In the Eye of the Storm You will be Blind - Visayas Leg Part 1

There's a reason most people take road trips during summer time. The weather will spring no surprises. But where's the thrill in that right? Road trips should equal spontaneity. You make your usual plans of course, like where to stop, accommodations, safety considerations, weather forecast et al, the timing however should always be flexible. The trip somehow always starts right when it is decided on whim and your co-travelers are given just enough time to pack but not enough time to back out. That is the ingredient that turns it from a mere trip to an adventure. Road trips are really stories on wheels and so there's always a plot. Tension is built. First things go right and then things go wrong. Then when they're supposed to go right again that's when all hell breaks loose and things really go way wrong! But since a story will have to be told and retold somehow the character or characters survive not totally unscathed but either just thankful or hopefully better and learned. Visayas provided one of the tension or conflict and then the climax for our road trip from Manila to Southern Mindanao.

It started really well. We caught the 12:30 pm ferry from Matnog in Luzon island, the gateway to the Visayas, for the port of Allen, Samar. We were the last car allowed to board the boat. Had we been late it would have been another 2 hours of waiting time and we would surely be driving at night on the way to Tacloban City our planned pit stop. It was sunny and the sea was calm. The ferry ride was short around an hour and thirty minutes and since we were the last to board we were the first to alight from the ferry. We were on our merry way to Tacloban by 2:21 pm (yes, exactly that time per FB for iPhone Places feature). I estimated that the 250 kilometer drive would take us at least 4 hours. There would be 2 cities along the way Calbayog then Catbalogan both in the island of Samar. It seemed luck was on our side. I expected the road to be the worst in this part of the trip. Years back when I traveled the same route the road could not even be called that. Proof to my theory of the cycle of life of our paved roads in the country, it was very much newly reconstructed and smooth since it has just been over a year since the last National elections. We were at Calbayog by 3:30 and we decided to continue all the way to Catbalogan for some rest and snack. Again the ride was smooth as silk totally uneventful. We were there by 4:30 pm.

We found a restaurant in what seemed to be the chicken inasal (roasted chicken Visayan style) row of the City. The name of the place escapes me now. It was after the owner for sure and unfortunately I did not take any picture. I told everyone we could take our sweet time because we were already more than half way to Tacloban. Meal for 4 was 350 Pesos ( roughly 8US$ ). That was one whole jumbo size roasted chicken, unlimited rice, Nilagang Baka ( similar to Corned Beef in clear stew) and drinks. Things were all going according to plan. But I should have known better! One is always fed well before being guillotined. And when you actually have chicken it gets worse!

We left Calbayog City around 5:15. We were less than two hours away from San Juanico bridge. Fifteen minutes on the road it was suddenly dark and the rain came. We were still within city limits and the first ominous thing happened, we got lost. We followed the road hugging the coast but ended up in a dead end street. We had to travel back around 5 kilometers to find the Maharlika Highway again. By then daylight was gone and the weather has turned for the worst. The road too had turned from well paved and smooth to slippery, twisty, uphill and narrow. Visibility was 2 meters. We welcomed and cursed the fact that it was night time. It was comforting that at least we would know if other vehicles are nearby because of their headlights but then the pounding rain and the dark of night virtually made us blind. Unbeknown to us at that time we were in the middle of a storm. One of the most devastating of the year that eventually ravaged cities, towns, provinces we were just in a few days back. Typhoon Juaning made landfall in Samar and we were in the eye of it. I forgot and let this be a lesson to all travelers out there. The weather forecast time frame is meant for how soon it will hit the National Capital Region and nearby provinces leaving most Eastern areas in the Philippines facing the Pacific caught unaware of the severity of a weather disturbance.

We slowed to a crawl. We averaged 20 kilometers per hour. Stopping was never an option since we could feel the wind rock the car with its strength. We were very quiet. Three grown men and a little lady and only one was courageous enough to say what we all had in mind. "Dad I'm really, really scared...", Bettina's voice was trailing off fearing that the mere admittance will bring us to a worse condition. I could not remember what I replied to comfort her. Maybe because I was not too confident about it. I remember blaming myself though for enjoying the chicken inasal too much and lingering longer than we should have had at Catbalogan City. When Bettina broke the silence it somehow made all of us embrace the fear. And when that happens it's when the mind begins to work again. I was navigating and Roland was driving. I remembered we overtook a bus 10 kilometers prior. I told him to wait for it so we could use it as our guide. I assumed the driver of the bus who has taken this route many times over would help us safely reach our destination. And then I silently prayed. I guess He listened.

We reached San Juanico bridge at 8:30 pm. 2 hours behind our schedule. We were too tired to even stop and admire the bridge that was once the longest and most grand in Asia. Designed longer than necessary and most probably cost taxpayers many times more than actually needed. We only have this measly picture to prove we passed through it. But we had an experience of a lifetime that may not be too easy and comforting to share. However I think all answered prayers need to be because answered prayers are miracles no matter how small or insignificant hence this blog. For us getting out of that storm was Himala (Filipino word for miracle). Minor events all conniving for a good story to tell about the power of prayer. And it is also a good segue for me to leave you with another music video from a favorite Filipino band of mine, Rivermaya. The title though may be the only thing appropriate for this blog :-).