Trip Part 3-San Pablo

After the incident at the falls, we headed to San Pablo, a two-hour jeep ride away. We were smashed. Thom promptly fell asleep. while I remained awake for the rest of the trip. We actually wanted to go to San Pablo on Sunday, but our bout with the boatman and substandard room forced us to leave Pagsanjan earlier than expected.

I tried making arrangements with people from San Pablo to find a place to stay there. Alas, it seems that the people of San Pablo were, citing a resident of the place, "tourists in our own city"!

Most of the information we have, we got from our travel book. The book, and our friend, Jac, who unfortunately could not meet us in San Pablo that Saturday, all pointed us to Coco Palace, reputedly the best hotel in town. I was hesitant to enter into any other hotels, as they sounded like sleazy 12-hour hires for illicit affairs, if the descriptions in the travel guide were to be believed.

Though we were weary, Thom was adamant that we had to be in a place that overlooked the lake, a feature that the Coco Palace didn't have. I just wanted to get into a nice, comfortable hotel, with a nice, comfortable bed. We wandered by the lakeshore, where we hoped a place for travelers would be open. We were pretty sure something of the sort had to be open.

Remember those movies and short stories where people are lost in the woods, then suddenly a bright, spanking new house appears in the horizon, like an oasis or a mirage with the promise of food and shelter, and hints at either good or sinister things to come? That's what we felt like when we saw Tahanan ni Aling Meding, a newly-opened 11-room hotel that feels more like a bed-and-breakfast. With reasonably rated rooms, Thom picked out P 2,000 de luxe room with a view of the lake. Perhaps as an apology, but he said that he was really tired and wanted a nice, comfortable bed.



Plopping down our bed, Thomas said, "See sweetie? As long as the place is worth the money, I am willing to pay big."

We woke up early the next morning to catch the sunrise. It was glorious. The vista from our balcony was worth much more than what we paid for.



The next day, Thom and I met Jac, Raipo and Gerry for a Komikero meeting. We had a very interesting discussion with Raipo on the COW PROJECT. We stayed a while because it was the Komikero's anniversary after all. Gerry introduced Thom to Google Earth, marking the beginnning of Thom's current obsession with it.

We were met with the pouring rain when we got home. Exhausted, we promptly slept a deep sleep, as we dreamed of future travels.

Next stop: Marinduque



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