spring. It is hot inside though our feet did not touch the water. It was a treat to my feet after climbing the mountains.

The water at the river was a bit higher on our way back down.

We took a little snacks when we arrived at our van. There were plenty of chickens that wanted to share our food. As I am afraid of chickens I have to stay inside the van while having another round of picture taking.

We got lost on our way back as we took another route. It was a scenic route so we stop by for another round of picture taking.

Finally we were back at the resort, tired but happy with the day’s adventure.

We spent the night swimming in the small pool.

And again another round of swimming the next morning.

And more picture taking.

It was time for us to leave after lunch. We continued on our journey round south until we reach Argao.

ARGAO, CEBU

We made another stopover when we reached Argao. We visited Riverstone Castle Resort. It has a medieval look inside. It looks like a real fortress.

A lot of old things can be seen inside.

After a few stair climbing, you can finally see their pool.

And of course, another round of picture taking again.

And more…

It was already dark when we arrived at the city. Tired yet satisfied.

Did you enjoy the tour, my friends? Join me next time in our tour of Dakak, coming up in the next blog.

 Special thanks to our driver, Benjie. He was a good man and a true friend. He was our constant companion every time we have adventures like this. May God keep him in His loving arms.

That’s all for now folks.

Thanks for dropping by.

 I am forever grateful to these beautiful people who extends their support and love. You guys ROCK!

Thanks for the 🧡🧡🧡.