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| Casaroro Falls, Valencia, Negros Oriental |
Negros Oriental is home to iconic, scenic and majestic places in the Philippines. In 2014, it was my first time to visit the province and had the chance to see a glimpse of its history thru Silliman University and the city where the university is located, Dumaguete.
Last July (2016) together with my travel buddies, we invaded, not one, not two but three equally beautiful and majestic places that surely glued our eyes and our minds awed million times.
Wrapping up our South Cebu journey was a visit to its neighboring province of Negros Oriental.
How to get to Dumaguete City
Dumaguete City is the capital of Negros Oriental, the most populous in all 25 municipalities and cities across the province. As we all know, getting in to Dumaguete can be reached easily via airplane from MNL to DGT (Sibulan Airport) which is not really located in Dumaguete but from its neighboring municipality of Sibulan. South Terminal in Cebu City has hourly bus trips to Dumaguete City. Travel time is 4 hours and a little less than 30 minutes boat ride.
How to get to Manjuyod white sandbar
Since we are coming from Dalaguete, Cebu, we took an air conditioned bus that dropped us directly to Lilo-an Terminal, in Santander, Cebu then paid 60 or 70 pesos to Sibulan Port. From the port, we hailed an ordinary bus (that looked like baby buses of Cavite) to Bais City for more or less 40 pesos. It took us an hour on this trip to Mercado de Bais. From there, we haggled for a tricycle that brought us to the wharf where the chartered boat was docked. Trike fare was 25 pesos per person, one way (i could be wrong) but your haggling skills will surely help you get the trike fare go as low as you can imagine. hihihi.
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| Manjuyod sandbar |
A heavy rain caught us off guard while enjoying our stay at the sand bar and we had to stay inside our boat until the rain stopped. As you can see, the weather was kind of gloomy but according to the locals, the place can be compared to that of Maldives. I am not sure if I can share the same sentiment because the sun was not bright at that time but based from the pictures from other blogs, i must say "oo nga ano? parang Maldives nga kapag sobrang sikat ng araw". Well, I guess I have to go back to this place as soon as possible.
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| From left: Jesly, this author, Lawrence, Bangs and Pai |
Boat fare from the wharf to the sandbar and back was 1,500 for 5 pax. You may contact Dyna P. Adiong at 09224636944 or 09958927426. Fare may change at her own discretion.
Casaroro falls, Valencia, Negros Oriental
I have not heard of Casaroro falls until Lawrence, the "main man" in terms of researching of the places to be visited mentioned that this falls is on the list that we will be visiting that day.
Casaroro falls 101
The town of Valencia, home of Casaroro falls is geographically mountainous, when i say "mountainous", you will get to see dense tropical forest, hilly terrain, huge trees all over the place (siyempre) and steep trails. Perfect place for someone (like me) who's been sick and tired of seeing tall buildings in the metro, like the lyrics in a song "concrete jungle where dreams are made of".
Getting in to Casaroro features a 344-step, metal and concrete staircases, which is the ONLY way to go down and out of the falls. Herculean strength is something you must bring along with you should you really wish to see the beauty of the falls. After braving the 344-step staircases, you will need to also endure the rocky terrain leading to the main falls. There are a number of huge rocks along the way.
How to get to Casaroro
There is a jeepney terminal few meters away from Dumaguete City Public Market that has direct route to Valencia. Just ask around and the friendly people of Dumaguete will surely give you directions as to where the terminal is located. Fare is 14 pesos (i think), travel time is less than an hour to Valencia jeepney terminal. As you get to the terminal where the jeepney stops, ask for habal habal that will take you to the drop off point of Casaroro falls. In our case, we rented a tricycle, but later regretted riding a tricycle as we later realized that it would be more convenient to just hire a habal habal for almost the same amount, 100 pesos one way. The tricycle driver obviously had a hard time driving us up the hilly road, though there was just the 2 of us inside the trike. right, Lawrence? hahaha. The driver was not at fault, its the fact that the road leading to the falls was kind of steep. There is a small entrance fee of 14 pesos.
Swimming in the main basin is not allowed, as per the guide. The height of the falls is 100 feet, and the depth of the basin is unknown. 2 local tourists drowned here in 2012 (according to online research), prohibiting anyone from thereon to swim to the basin. swimming in the streams though is strongly encouraged.
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| read: Naturally yours |
It is very evident that the people of Valencia really takes care of the environment like f*cking seriously. During our stay in the falls (an hour or two at least) I didn't not see any candy wrappers, cigarette butts, and other eye-sore objects from the falls, to the terminal, even on the streets. Good job, people of Valencia. The people of Metro Manila should really need to talk to you guys. You definitely gave us one lesson we should never forget. hahaha.
Back to Dumaguete City
Dumaguete City has been our home during our stay in Negros Oriental. We had an overnight stay in one of the hostels for 1,500 pesos, good for 5. Let the following pictures tell you how our stomach are filled like a spoiled brat during our stay in the City
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| Dumaguete City public market |
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| Belfry of St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral |
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Saint Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral |
Manjuyod sandar, Bais; Casaroro falls, Valencia and Dumaguete City, conquered.
