Calamianes Group of Islands - Part 2...

- GRANVISTA LODGE/RESORT and MT. TAPYAS

Before our trip began, we e-mailed, texted and called a lot of lodge/hotel owners about their accommodation and island tour rates. The cheapest offer that we got came from GRANVISTA LODGE/RESORT. So nung nakita namin ang name ni Henry na nakalagay sa karatulang hawak ng isang driver, sumakay kami agad at pinuntahan ang place. By the way, if you are wondering about our expenses, let's start with the van. It's 150 pesos each. Lahat ng drivers ganyan ang offer.

The first room that we got costs 400 pesos each but when we learned that there's a cheaper one (300 pesos), we immediately transfered and was pleased because it already has bathroom and kitchen inside. We also have the dining area all to our selves because we were the only visitors at that time.

Granvista Lodge/Resort pictures courtesy of Henry
















Going up the attic!



















The viewdeck area with Joks, Karen and JR.



















Picture below is one of the beds in the viewdeck area. This is the coziest part of the place because it is just near the viewdeck but it was not advisable to stay there at that time because of the insects and possible rain storm. As in mababasa ang beauty mo pag nag-stay ka sa areang ito kapag umuulan pero hindi mo na kailangan ng fan anytime of the day kasi super presko dito.

Nga pala, nakakainis yung caretaker! Unang gabi namin, namatay ang generator ng 1:30 am (instead of 2 am)at napansin din namin na mahina ang ikot ng electric fan. Yung last night naman namin, napansin namin na biglang lumakas ang ikot ng fan nung dumating ang owner ng resort at mga pamangkin nito. Pagkaalis na pagkaalis nila e biglang humina ulit. Para bang pinlug mo ang fan sa 110 volt instead of 220. Last day naman namin e nawalan kami ng tubig. Kaming dalawa lang ni JR ang hindi nakaligo. Buti na lang at naligo na kami before matulog pero hindi pa rin excuse yun para tipirin kami.

It's a promising lodge/resort but they really need to have 24 hour of electricity, water and cable tv for their guests because some people still wants to be connected to the "outside world".




















Not to waste time, nag-change outfit agad kami, boarded a tricycle (since service sya from our lodge, 20 pesos each ang bayad. If you are located near the town, you'll only pay 9 pesos each.) and went to MT. TAPYAS.

Below is a picture of Karen and Joks at the Coron bus, jeepney and tricycle terminal. Pero hindi kami sumakay diyan, pinicturan ko lang yan. The real thing is that we were waiting for our Zagu refreshments dahil sobrang init nung araw na yun. =p




















Playing with my cam inside the trike!















That's MT. TAPYAS!



































Mt. Tapyas is a 700+ step (or 900+ step?) mountain with a big cross at the top that lits up at night. A lot of people are climbing this mountain because of the beautiful sunrise/sunset. Plus the pounds that you'll lose if you'll climb it everyday. =p




















I love this picture. It is one of the shelters located at the left side of Mt. Tapyas.
















These are the "mineral water kids". They carry ice chests with mineral waters in it available for 20 (small) and 30 (big bottle) pesos each. Sa tingin ko, magandang business ito kasi marami nga ang umaakyat sa bundok. Dalawang grupo lang sila na nag-aagawan sa pagbenta ng tubig. Buti na lang bigayan pa rin sila at sana naman e wala ng makigaya kasi ibang klaseng hirap ang dinadanas nila makabenta lang.

We were supposed to visit MAQUINIT HOT SPRINGS but it was already late and it'll be a 30-45 minutes trike ride so we opted to have dinner at KAWAYANAN GRILL. We ordered sizzling squid (overflowing with ketchup), chopsuey (na sobrang konti), pork bbq (ito lang ang masarap para sa akin) and a pitcher of iced tea. We paid 232 pesos each! Too expensive and the service was also not good.

Since the lodge owner's house is just across the street, we coordinated with the person-in-charge, Jen, for our next day's Coron islands tour.