Beach, it’s where I really wanted to go during the time that I was stressed and depressed with lots of things. Also, I’ve always wanted to escape from the pollution in Manila. I’ve wanted to go in a beach that is not populated, somewhere like a virgin beach. So, it was a big surprise for me when a good friend of mine named Yvonne, invited me to be her co-tour guide. By the way, she is a tour guide of Lakwatsero Tour Club. It was Thursday night when she messaged me on facebook asking if I am free on weekends. Wondering why, I immediately called her and she said “Come on, you’ll be my buddy in my Anawangin Adventure, for free.” Like, seriously? For free? HAHA! You won’t believe how much happy I am when I heard the word “free”. Well, I am really surprised. So the set up is, I will be her buddy becoz her co tour-guides will be up heading to other destinations with their guests. And Yvonne will be accommodating 10 guests so it would be awkward if she’ll be going alone without a company.
Yeah I admit Anawangin is not that famous compared to other beach destinations like bora, Palawan, bohol but when I saw some pictures of this place, there’s something that makes me wanna go and visit it. Presumed to be ‘mystical and ‘enchanted,’ this intriguing beach enticed me to see it for myself.
Saturday. This is it! OMG. I really can’t wait to witness the hidden beauty of the Island. Although I was shocked when my bestfriend said “te walang kuryente dun ha, wag kang maarte”, but for me it was an advantage, no electricity, no technology, no laptop, no cellphone and everything, only calm and relaxing place. It feels like I’m free in the world. Haha!
"Anawangin Cove is a crescent shaped cove with a mixture of volcanic ash and white sand which is located in the Province of Zambales. The easiest way is to have a 30 minute boat ride from Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales. But if you want an adventure, you can go there by a 6-hour trek thru the Pundaquit range."
The travel lasted for 5 hours. We arrived at Barangay Pundaquit during the afternoon. Since we’re all starving, we just bought cooked food and decided to eat as soon as we reached the beach. Our bangkero was already a contact of the tour club so we didn't have a hard time riding on it. Everyone there was so friendly and accommodating. That’s the one point that made me like the place so much. I was so happy like a kid when we’re riding on the Bangka. The waves were really huge, the sea water was clean and the view was really spectacular. The Bangka ride was approximately 30 minutes.
"One of those mountains I've seen during our bangka ride to Anawangin cove"
When we arrived at Anawangin Cove, I eventually jumped off the Bangka, took off my slippers and started to walk on the white sand though it’s not really as white as what i’ve seen in pictures online. But everything in there is really amazing! From a distance, I saw a pine tree-infested cove with a stretch of white sand, just like in the photos posted I’ve online. It’s like a hidden paradise. The pine trees, the huge waves, the sand, the lake, the friendly people, everything in there are great! The atmosphere was very serene, seemed like I found solitude and tranquillity in this place.
"Anawangin is famous for the unusual existence of tall pine trees. They say that seeds were brought there by the eruption Mt Pinatubo."
"The campers stay near the big pine trees. This trees made the Cove more unique"
"The cove is free from any developments and the island is still reserved without any luxurious resorts in it."
"Behind the beach, you can also find a natural spring"
"And wow, a beautiful lake" Amazing!
After we ate our lunch and took some rest, we decided to hit the beach and went around to take more pictures. Here are some of our pine tree shots :-p
"Oh hi! This is me. Welcome to the Land of Pine trees" :-p
"Hi there. Meet my long-lost-bestfriend, Yvonne. Well actually, she didn't leave. Some situations part our ways. But still, we remain good friends" I missed this girl big time. Thank you for this!"
While we were having our pictorial, darkness came and then it rained. We felt sad because I knew our plans of having a bonfire near the beach with some drinks and sleeping by the sea shore will not happen anymore. But then, we still have to enjoy so we went to the beach and played the big waves, wooaah! Super fun :D
With the cold sand on my back, the sound of waves crashing against the shore and the gentle breeze of the sea, just peaceful and relaxing. We just spent the afternoon playing in the beach.
At first, we enjoyed the rain but then it bothered us because it gets even harder and the wavers were getting bigger as compared during the afternoon. So we decided to get back to our "kubo" a place where we stayed and then we took our dinner. Glad the owner of our station provided us an hour electricity so there was light when we were eating. But spending the night was one of the toughest times in the island, with a heavy rain and hearing the big sound of the waves like it will come up and hit us! I swear that I hate it so much! I never expected that situation, sleeping with no beddings, with mosquitoes biting you, I had a hard time sleeping because of that situation. oh gush I was hoping the time will run fast as it could. haha!
When we woke up, the weather was still not that good. We took our breakfast then after that we took some pictures before leaving the Island.
"Like us on Facebook" :D
"Hey, It's cloudy day. Really not a good weather" :(
Its Sunday so it's time for us to leave. But we can't leave thru bangka because of the big waves, so we have no choice but to trek to Brgy. Pundaquit. Oh ghaaad! This was the most unexpected, most tiring, as in the most challenging part on my anawangin experience. Imagine, you'll be trekking for 8 hours under the rain, wearing shorts, wearing slippers and no enough food to eat. Crossing to almost 10 rivers, I couldn't remember the exact number of rivers which we crossed. But the most unforgettable one was the last dangerous river. The current was very strong, seemed like any time you'll be flowed up with it. One of our tour guides told us that a UP mountaineer died because of this river. You have no idea how much afraid I am to cross that river, using a rope. No joke. I almost cried because of this.
Here are some of our trekking pics. Credits to our guests who took this photos. Sad, our cam got lowbat so we havent took more photos of the trek!
"On our way to go trekking"
"crossing the river. Oh by the way, we had a kid with us. This kid was really amazing. He enjoyed the trek"
"I really salute our guests because they were very sport, we didn't hear bad comments from them. They enjoyed the trek even if it's unexpected :D Oh yes, we're on our half way in this pic."
"Half way to go! This was the difficult part because the mountains were very slippery, we had a hard time going down. Good thing we have our tungkods with us! It was such a big help" :D
We reached Barangay Pundaquit at 5pm. The trek lasted for 8 hours. Gush! It was such a big achievement. hahaha! We were like "basang sisiw" that time. The saddest part was, our things got wet because we've crossed to number of rivers. So we get back to Manila with our "medyo medyo basang mga damit". And because of this unexpected experience, I learned my lesson: in going to an Island, you must be 100% prepared, as in PREPARED.
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