Exploring Mt. Tapyas and Maquinit Hotsprings in under 2 hours!
{January 27, 2012} We wanted to maximize our weekend, so we booked an extra tour from Ms. Cherry. She suggested that we go for the Day Tour right after checking-in at the resort. Now, our schedule was tight since our flight to Coron arrived late in the afternoon. And with that, we've only managed to squeeze in two hours on our impromptu tour (5-7PM).
For our first afternoon in the island, our tour guide Jhun, took us straight to Mt. Tapyas. I wasn't able to do any research on this particular place, so I was caught off guard when he said that we needed to do "a little climb up the mountain". LITTLE ALRIGHT! We actually needed to climb 700 steps before reaching the summit; and climbing 700 steps wasn't a joke to someone as unfit as me.
Anyway, the mountain top held this very famous Coron Cross, which was lit every night. I wanted to stop climbing (just after 100 steps!). But my desire to see the actual cross motivated me to finish my journey. So after about an hour, and a drained bottle of blue gatorade, we finally reached the top.
The sunset view from Mt. Tapyas was spectacular. We saw the whole of Coron (islands and all). But after a good 20 minutes of exploring, we decided to walk down the steps to continue on to our next destination. Our next stop was also a famous site, and they called it the Maquinit Hotsprings.
There were rough roads on our way to the hotsprings. And we really felt the bumps along the way since we were only riding Jhun's tricycle. Anyway, we got to our destination by 6 pm, paid the Php150 entrance fee, and dipped into the pool of hot, salty water instantly. We only stayed for a mere 20 minutes since we wanted to catch the last boat to Divelink. The formation of the rocks within the hotspring pools were remarkable. The water was clear, hot and it helped our muscles to relax. We could've stayed longer but we were too strapped for time. We wanted to catch the last free boat trip back to the resort, so we hurried off.
We were just a mere 5 minutes away from the harbor when Kuya Jhun decided to take us at the fishing port. His cousin owned this fish pen where their daily catch are brought here to be contained and conditioned for hours. He showed us how the fish and the lobsters were conditioned for their transit to Manila. He said that these sea creatures were put to sleep, whilst the conditioning part. We were actually amazed at the Lapu-Lapu fish and the lobsters that they caught that day. It was so amazing that I couldn't let it pass without taking photos!
Anyhow, we got to the harbor just in the nick of time. As the boatman from Divelink was already waiting for us. We got there at exactly 6:59 PM. And when we got back at the resort, we ordered some grilled food for dinner (some liempo and squid), and then lounged by the pool area before calling it a night.
We've managed to skip the souvenir shops for Mt. Tapyas and Maquinit Hotsprings, that's why we were able to experience both areas in just under two hours (tight though!). Although we were pressed for time, we still managed to enjoy the time that was dealt to us. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Explore & Be Free!
Mai
22 comments