part 4: finally, atimonan
i love coastal roads that are, well, right by the coast. i mean like, you're on the road and there's the sea right there. add in some Helio Sequence, a steady drive and it's just perfect.
once you reach the town of atimonan, take the road turning right - away from the town, don't go in - to hit the coast. i hope you get there around noon, so you see the sun throwing brilliant spears of light on the blue blue water. then see the whole lovely scene stretching out as you drive by.
we checked out a few resorts. the ones that had turned up on the net were either fully occupied or didn't look promising. lucky for us, we happened on a new resort development with a kind of orangey, brick, tex-mex thing going. tex because there were exposed cow, shark(?) and other scary skulls about. mex because it was dusty.
it was so new that some of the rooms weren't even done yet. our bathrooms weren't fully functional. and the restaurant had a VERRRY limited (hotdog for breakfast) menu. you know the resort has great aspirations though. i particularly liked the wood swing that hangs by the side. that and a few other shots made for great pictures. haha.
at first, A and i weren't too happy about the beach. the low tide pulled the water far out, so we had to walk maybe 20 meters to lie in the water. we had to pull the kayak out even further later on. the sand was dark gray and didn't look particularly clean.
but the water was so calm. when we took out the kayak and rowed out, we could have been in a lake. We think it's because that particular bay was almost completely ringed by islands.
it was my first time to row a kayak out to really deep water. it was lovely just sitting there, looking down & wondering what was happening at the bottom. to see the sun striking shafts all the way down down down til you couldn't see where it was reaching anymore. just lounging out, talking, careful not to tip over.
after an afternoon nap (after 2 kinds of pancit and fried chicken for lunch ;p), i was astounded. suddenly, the beach was breathtaking. there wasn't any.
the water came right up to the resort. and all you saw was hues of blue deepening as the water went farther. we took the kayak out again, not having to go far to go very deep. and, hushed, waited for the sun to set behind the mountains.
++++
at some point that day, we realized we missed the eme road - better known as the zigzag road which runs through the Quezon National Forest Park. it seemed we had inadvertently passed through a relatively new and relatively unexciting diversion road. so the next day, we hatched a diabolical plan for A to drive so we could detour. but D was up for it anyway and i think the excitement of the drive surprised him.
due to the tight turns and steep inclines, flag guys have to wave you through each turn,making sure no other vehicle shares the road with you. not driving of course, it was just an exciting ride for me. and the towering trees on each side, the sunlit canopy of leaves made it more scenic. (note to self: really write that angkor wat entry already)
* to get to eme road from atimonan - take the road back to pagbilao. about 10 minutes past the town, there'll be a huge sign on your left that says "BAWAL dumaan sa old zigzag road.." so what do you do? Take the turn and daan sa old zigzag road. A "welcome to Quezon national forest park" sign should immediately greet you.
** at tex-mex place: we spent just Php 1,000 per person for aircon room with cable (twin sharing), breakfast, lunch, so many litros of Coke and Royal, 2 days cottage rental and 1 and a half day kayak rental. i love cheap escapes.
once you reach the town of atimonan, take the road turning right - away from the town, don't go in - to hit the coast. i hope you get there around noon, so you see the sun throwing brilliant spears of light on the blue blue water. then see the whole lovely scene stretching out as you drive by.
we checked out a few resorts. the ones that had turned up on the net were either fully occupied or didn't look promising. lucky for us, we happened on a new resort development with a kind of orangey, brick, tex-mex thing going. tex because there were exposed cow, shark(?) and other scary skulls about. mex because it was dusty.
it was so new that some of the rooms weren't even done yet. our bathrooms weren't fully functional. and the restaurant had a VERRRY limited (hotdog for breakfast) menu. you know the resort has great aspirations though. i particularly liked the wood swing that hangs by the side. that and a few other shots made for great pictures. haha.
at first, A and i weren't too happy about the beach. the low tide pulled the water far out, so we had to walk maybe 20 meters to lie in the water. we had to pull the kayak out even further later on. the sand was dark gray and didn't look particularly clean.
but the water was so calm. when we took out the kayak and rowed out, we could have been in a lake. We think it's because that particular bay was almost completely ringed by islands.
it was my first time to row a kayak out to really deep water. it was lovely just sitting there, looking down & wondering what was happening at the bottom. to see the sun striking shafts all the way down down down til you couldn't see where it was reaching anymore. just lounging out, talking, careful not to tip over.
after an afternoon nap (after 2 kinds of pancit and fried chicken for lunch ;p), i was astounded. suddenly, the beach was breathtaking. there wasn't any.
the water came right up to the resort. and all you saw was hues of blue deepening as the water went farther. we took the kayak out again, not having to go far to go very deep. and, hushed, waited for the sun to set behind the mountains.
++++
at some point that day, we realized we missed the eme road - better known as the zigzag road which runs through the Quezon National Forest Park. it seemed we had inadvertently passed through a relatively new and relatively unexciting diversion road. so the next day, we hatched a diabolical plan for A to drive so we could detour. but D was up for it anyway and i think the excitement of the drive surprised him.
due to the tight turns and steep inclines, flag guys have to wave you through each turn,making sure no other vehicle shares the road with you. not driving of course, it was just an exciting ride for me. and the towering trees on each side, the sunlit canopy of leaves made it more scenic. (note to self: really write that angkor wat entry already)
* to get to eme road from atimonan - take the road back to pagbilao. about 10 minutes past the town, there'll be a huge sign on your left that says "BAWAL dumaan sa old zigzag road.." so what do you do? Take the turn and daan sa old zigzag road. A "welcome to Quezon national forest park" sign should immediately greet you.
** at tex-mex place: we spent just Php 1,000 per person for aircon room with cable (twin sharing), breakfast, lunch, so many litros of Coke and Royal, 2 days cottage rental and 1 and a half day kayak rental. i love cheap escapes.
posted by pro at 11:37
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