Day Tripping - Nabaoy
.
On the spur of the moment a small group of us decided to sail to the mainland for a picnic and a little exploring, so we threw a few things together and took off for an adventure.
The fun started sooner than expected as JoJo suddenly spotted an enormous squid floating in the sea when we were about halfway across the channel. He insisted on stopping the boat midsail, leaping off, and fishing it out. Surprisingly it was still alive, though most of it's legs had been chewed off by something or other (I'd rather not speculate what). More disturbing though was watching Hiroshi take a bite of it himself!
Our friend Nonet had arranged for a trike driver to collect us from our landing point in mainland Cubay, so after we'd secured the boat on the beach and had a poke around the sad remains of Marco's Orange Sky Club (home of the original full moon parties) - which was destroyed in the typhoon - we set off to meet him.
The icebox was balanced precariously on the roof of the trike, along with Raymond and the squid, which expressed it's displeasure by discharging large quantities of black ink all over everything, and which continued to drip from the roof (and onto the passengers inside) for the duration of the journey!
While I managed to avoid the ink, I was unable to avoid the ill-placed dangling handle inside the tricycle, whose only purpose seemed to be to whack me smartly between the eyes every time we encountered a bump or a pothole in the road. Which was often.
.
Remains of Orange Sky Club
.
Look at the size of that thing! .
We arrived at Nonet's place, and he showed us around his house and workshop, pointing out the fallen trees and typhoon damage. At least the driftwood and debris had given him plenty of material to work with, and his carved furniture is both beautiful and original..
Lunchtime. We all sat down to a meal of BBQ'ed chicken, bread, and the dreaded squid! No, I didn't eat any..
Beautifully carved totems and furniture in Nonet's garden.
From Nonet's place we hopped back into the tricycle and proceeded on to the river at Nabaoy. The squid was still exacting it's messy revenge on us despite the fact that it had already been eaten, as the remaining ink from the roof continued to drip all over Joey. He looked like the victim of a crazed henna tatooist, and he smelt worse than the wet market!
Less than ten minutes ride through rice fields and small barangays we spotted a couple of signs indicating picnic areas and (horror!) videoke. I was convinced that we'd come to the wrong place. There were a few other day-trippers there (most likely having also come from Boracay) who seemed oblivious to the beauty of the spot, preferring instead to sit inside the small bamboo bar and create the worst case of noise pollution this side of Manila. We looked at each other in dismay! Why on earth would people come to a remote and scenic spot such as this one only to sing videoke and spoil the ambiance? If they want to do that, they ought to stay in the city!
.
We crossed the river via the precarious log bridge with a view to finding a better spot...
.
Once we had strolled a few minutes upstream, the awful noise from the videoke machine faded into the background, thankfully. There are several little decks and cabanas along the river bank, and if you wish to avail of the cooking facilities (BBQ grill) this can be arranged for a small fee. Cold drinks are available, and you can also ask to try the "tuba" (coconut wine).
Our little deck was set under the huge hollow "Centennial Tree", which seems to be local landmark.
.
A lovely restful spot....
Bubbling water surrounded by tropical forest and stands of bamboo. .
Hiroshi enjoying a refreshing swim (while dodging stones hurled by Princess!)
.
We bade farewell to our host (Bong) and thanked him for sharing his tuba. We'd even bought some in a bottle which we downed on the boat ride home.
As the sun set, we sailed slowly back to the bar after another chilled day out in paradise.
Labels: Boracay, Day Tripping, Nabaoy, Red Pirates, Sailing
