I’m a software engineer and solo traveler who hopes to see the 81 provinces of the Philippines. Last year, PAL had a seat sale promo so I booked a 3D2N round-trip ticket (Clark-Siargao) for only 2500 PHP. However in an unexpected turn of events, I resigned from my job last December 31, 2018 to rest and figure things out while having an indefinite vacation. Fast forward to the day of the trip (February 2018), I have plenty of time so I ditched my return-flight and extended my Siargao trip from 3 days to 8 days. (More details about my Siargao trip soon but you can see some photos here) 😉
My return flight was at 4PM of this day. This photo was taken 5:13 PM of the same day. Yes, nagpaiwan ako! 😀
After a week, I checked flight prices from Siargao to Manila and the cheapest is around 8000 PHP. Since I have lots of time and I wanted to experience new things, I decided to travel to Manila manually. I saw the route will pass through these provinces Surigao-Leyte-Samar-Bicol; I haven’t been there before so I got excited and pushed through this plan. (My destinations should’ve been Surigao del Sur-Butuan-CDO-Camiguin but the weather’s not good.)
Where to Stay: I always score the best hotel deals (you can too!) via Agoda. 💯👌🏻
After my week-long vacation in Siargao, I took a 3-hour ferry ride (business class fare: 350 PHP + terminal fee: 10 PHP) from Dapa Siargao to Surigao del Norte (Eva Macapagal Passenger Terminal).
Outside Surigao port, a tricycle driver offered to take me to Lipata port. He charged me 280 PHP (40 PHP/pax * 7) to cover the unoccupied 6 seats.
In Lipata port, I took another ferry ride for an hour to San Ricardo, Southern Leyte (regular fare: 130 PHP & terminal fee: 30 PHP).
In San Ricardo port, I took a 3-hour bus ride to Tacloban (regular fare: 450 PHP but the conductor only charged me 400 PHP). I dropped off at Robinsons North Tacloban.
I left General Luna Siargao at 9:20 AM and I arrived in Tacloban Leyte at 9:30 PM (same day). It was a total of 12 hours in transit which costed me 1200 PHP. It was really tiring, not to mention I was sick during my entire Leyte trip. Charge to experience! 🙂 I checked in at my hotel and got plenty of rest to recover energy.
The next day, I got some breakfast and started my trip at 2 PM. I have no itinerary when I got there but I just know that I wanted to see the Kalanggaman Island, San Juanico Bridge, and MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park.
From Tacloban New Terminal (in front of Robinsons North Tacloban), I hired a tricycle driver to take me to the two destinations I’ve mentioned above to save time and effort.
It is the longest bridge in the Philippines connecting two provinces Leyte and Samar. It was nice to finally see this up close and personal since it was one of our lessons back in grade school (first grade, 2001).
MacArthur Landing Memorial National Park.
This is the spot in Leyte Gulf where General Douglas MacArthur had his historic landing during the World War II. Who wouldn’t have known his iconic line “I shall return.”? I can only read about this in my grade school books back then. I was here minutes before sunset.
Outside the park, there are street food vendors. Fave! ❤
At night, I went to Robinsons Place Tacloban (different from Robinsons North Tacloban) to get a haircut, quick massage, and some window shopping. (BTW if you like my phone case, you can get it here for a very reasonable price — shipping worldwide!)😅
Yolanda Shipwreck Memorial Park
This was mentioned by my tricycle driver but unfortunately I didn’t see it as he said it’s way is different from our route. According to him, the ship was washed up in the road during the super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). You can see it in Catriona Gray’s This is Visayas video for Miss Universe 2018.
The next day, I woke up at 2 AM to go to Kalanggaman Island and it only costed me 770 PHP! Here’s the DIY Kalanggaman Island guide I’ve published yesterday. I got back to my hotel at 8 PM and immediately fell asleep.
I suddenly woke up at 3 AM and checked flights back to Manila. The earliest flight for that day is 6:45 AM so I booked it and rushed to the airport. I would have loved to go back to Manila via Samar-Bicol but my sickness prevented me. I arrived in Manila at 8:10 AM and rushed to my second home in Taguig to get plenty of rest. My Siargao-Leyte trip was for 11 days and 10 nights. Hope this helps! 🙂
You can view my Leyte visuals through #mrpljstnLEYTE on Instagram. Who takes my photos? I am a solo traveler so I take my photos on my own with the help of a tripod. #sarilingsikap 😀
Questions? Feel free to ask in the comments section. 🤗
Want to see what’s next in the great wide somewhere? Come along and let’s stay connected on Instagram and Facebook for daily travel photos/updates! 😉
P.S. Let’s always remember to: (1) take nothing but pictures; (2) leave nothing but footprints; and (3) kill nothing but time. 😉
How I Travelled to Tacloban Leyte from Siargao Island (DIY) I'm a software engineer and solo traveler who hopes to see the 81 provinces of the Philippines.
