Got back this morning from my solo trip in Davao. This is my 2nd solo travel, 1st local travel. Sobrang sabog ang plano and I have a half-baked itinerary (probably not even half nga eh). No reservations anywhere. Yung nakabook lang ay yung plane tix which I got last year pa.
My plan (what was drafted and budgeted):
Day 1 - early arrival in Davao. City/near city tours: museum, church, temple, park
Day 2 - day trip in Samal Island. Habal-habal to cave, falls. Back to Davao city
Day 3 - Philippine Eagle and/or Eden Park
Day 4 - day trip in Samal Island and shopping
Day X - early flight back to Manila
What happened:
Day 1 - 6am arrival in Davao City. No rooms available in Sampaguita Inn. So hungry and tired already. Tambay sa McDo until 8am. Tambay in Sampaguita Inn lobby until 9am. I wanted a fan room (Php 300/nigh)but when they informed me that there was an AC room (Php 475) available, game na ko! So tired, I slept till 4:30pm.
By 6pm, nagutom na ako at sinipag pumunta sa People's Park. Had dinner at Penong's. Didn't feel like doing a day trip in Samal Island the next day. Parang di ko feel mag bat cave and Hagimit falls. Using my mobile phone, I researched about nice beaches in Samal and I was reminded of Isla Reta - this was an initial choice but I scrapped it kasi di ako makareserve ng room sa Isla Reta beach resort. I decided to pack my bags and see if Isla Reta warranted an overnight stay. If hindi, edi balik sa city.
Day 2 - taxi to Sta. Ana wharf. You could take a jeep, pero hindi alam nung mga tao sa inn. The trip to Isla Reta took 1.5 hours. We were in the island around 10:50am. I was in paradise. My heart was pounding when I saw the white sand! Having no reservations, I walked fast and asked the first staff I saw kung may vacant na concrete room (Php 800/night) kasi I wanted my own bathroom. Lucky enough, meron! Yahooooo! Beachbumming galore. The tripod was so handy.
Rented a habal habal (php 150 roundtrip) going to Dayang beach. Paid the Php 50 fee and chatted with the nice security guard there. Stayed for 30 minutes lang siguro. Didn't go to the next resort na. Went back to IR around 4pm and waited for sunset. No sunset. Sunset was on the other side.
Day 3 - sunrise in Isla Reta. More beachbumming. You'll be forced to beachbum because nawawalan ng kuryente from 6am to 3pm. Chillax lang sa beach. Napped. The boat was late. Mga 4pm na kami nakaalis ng Isla Reta and we arrived Sta. Ana wharf around 5:40 na. Was tired so I took a taxi to My Hotel (php 250/night, fan room, common CR). Ate buffet for Php 139 at Tita D's - in a nearby street.
Day 4 - woke up at 8am. Tinamad puntahan ang Philippine Eagle so I just did the 2 museums, ate at Lachi's, shopped for pasalubong, and ate at Picobello.
Some would say na "sayang" naman at di ko napuntahan lahat ng usual tourist spots. But in IMO, super sulit na yung trip ko Day 2 pa lang. The beach of Isla Reta was sooooo beautiful. I haven't seen a nice white beach this year so that would probably explain my enthusiasm. I would put it in the same rank as Banol Beach of Coron and even Boracay (although it still won't quite beat Calaguas). Nice people din. I got asked all the time by the staff there kung mag-isa lang daw ba talaga ako. May friends daw ba akong susunod? Was I connected to the city government? (Ano raw!?!)
Kung mawalala, magtanong! Davao people are generally nice and helpful too!
Babalikan ko na lang yung ibang places next time!
