The amazing race from Lake Sebu to Cebu to Bohol

After a few days in Lake Sebu to experience T’boli traditions and culture, we are off to another amazing race to Bohol, where we plan to visit the Eskaya tribe.

Lake Sebu to General Santos

We took a van back to Surallah and got in a van to General Santos. It was so hot inside, and it seemed like it would still take a while before the van would have enough passengers, so Tara and I decided to take a trike to Yellow Bus Lines station and take the bus instead.

The adventure of getting to the GenSan airport

When we got to General Santos, we took a trike to the plaza to get an internet connection and print our boarding passes. But, because it was already less than four hours before our flight, we couldn’t do this anymore.

Tara brought up the possibility that we might be unable to get into our next flight because of this. I don’t know where my confidence came from, but I assured her we could. It would just take an enrollment conversation with the Cebu Pacific personnel.

Will we make it?

We tried to find the jeepney or multi-cab we could ride to get us to the airport, but everyone we asked kept pointing us toward where we could get a cab. So, either the jeepney we were looking for didn’t exist, or they didn’t know it existed.Because we were cramped with time, Tara and I rode a trike to bring us wherever it would be easy to get a cab.We asked the driver to put the meter down when we found a taxi. But, he said that, in General Santos, they don’t do that when heading to the airport. I gave in because we were in a hurry, and I didn’t want to be bothered by this. All I asked from the driver was to bring us to General Santos in time for our boarding.

Thank you, Cebu Pacific!

And he fulfilled his end of the bargain – Tara and I got to the airport a few minutes before boarding time.I went straight to the Cebu Pacific counter and explained that we had checked in but just failed to print our boarding passes, crossing my fingers that we would still be allowed to board. She gave us our boarding passes, and we went to the waiting area.Again, we made it just in time for boarding, with enough to pee and freshen up! Sweet!

Hello, Cebu!

The flight from General Santos to Cebu took about an hour. My friend Therese took us from the airport to her family’s restaurant, Casa Verde. She ordered ribs and salad for us. It was super tasty, and we loved it!

We then went to the port to buy tickets for the 3:55 PM trip to Tagbilaran. We wanted to take this trip because our host in Tagbilaran, Malou, would take us to a fiesta in Sevilla. Plus, it was also Supercat’s last trip.We were surprised that the ferry had already left when we got to the port at 3:45 PM. It was the first time I experienced public transportation leaving 10 minutes BEFORE its scheduled departure. We could be pissed and annoyed because of this breakdown. But, it was not worth the energy.So, after conversations with Malou and Tara, we decided to take Oceanjet instead. It turned out to be a good thing because we saved some bucks from their Libre Balik Promo. We paid Php 820.00 for a round-trip ferry ride to Cebu-Tagbilaran.

Enjoying Casa Verde’s Coffee + Chocolate Cake

Because we still had over an hour to spare before our ferry leaves at 6:00 PM, Therese brought us to Casa Verde’s main branch, where she treated us to coffee and chocolate cake. Super yum!

Tara, Therese, and I had wonderful conversations to while the hours away. But, by 5:15 PM, we left Casa Verde, and Therese drove us to the port so we could be sure that we wouldn’t miss our ride this time. We were at the port by 5:30 PM. Our ferry left on schedule, and we got to Bohol at 7:40 PM.

Bohol, finally!

Our host, Malou, told us to ask the drivers to bring us to Abucay residence. I had this idea that everyone in Tagbilaran knew everyone else. But, after several tries to find Abucay residence, I realized I was wrong. So, I asked Malou to send me their exact address.We found a lady who lived near their house and offered to bring us there. We only paid Php 20.00, and the lady shouldered the rest. Thank you, Ma’am!Malou’s Mom welcomed us into her home and prepared dinner for us. Malou pushed through with going to the fiesta, and her parents were so nice to accommodate us even if Malou wasn’t there.

After taking a shower, we both went to bed without any concrete plan of how we would get to the Eskayas the following day. Exciting!