68
Fantastic treks
Cebu Pacific flies to Tacloban
from Manila and Cebu. From
Tacloban, make your way by land
to Samar.
for use in their carefully tended
gardens. The village is clean and
well maintained, and the people
friendly if a bit shy.
Farther along the river, these
sights give way to stark limestone
walls and lush foliage, leading to a
tiny floating port that’s the gateway
to the cave. Our guides are a local
woman and her granddaughter, who,
owing to the ongoing downpour,
decide to err on the side of caution
and take us on an abbreviated tour
of the cliffs and caves instead. The
elder of the two tells us that during
the Philippine revolutions against
the Spaniards and the Americans,
rebels hid on the cliffs, throwing
rocks and logs at their enemies as
they came down the river.
The Sohoton Caves contain
large stalactites, stalagmites and
other rock formations, some with
peculiar characteristics. I rap my
knuckles on some of them and
they emit xylophone-like tinkling
sounds. It’s all I can do to keep
from rapping on all of them— the
guides are very protective of these
caves and forbid us from touching
certain formations. All activities
inside the cavernous structures are
closely monitored to guard against
vandalism and theft.
As the light drizzle turns into a
full-fledged torrent, we shed our
protective helmets and hop back
into the boats. It’s a hurried ride
back to the barangay, where we rush
into our waiting van to change into
dry clothes and settle in for the ride
to our final stop.
From top:
crispy and
sweet Roscas
cookies, a
popular local
snack;
humba
or braised
pork; hot
mocha served
pretty at Café
Rosario
We arrive in Catbalogan, the province’s
capital, after a 90-minute journey. A
major hub and seaport, it’s considered
the “Gateway to Samar”. Jonathan
Montejo, our guide, immediately
takes us to Café Rosario by Charito’s
Delights, a popular bakery specializing
in pili-nut confections and pastries.
Here we’re presented with home-made
delicacies by special request such as
the local version of chorizo (a heavily
spiced and garlicky affair) and large
servings of delicious, melt-in-your-
mouth
humba
(a braised pork dish,
inspired by the Chinese dish
hong ba
).
There are also
tamalos
(an adaptation
of the tamale, which originated in
Mexico), a hearty, savory delicacy
of meat and boiled eggs wrapped
in rice-flour dough and steamed in
banana leaf. They’re served with
pipian
, a tasty, peanut-based sauce.
And finally, freshly made batches of
the local cheese in whey, called
keseo
.
These are flat, tender cakes made from
pure carabao milk — somewhat lighter
than our regular
kesong puti
—with a
deliciously salty, creamy taste.
Just as we’re about to wrap up our
epic meal, out comes an assortment of
sweets in the form of
latik
, a delicate
steamed rice dessert,
hopia de pili
and
torta
, a dense, flavorful cake so tasty
you’ll happily overlook the fact that its
main ingredients are lard and egg yolks.
Lots of egg yolks. I find myself with no
choice but to access the extra stomach
space reserved only for dessert.
Room for surprises is exactly what’s
needed when you come to Samar. It
might be off the tourist map for now,
but it’s certainly registering clear and
bright on our radar.
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The capital’s
yummy eats
DAY2.5
Sohoton Caves
