We meet a lot of people in our life but not everyone leaves a mark, we may know some for years together yet they can fade from our heart with time, but there might be few people whom we meet for minutes yet we carry them along until we wither. What is travel if you don’t meet someone like that, isn’t travel all about meeting different people, culture and landscapes, getting lost in all of it, and forget where you started.  Off late i have become a snail snoozing inside my shell to avoid humankind, no reason in particular but that’s all i needed for finding solace. But this trip has made a difference to me, I was again reminded how kind people can be and somewhere out there people are still being human than behaving human.

Our Trip started in Moalboal, a quaint little town reminding me of a lovely holiday postcard. and the highlight of the town is Kawasan falls canyoneering.  Honestly i have not even heard of the term canyoneering until we decided to come to Philippines. It is the sport of jumping and sliding, swimming to explore through canyons, my first thought who came up with this idea ?? Seriously why ?? I am not sure if i would have done this on my own but when you travel with friends you do it along. I am someone who doesn’t enjoy being in water, people presume i am aqua-phobic but no it is just that i don’t enjoy it or i don get excited. But sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do to have experiences beyond expectations. The views and landscapes of Kawasan falls are totally scenic , The rocks, trees, ruins and the cascading water was a sight to behold, I actually enjoyed the views most rather than the adventure itself. This is the first waterfall I have seen in my life with turquoise waters, and I am a sucker for that colour. There were one or two buildings in ruins and guess mother nature did not like intrusion and took it all out with Cyclone Odette.

The adventure begins with a 4m jump along the waterfalls and it looked like attempting suicide to me, please make a note I don’t know to swim and my survival skills in water is equal to a mermaid on earth. But of course people around me made it all worth it, Jerry and Joel our guides for the day were so kind that they took care of me like kid in every step. They are fun loving folks who went extra lengths to make sure i was alright all the time with a smiling face. I am sure I would have not survived this without them and of course our friends Abhiram and Varun 🙂 If people are wondering why I am not mentioning my husband this is not the titanic to say “You jump, I jump.. It was more of “oh please don’t hold on to me i am trying to survive here lady”. I guess James Cameron has to learn a lot and stop putting ideas in people’s head

After all this stint and heading to another island, My spouse felt like he missed out on doing scuba diving with whale sharks. So we reached out to one of our recent acquaintance in Moalboal, Reagan to check if this can be arranged next day before our flight in the evening . With just that one call , Reagan made it happen for us, he arranged it all, every single thing he completely made sure we had the best experience and reached comfortably to board that flight. He had actually travelled out 2hrs with his family and spent half day to  completely take care of us.  And what did we do, we tried to offer him some money for his help and all he said was brother I was only helping you out and I don’t want the money. Godspeed..Thank you brother..!!

And coming to the dive, I have always wanted to do scuba diving, it was the topmost one in my bucket list few years ago but somehow I lost it in the years that rolled past and I simply didn’t feel like doing it. I went for this one for my husband and the whole experience was even more beautiful as we did it together. I was anxious of course but with an instructor like Rooney even a kid can ace the dive, i am not going to forget him in this lifetime.  he gave me instructions before the dive and asked me try it out once and once I did he said ok let us go in, I was like no wait and I expected him to just pull me in but he just smiled and sang to me, like singing to a kid to make me calm and composed before we plunged in.  By then I knew I can trust him and I went along, my initial thoughts were maybe it might be like swimming in a fish tank ? but I was proved wrong  It is an another world out there, Where our rules don’t work.

We did go to see the whale sharks but that did not excite me because I knew I was going to see that, what delighted me was a turtle lazying around in a corner and as soon as it saw us, I think it got annoyed as we intruded it’s me time and swam away 🙂 For me life is all about the simplest things and I could connect myself with the turtle than the sharks. And I am truly grateful I did my first dive with an instructor like Rooney, He did not see me as business he wanted me to experience the moment and carry it with me and the whole affair with the underwater world turned out as beautiful as his intentions.

Travelling to Philippines is one of kind, it is definitely a different experience than other places, more than scenic landscapes, this place offers experiences for life. And To get from one place to another you have to travel a lot, and use all means of transport, and in this you get to meet a lot of people, and every single person we met are so lovely and kind, everyone had a story to tell. The owner of the burger joint Theiry , or the joyful caretaker Maria and her cat Ginger,I felt I have some takeaway from each one of them and this is the first trip I made were people made a great impact than the place itself. This little impromptu trip turned out so distinct and am taking all these stories with me 🙂

I yearn to be an old women, walking along with my old man,

Reminiscing old memories, from a wild youth.

Every such travel we take brings us one step closer,

And am grateful for that, my memories, my love,  and this life.