SIPALAY, the “jewel of the sugar island” is always a source of fascination to me. For one, going to this 4th class component city, would mean travelling south and crisscrossing 175 kilometers of concreted (and some parts , excavated and repaired) roads from Bacolod.
The journey also connotes long sitting of four or more hours, with a break for a pee stop in Kabankalan City. Another thing to substantiate this concept is my belief that far places are always worth the travel, the fun and the discovery.
So off I and the Philippine Artisan went to Sipalay last Wednesday for our annual strategic planning. Sipalay is really home to natural wonders, like the famous sites of Tinagong Dagat, Campomanes Bay, Sugar Beach, Malinab Lagoon, and Punta Ballo Beach. All these panoramas are scattered in the city’s 17 different barangays.
However, with all the features of the aforementioned getaways, there is also the popular and the homely Langub, a coastal sitio in Barangay Nauhang. And Langub is where we stayed. The place, facing the Sulu Sea, boasts of clean, powdery sand dotting its shoreline, and crystal clear water on its beaches.
A 20-minute boat ride from the white sand boulevard of Sipalay City proper, Langub boasts of six beach resorts which guarantee home-grown hospitality, good services, and decent amenities.
The resorts in Langub are tagged as: Fiesta Cove, Langub Beach Resort, Sulu Sunset Beach, Driftwood Village, Bermuda and Takatuka Beach and Dive Resort. Each offers its own unique accommodation and services to both locals and international guests.
I have been to Langub Beach Resort six years ago, and my memories of the place are all water, sun and sand. I was in the company of friends then, that all we did was swim, rest, sleep and eat. The beach house where we stayed is not the same as what I saw now. Never too, was I able to move about the sitio, nor saunter the coastline, or climb the hills. So when we had settled comfortably in our cabanas, I made a vow--- to explore and re-discover Langub.
Langub Beach Resort has the comfortable quarters to choose from: the round house, the garret, the attic, the cabanas, and the north beach house. Most of the rooms are air conditioned, and each place has its own spacious toilet and batch. Toiletries, towels and linens are well- provided. And because we did bring our own ingredients, our meals were cooked, at a very reasonable rate, according to our menu specifications.
Now back to my exploration. Facing the sea, Langub Beach Resort is pinned by Fiesta Cove on right and Sulu Sunset Beach on the left. There is an inlet caused by quite an uphill crag which I labeled as “Brobdinagian” in comparison with a “Lilliputian” islet facing it. . My monickers for these two are but reminders of Dr. Lemuel Gulliver’s Travels.
My climb to Mr. “Brobdinagian Rock Face” was both easy and hard. Easy as there are man- made steps on the land, and difficult, as the steps on the side of the cliff facing the waters are quite perilous. But with slow and steady strides I made it. And my prize? Freeze- frames of Langub’s coastline from the top! And from a distance, I saw the seemingly chocolate hills formation of Gintaasan which I related to “Pandora” in “Avatar”.
For two cracks of dawn, my walk-half-jog on the beach made me reminisce the early morning practices of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams in “Chariots of Fire.” I may not be preparing for the Olympics, just like the characters in the movie, but the exercise allowed me to breathe the clean, crispy air from the sea, to test the strength of my legs and feet, and to praise and worship my God.
The activity also afforded me to see the facades of the other resorts in the area, without necessarily intruding the place or the guests.
And fascinating too are my discoveries! Because there are dwellers settled at the back of the resorts, and near the Nauhang River, I saw local fisherfolks drawing their nets or “punot" from the sea to the coastline. And after quite a long time of hauling it to the shores, the nets bear frisky and fresh fishes. But not “Nemos” and “Doras”, please? Amazing, indeed!
My walk brought me to the mouth of the Nauhang River. This is a narrow body of water created by sea on a sandbar. This means that if one visitor finds riding the pump boat too costly or quite giddy, then he or she can take a tricycle from the city proper to Barangay Nauhang, and take a Php5.00, two –minute boat ride to cross the river. A literal presentation indeed of “crossing of the bar."
But what was so interesting with my find were the two little boys who paddled their way to and fro the river in a banca to bring a local in. Of course, they’re not “Tom and Huck” looking for the hidden treasures. One clad in his pajamas, the other in his shorts; they are really a sight to behold, as they expertly maneuver the banca, at first, and the passenger, later, through the river.
On my way back, I ambled through a promontory and met two kiddies, both bleating for their mom to help them find their way home. T’ was good I was no “Heidi” who was butted by the mother goat and falls over from the top.
Nighttime in Langub is fantastic. What with the lighted gas lamps of the different fishing boats huddled near the coastline, the monstrous dark skies bedeck with stars, and the lulling splash of waves on the shores. I really did while away my time with this sheer natural bliss.
And the greatest resource of the place uncovered? Its people. I’ve met some and talked with them. Like the fisherman from whom we bought three kilos of fresh catch. His wife who cooked banana cue for us, and showed us the way going to the sari-store which sells cold soft drinks at a cheap, local price. The young lad who offered to sell us young coconut and volunteered to open them all for us. Our cook who gladly did the services for us. Sir Robert of the Langub Beach Resort who gladly welcomed us and made sure our needs are met. And the many more pleasant - faced locals who responded gracious to our “maayong aga’s” (good morning’s) and “maayong gab-I’s” (good evening’s).
According to one native grand old dame, there is still more to see in Langub if one treks to the other part of “Brobdinagian Rock Face.” Probably, the exploration for such an invitation would be reserve for my next visit. Meantime, I am already contented with what I have found out. I have re-discovered Langub. And it’s really worth the find. With Langub, and all the other countryside scene, Sipalay is indeed the “jewel of the sugar island.”
After the April 22, 2010 Earth Day celebration, here’s to a wish and a prayer that we, earthlings, should always remember and live out that Earth Day should always be Everyday. Our world is such a beautiful place to live in. God bless.