Hi mga sis, i'm here to update you regarding our Tacloban trip.
From the airport, you don't need to take the taxi. May nag-aabang nang jeep going to the town. Airport- San Jose ang biyahe. P13 lang.
If going to MacArthur Park in Palo, baba kayo sa Coca-cola. Yun yung rotonda. Cross the street and ride Campetic-St.Paul and get off at BIR. P11 ang bayad. Baba kayo sa BIR and take a tricycle or pedicab. P10 per person.
Sa MacArthur Park, may mama na nagpipicture picture with a handy printer. Each photo costs P50. Mabait din siya, we asked him to take a photo of us using our camera. Bumili rin kami ng 3 photos kasi SLR naman gamit niya.
After that, sakay uli kami ng tricycle (P10) then abang ng jeep sa BIR para pumunta sa Ocho Grill. We took the jeep bound for Campetic-St.Paul and got off at Magsaysay. Nadaananan namin lahat ng must-see. Sto. Nino church, cityhall, UP Tacloban. Finally we got off Magsaysay where Leyte Capitol is (i call it the white house)... lakad lang kaunti and you'll see Ocho Grill.
Ocho Grill is over rated! It's paluto kasi kaya parang pareho lang siya sa lahat ng paluto. Nothing special.
(For the best restaurant in town, and to get a taste of Tacloban's food, I would recommend that you eat at Stephanie in Avenida St. instead (it's in front of a hospital and beside ABSCBN Tacloban), Eat All You Can dun and we paid P200 lang. ANG SARAP. May lechon, kinilaw, seaweed salad, very delicious buko pandan. Sayang we discovered this restaurant on our last night... walk in lang kami since nakita lang namin siya from our hotel.)
Anyways, after eating at Ocho, we walked going to McDonalds where we rode a jeep bound for New Bus Terminal (P8).
Sa New Bus Terminal, we rode a shuttle bound for GIUIAN and paid P100 going to Caluwayan Resort in Marabut. We passed by the San Juanico Bridge. Soooo nice!
We stayed overnight at Caluwayan Resort. Went kayaking and swimming. Reasonable naman price nila. Nice room and facilities. Sulit ang bayad!
The next day, we left the resort at 4pm. It was not until 5pm nung nakasakay kami. Grabe!!! Be prepared to wait for a long time for a shuttle or a bus to pass by. I read a book while waiting! Swertihan lang talaga kung makasakay ka agad!
Finally, a bus came and kahit na punuan, we took it. We paid P50 because we wanted to get off at the San Juanico Bridge.
We arrived at the San Juanico Bridge and crossed it by foot. What an experience to cherish! You all should try it. Mas ok kung Samar to Leyte!
From the San Juanico Bridge, we were lucky to get a tricycle who offered to take us downtown for P60 (2 na kami dun). We asked him to take us to Sto.Nino Street where our hotel/ pension is located. I booked WELCOME HOME PENSIONE a few days before. Ok din ang roon dun. P800 for a room for 2-4. Clean, very good location and may wi-fi!
We walked going to Stephanie (restaurant), Bo's Cafe, Chowking, Giussepe (Italian resto) -- Stepahanie was a good choice! We also had some drinks at Giuseppe because we were impressed by it's interior design...
Anyway, from the hotel, we just took the jeep going to the airport. It's so accessible. We rode San Jose-Airport jeep and paid P13.
Hope this helps!