2018 Calayan Adventure, Day 07 - Traveling back to Manila (Calayan-Claveria-Laoag-Manila)

06 April 2018

Goodbye Calayan Island!  Today is our last day on the island.  As early as 5AM, we were awake and having breakfast because our boat leaves at 7AM for Claveria Port.

From Claveria, we headed to Laoag where we waited for our scheduled bus ride home. 

We booked the 8PM bus so that we'll all just sleep on the way home.

After around 11 hours on the bus, we arrived in Manila, safe but pretty tired. :)

So, we were all packed and ready to go at around 5AM.  We had an early breakfast and a little time to say goodbye to our extended family and friends.  Who knows when we'll all be able to come back like this?

Our bigger bags were picked up earlier and taken to the boat to be loaded ahead of us passengers.  Again, there were kuliglig transports to take us to the dock where the boat, New Era, the same boat that brought us to Calayan, was waiting. 

That was the boat and while we were recording our names on the Manifest, they re-positioned the boat to be closer to make it less dangerous to walk on the plank that served us a bridge between the land and the boat.  It was a bit scary walking on it because the boat was rocking but the boat guys were there to keep us in check.

As you can see, some of my family were busy taking photos.  I, on the other hand, was busy being scared of falling from the plank because I could see that the boat was steadily rocking back and forth.  I have a problem with balance and walking on that narrow plank is scary, ok? :)

But, grateful and thankful to the boatmen who hung on to us as we crossed, we were able to find ourselves a spot on the boat and just settled for the 4 hour ride back.

And so, with that, we bid goodbye to Calayan Island, our home for the past week.  Just a tip for next time, going back, make sure you ride on the west side of the boat so that the sun isn't shining in your direction.  The tarp will just block your view hehe

Fishermen

Fuga Island??

The travel this time was less choppy but we still ended up getting wet, but funny enough, not from splashing from the top but from the bottom of the boat!  Some of us were wearing raincoats and ponchos to keep us dry, but the water that got us wet came from the bottom when the boat would come back down from a tall wave! There was even a tarpaulin that shielded us from the sun and supposed to shield us from the spray of water too.  It did shield us from waves but not from the bottom haha

Water rose from here and got us wet

Anyway, once we reached Claveria, those of us who got wet marched to the bathrooms to rinse off the salt water and change into dry clothes.  The rest fed on snacks we brought from our leftover breakfast in Calayan:)

Finally, we loaded ourselves in rental vans that were to take us to Laoag.  I had no idea as to the logic why we were coming from Laoag to Manila since we were just following my aunts' plans.  I didn't mind because it was such a scenic route traveling the Laoag Coastal Highway, traveling through Pagudpud and its beaches and Bangui and its windmills :)  Oh and we also got 2 simultaneous flat tires on our van!  They were able to replace the tires but that took some time.  

After about 3 or 4 hours, we reached my Uncle Angel's ancestral home where we stayed while waiting for our bus schedule.  We all were so hungry because breakfast was all we ever ate during the trip haha  Dylan was so busy eating that he didn't bother stopping for the picture :)  Everyone just chilled, rested and refreshed themselves for the trip home.  

Photo by Lynne

By 830PM, we were notified that the bus was there and that we should start carrying our bags to get to the highway.  It's not an easy feat carrying heavy bags haha Next time, we should opt for bags on wheels hahaha

Photo by Lynne

Everyone get settled in for the long drive back home.  I was so tired that I fell asleep instantly beside Dylan who was my seatmate.  I only came to when I felt the bus stop at one of the pit stops.  I was just grateful too that there was a restroom on the bus and that it was clean :)  I fell asleep and woke up a few times when new passengers came on and old passengers got off.  Otherwise, it was a smooth ride. 

After about 11  hours on the road, we arrived at the Florida Bus Liner terminal in Sampaloc, Manila around 630AM, the next day.  Everyone was busy sorting through luggage and making sure that nothing was left.  Since, it's pretty chaotic at the bus station, everyone just kind of went their own ways.  We saw my cousin with an SUV and most of my other family members just hopped in.  We immediately got in our Grab Car as soon as it arrived. Others, I think also went with their Grab drivers. 

Photo by Lynne

Photo by Lynne

When we got home, which was about 10 minutes away, Patrick immediately went to the nearby Jollibee to buy breakfast.  The kids just dropped their bags and immediately fell asleep, without even changing clothes!  By the time Patrick came back, they were in snooze land.  Patrick and I had to deal with the wet clothes, the other dirty laundry and the rest of the bags before we got a chance to rest.  It was a short rest too because we were all supposed to meet at a birthday party for my cousin's son in the afternoon. But that's another post :)