A rainy countryside tour to Samar (2023)

On my birthday (November 18), I woke up to moderate rainfall as a low-pressure area formed east of the country. At our hotel at Tacloban Plaza Hotel, I ate a simple breakfast consisting of a rice meal with tapa, cabbage, a hard-boiled egg, and a simple soup.

My mom hired the Leyte-based brother of her officemate for a $77 (4,500 pesos) countryside tour to Leyte and Samar. We left before ten o'clock.

Note: This blog is the second of two parts of our 2023 Leyte and Samar Weekend Trip. See this link for the first part.

Route map

Main tour experience

The San Juanico Bridge was our first stop of the day.

Traversing the national highway, our first stop was at the San Juanico Bridge, a steel truss bridge opened in 1973 as part of the scandalous Japanese loan funds by the government of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Stopping in any part of the bridge is not allowed, except for the ends of the approach ramps. It is one of the region's popular tourist attractions and was the longest bridge in the Philippines at 2.16 kilometers until the opening of the Candaba Viaduct of the North Luzon Expressway in 1976, connecting Pampanga and Bulacan. The title for the longest bridge, however, belongs to the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway connecting Cebu City and Cordova in Mactan.

Basey Church is our first stop! This church is dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, whose feast is celebrated every September 29.

We then stopped at the Saint Michael the Archangel Parish Church in Basey, Samar. Erected in 1846. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calbayog, encompassing the entire territory of the civil province of Samar (then Western Samar).

The provincial border of the provinces of (Western) Samar and Eastern Samar.

Originally, we were supposed to return to Leyte after the visit to Basey Church, but after my mom asked for the location of the Balangiga bells, our driver said that it is in Samar Island. With our city tour being accomplished the previous day (which was supposed to be held on this day), we had more time to roam around the countryside. Eventually, we decided to drive two more hours to the town of Balangiga in Eastern Samar. I decided to do this because we might not be able to go back to Eastern Visayas for the foreseeable future.

The parish church and town plaza of Balangiga, Eastern Samar.

It took us around 2 hours to reach Balangiga, a small town in Eastern Samar. We then visited the San Lorenzo de Martir Parish Church, home to the three church bells that were stolen by American soldiers as war trophies following the end of the Balangiga massacre on September 28, 1901. The bells were eventually returned in 2018 after decades of tumultuous negotiations between the governments of the Philippines and the United States. It is part of the Diocese of Borongan, encompassing the entire territory of the civil province of Eastern Samar.

Rock formations as seen from a beach in Marabut, Samar.

A long drive followed as we returned to Tacloban. While along the way, we stopped over at Caluwayan Palm Island Resort & Restaurant for a big lunch. After eating, we stood by the beach and took pictures of several rock formations, a known feature of the municipality of Marabut, Samar.

After crossing the San Juanico Bridge once again, we made our way to the MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park, a national park memorializing the historic landing of General Douglas MacArthur and his team on October 20, 1944, that marked the start of their campaign to liberate the Philippines from Japanese forces. It is located in Palo, Leyte, a nearby town from Tacloban. After a few minutes, we made our way to the Cathedral of the Lord's Transfiguration.

Our last stop of the day was the Cathedral of the Lord's Transfiguration in Palo, Leyte.

At Palo Cathedral, we decided to attend an Anticipated Sunday Mass and leave our driver. We requested a special blessing after the Mass, presided by the parochial vicar, the Reverend Father Jan Raymond Ramos. After the blessing, me and my mom talked with the priest about more details of the cathedral, particularly when it was left roofless after the typhoon until the visit of Pope Francis in 2015. Right after the conversation, he was generous enough for us to use the door of the altar servers to exit the cathedral as the main doors closed for the day.

We decided to leave our tour guide behind as we opted to commute back to Tacloban. We rode a tricycle, followed by a jeepney, to SM Savemore Tacloban to eat dinner at a Shakey’s restaurant. After walking to our hotel, I decided to stay at the reception desk to interview a staff member. I then asked her about her Christmas wish, followed by her Yolanda experience. She shared an extremely heartbreaking story with me when two of her relatives perished from Super Typhoon Yolanda. Nevertheless, we ended it with handshakes and a special birthday greeting from her.

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