Monday, March 5, 2012

Calitang: I love you, beach!

Move over Boracay and make way for my new found love! Char! I've never been to Boracay actually. Hahaha! But if you hate the crowd as much as I do, this is definitely for you. The moment I saw this beach, it makes me want to buy a lot at the end of this endless stretch. (Donya mode is ON. lol)

My definition of Paradise o_O

It was the first time I saw a strip of beach na ganung kahaba at kaganda. A friend of mine told me, "Dito ka lang makakakita ng beach na pag tumingin ka sa kabilang dulo, ni hindi mo na alam kung tao pa ba ang naglalakad." Great teaser indeed. So instead of trying Tour B and D island hopping packages, I found myself packing and heading to Calitang on my Day 4.


Yes I have a friend who had spent his childhood in El nido. Pure eh. Kainggit no? hihihi! Unfortunately he couldn't make it because he'd been assigned somewhere. To make it up to me, he asked his sister to take care of me while in Calitang. Free accommodation that is! Yahuuu!

Calitang is an hour away from El nido town proper. You can go there by boat or by land. I chose the latter since I was alone and only a few know the place. Aside from I couldn't afford to hire the whole boat by myself, my friend suggested a tricycle driver, Kuya Kano. He charged me 400.00 for a one way trip. If you don't want to hire a tricycle, there are daily trips to Calitang every 12noon sa terminal. However, you might need to walk for 30minutes since the jeep will just stop at the highway. Ayokong magpaka-baluga.

Spell S-O-L-O
Smooth lang ang first 20 minutes of the ride. Bumpy and dusty na yung the rest. Naging pink ang red luggage ko. hahaha! Kuya Kano turned down the volume then he suddenly whispered, "Malapit na po tayo ma'am..". My excitement meter exploded. I arrived at Ate Rose's house at around 11:00am. They're very welcoming. Their master's bedroom became my temporary haven. Ganun sila kabait.

As I peeked into the window, voila. Parang painting lang. Nandun na mismo sa dagat. I can hear the waves kahit nakasara pa ang buong kabahayan. I love the feel of gentle breeze. Very promdi mode. I shared my lunch with them. Good thing I brought canned goods and knorr corn soup. hihihi! Nakakahiyang makikain. After that, I headed to the beach.
Let me take you there...

rock on!

Sana lang walang nagkakalat..



I found this rocky side at the other end. I stayed there for about an hour. Nagmumuni-muni. hihihi! I wish I was with someone. Well, hindi naman ako naiyak.. Baka may sumulpot na shokoy pag nag inarte ako dun. hahah! Oh and yeah, that's where I learned how to make the rock bounce three times at the water surface. O ha!

ako yun...
It was love at first sight I must say. As I've mentioned on my previous post, if I would make a list of why  should I go back to El nido, this would definitely be on top. I don't know if there's a beach as long as this one. I googled it to show you how long is long. lol!

Aerial View (See?)

O eto na ang actual... yiiiihii!

Obviously I was with someone. Thank you kiddo for taking the pic. You're such a pro. Hindi ako natakot na baka itakbo niya ang camera ko. Wala siyang ibang way kundi ang bumaba. hahaha!


Some call it twin beach. The other side daw (boat docking area), is called Nacpan Beach while the other is Calitang Beach. Well I trust the locals more. Forgive me. hihihi! They told me Nacpan is another baranggay dun sa kabilang dulo ng stretch. Yes they might be sharing the shoreline however, the portion where this sand bar is located, it's still part of Sitio Calitang. Nacpan is just a part of Calitang so we can just say Calitang Beach. Peace out.

breathtaking indeed
Wanna know why I let the kid took the picture? Kasi hindi ko kayang umakyat. hahaha! Matalahib. But honestly I was tempted to go up the hill after I saw his shots. Iba talaga ang mga bata dun.

After a few hours, I saw 2 foreigners arrived. I thought they're the cast of Bourne Legacy. hihih!

I haven't seen any pinoy tourist while I was around. Sign that only a few experienced this paradise. Lucky me!

thanks ma for the dress! hihihi! ang negra ko lang.. but I don't care

Diana Zubiri?

The coconut trees add to the picturesque view
Naglalawa na ang kili-kili ko kaya kailangan ng bumalik to freshen up a bit. hahah! I grabbed that moment to get to know Ate Rose' family. Mingling with the locals came easy. Though I don't get their dialect and it's pretty hard for them to talk in tagalog, we managed to understand each other. 

Their cute house is made up of sawali. They don't have fan or any other appliances (anyway, electricity runs from 7pm to 10pm only so what's the use). I'd be sleeping in a mat with no foam at all. Their comfort room... uhm.. well that's the part I couldn't bear. Forgive me. I was just a kid when I last pee in an improvised CR where the walls is made up of  rice sack patched together. Dun yung latest. hahaha! Ang classic dun, I need to take a bath sitting or else, baka nasa local news paper na ko kinabukasan. Ooopsy! Kitang kita ako pag tumayo. hahaha! Ate Rose was kind enough to stay with me, well sa labas ng banyo, habang naliligo ako. hahaha! Parusa rin ang tubig kaya I was very thankful na pinag-igib pa nila ako.

They kept on apologizing because of the life they shared with me. I can't seem to find any comforting words to say. For me, being taken care of by someone I met for the first time is really a blessing. If only I could help them in any way.

I slept for a while. Sabi ko maliligo ako sa dagat ng bandang 4pm. I woke up dizzy. I had a headache so Ate Rose' didn't allow me to catch the sunset. Baka matuluyan daw ako at hindi nila ako pauwiin the next day. She and her hubby told me to just watch it from the window. I was sad and all. You know what they did? They captured it for me. It was a very very kind deed.

Look at how the sunset transforms the view

It may not be the best but it's the loveliest sunset for me. Thank you Ate Rose and Kuya Ting! I owe you bigtime
I bought dinner for them. That's the least thing I could do. By the way, flashlight is a necessity. There were dogs roaming around so better grab a patpat if you don't want to be their meal. I saw an eatery just near their house and one of their specialty daw is buttered garlic shrimp. Tatanggi pa ba ko?

I got back and saw group of people just beside Ate Rose' house. Nagkakagulo. "Hala! Anyare?" Nanonood lang pala ng DVD. hihihi! Usually daw, kina Ate Rose ang venue but since I was there, and they didn't want to ruin my night, dun muna daw sila sa kapit bahay. Hang sweet! Yun lang ang libangan nilang lahat dun. Super feel na feel ko ang pagka promdi ko. Kulang na lang mag duster ako e. hahaha!

As the clock strikes 10, all of the lights shut down but only Ate Rose' house was left with lights on. How come? Her hubby, Kuya Ting, turned on the portable generator just for me. Grabe, gusto ko ng maiyak sa sobrang bait nila sakin.

We slept. I didn't mind the foam-less banig. I may be tired and I badly need to recharge but my heart was full of happiness. It was a peaceful sleep. I woke up at 5:30am sharp (salamat sa alarm clock). I peeked on to the window and witnessed another majestic view..

"Para kanino ka gumigising?"

I just love their "sinaunang" window style. May kahoy talagang itutukod para lang mabuksan mo ito at hindi sumara. Cute!

uu sa bintana pa rin yan.. ganda noh?
I strolled a bit for the last time to check out their morning routine. Calitang is a quaint town, laid back and badly need road renovations for it to be more accessible to tourists. It's pretty hard for the community to travel by land. But they have boat though. However, the chance for it to be progressive is very little. The sea is their only life source. Hospital is nowhere to be found. But crime rate? Zero for these past few years. Matagal na daw nung may huling nagtagaan dun. :~

I saw one lodging house (and I don't think you can find any other). They call it Jack's Place (09162945645). Located just along the beach side. Lakad lang ang katapat. You can call him beforehand if you want to book a room. He'll charge you 500.00 per night. Aside from one big white house, there's no other establishments to be found. Bring enough food and drinks.

Men at work
Ito ang perfect timing. Napapalakpak ako sa kanila. hihihi! Please watch it.



I wasn't able to swim since I preferred staying at home more. Anyway, I've seen the best. I love to spend my last hours in El nido with them. They have a son whom they call "kalbo" for obvious reason. hahah! He's so cute. Ang sarap kidnapin. hahah! So I became a yaya too for a short period of time. :) I bid my goodbye and promised to be back if time and money permits. I didn't post their pictures here because they don't want to. Shy sila.

I just called Kuya Kano to pick me up and he charged me 400.00 ulit. Kinldy contact him if you want to visit the place. Here's his number once again -09997296650. Siya na ang pinakamura sa lahat ng blogs na nabasa ko.

I'll be coming up with another entry.. the last one perhaps. Please bear with me. hihihi! check out my other entries:


Until next time!

15 comments:

iamjessiegarcia said...

super heaven sa ganda. hope i could visit this place too... thanks for sharing this to us. ^^

Gabz said...

Waaah!! Pumunta ka pala dito. Gandaaaa! Hindi ko pa alam to dati eh. Pupuntahan ko talaga to pagbalik ko ng El Nido. :)

John Marx Velasco said...

Ang ganda! So nag moment ka? Hehehe!

Kura said...

@jessie - thanks! go ahead before the showing date of Bourne. Dudumugin na ang el nido

@gabz - yup yup yup! gusto ko nga bumalik now na e. hahaha! as in

@marx - oo. perfect talaga. hahah! sana nga gumawa ako ng MTV kaya lang mahirap mag sariling sikap. hahaha!

JeffZ said...

Mukhang virgin ah... yung beach ha.. hehe onti pa lang kasi nakakapunta..

paradise nga.. and of course, what makes it more memorable eh ung kabaitan ng mga tao sayo even for a short period of time.. :)

priceless..

blissfulguro said...

take it off! take it off!

Chyng said...

^
relax mam carla. merong next post si maricar, naka two piece na din like you. haha


@maki,
ganda nga jan girl! very secluded pa. ikaw lang tao?

Kura said...

@jeff - Ay thank you at chinaga mo hanggang huli. hihihi! Yup virgin siya. Rough road kasi siya e kaya hindi nararating masyado. how are you?

@carla - yikes! hindi ako kasing sexy nyo ni chyng no. Hindi ko keri. Nga pala yup tuloy ang sembreak galore natin. pag wala talaga, mag bus na tayo. hihihi!

@chyng - yup mag isa lang ako sa napakahabang yan. Ganda niya talaga sa personal. Kaso walang masyadong lodging. kaya usually yung iba saglit lang nagsstay.

anney said...

Paradise talaga! Swerte mo naman at mabait yang natuluyan mo at talagang special ang turing sayo at pinagbukas ka pa ng portable generator!

Mitch said...

Hopeless place ba ito? kasi you found love in here eh...oh! hehe
Parang kaw palang nag post about this lovely place. Ang ganda talaga ng sunrise..pati na rin sunset. Wagas ang mga moment mo tlga. Free accommodation with so much carefree from other peeps.Two thumbs up for them!

soloflightEd said...

wow, ang ganda ng pagkasulat! (naks)
ganda rin ng lugar! pero grabe mga emo moments na biglang naging comedy dahil sa mga punchline (na naman!) at aba, may mga pondering about life pa. kumpleto toh kura.

ambait ng mga tao jan. at kakainspire talaga yung travel mo dyan. hala at sana next time na pagbalik mo, dalawa na kayong magmumuni muni sa rocks. :D

Unknown said...

Ahaha! natawa ako sa comment ni soloflightEd, oo nga naman, next time dalawa na dapat. Hays galing mo Car sa ganyang trip. the best!

Christian | Lakad Pilipinas said...

hay. sobrang na entice ako sa kwento mo.. i can stay here for a week.. pwede kaya yun? mag el nido kami sa september pero malamang di namin mapuntahan to kasi madami kami and di masyadong hardcore yung iba naming kasama.. pwede kaya paiwan na lang ako and stay for a few weeks more?

Izah a.k.a. Trip@dora said...

Hi there! First time to visit your blog. Sakto itong post. I was searching for a recent post re: the beaches of calitang and nacpan and google led me to your site.

Thanks for the number of the trike driver. We'll definitely hire him. I first saw this on Flip's blog. Definitely, this will be included in my itinerary come June.

Thanks again :)

Chyng said...

binalikan ko talaga to..
hmm, you should see calaguas tapos compare. hehe