Calayan Island Adventure: Getting to Magsidel

Magsidel

Day 3 in Calayan Island.

Monday (May 19) was a rest day for me, after some exhausting activities from the previous days.  I was thinking of a place that I should go few hours before sunset and I asked Tessie, the owner of TPS Homestay about the best location of sunset aside from poblacion.  She said I should go to Magsidel and I need to ride a tricycle.  But I prefer to walk, haha, it’s just that when you do a photo walk and collect some photos, for me it is best to walk.  I got used to it and it just reminds me when I was in California, when I go places I preferred to walk.

Magsidel Church

 

At the cliff is a 180 degree scenic view of the shore

So I did the walking tour stretching the main road to Magsidel starting from TPS Homestay 2 hours before sunset.  The sun was still high and I asked some people where Magsidel was.  The small church serves as the landmark that you have reached the spot.  I took a rest to the store and had some chats with the folks there asking them if there were still tricycles going back to poblacion.  They said that it wasn’t too much that day.  A few walks later I have reached the church and took some photos.  It was a small church that you won’t notice it as a church because there was no sign and you can find the cross on the ground at the back of the church.  The church was standing on a cliff,  where you can see 180 degree view of the shore.  They said this is the best spot to photograph the sunset and use the picture for t-shirts production.

A house in the main road to Magsidel

Cows in a ranch

Getting to Magsidel was more than an hour walk.

A few minutes later I walked to the main road and went down until I reach the sandy shore at the left side of the road.  This is where I waited for the sunset for my photo shoot.  Sunset was gone from the horizon at 6:30 p.m.  Then I had a little problem that it was quite dark already and I started walking to the main road.  Only few motorbikes run, after some few walks a folk who was driving the motorcycle passed by so I asked him if I could take a hitch.  On his back was the other guy, but he won’t reach the poblacion.  I took a ride after all it lessens my burden of walking back to the homestay.  The guy dropped us off after reaching his place to the main road and we started walking down the main road.

The folk brought the carabao down the shore.

Just before the sunrise

Fisherman

A few minutes later, a lady driving her motorcycle offered me a ride and she dropped me off to the bakeshop where I bought some bread for my dinner.

When I reached homestay, Tessie was there having a meeting with some fellas.  When the meeting was through, we had a conversation about my departure the following day and she called Jomar, the head of the tricycle association to pick me up at 5 a.m. as lampitaw M/B Morning Star leaves at 6 a.m.  She gave me a dinner with fish sinigang as viand. 

Related Links:

A Guide When Getting to Calayan Island
Calayan Island Adventure: Getting to Magsidel
Calayan Island Adventure: Sibang Beach
Calayan Island Adventure: The Lampitaw Boat Ride
Cagayan Valley: A Glimpse of Claveria