Samar by Motorbike

Samar by Motorbike – around Samar Island in 5 days with Joni and the dutchpickle

My neighbor Joni and I decided to spend a few days exploring Northern Samar by motorcycle. We just headed north on the National Highway that runs up the western side of Samar Island because we didn’t have a set plan. This story is through the lens of Joni’s camera.

It is the rainy season in Samar so we were not sure how far we would get. We were flexible and would see how bad the roads were.

We stopped off at Sherwin’s house in Gandara to drop off some information about Joni’s next cave exploration and had a bite to eat before continuing. Sherwin is one of the top cavers on the island and teams up with Joni on some of the expeditions.

Spelunkers are a bit nuts but caving does get addictive when you are exploring new territory. I am more of an above ground guy myself, but have been on a few adventures with these guys and can recommend their tours.

There has been an enormous improvement to the road on the western side of the island this year. It had been a bone jarring run but now most of the National Highway is paved.

We caught a pumpboat from the seaside village of Victoria to Dalupiri Island and spent the night there. It was a very pleasant evening at the Haven of Fun Resort on the beach where we got a small bungalow for 300 pesos for the two of us.

The dutchpickle rates the Haven with 5 stars because it is a great value, attentive staff and excellent location. We took my bike along and drove the 25 kilometers around the island in about an hour.

The Haven is a great place to rest for the night, but it would get a tad boring if you stayed there several days. Its a quick trip if you have the time. The ferry only costs 30 pesos.

Changing a motorcycle tire barefoot video

Early the next morning we returned to the mainland and drove up to Lavezares and took the pumpboat to Biri Island. This island really is beautiful and has some amazing rock formations that are a bit difficult to get to but well worth the hassle.

We drove through the salt marsh and parked above the high tide mark. One of the other stories is just about Biri Island so this will be kept short.

We had a great time visiting Ralph Adams and Rick Badger and camped in Ralph’s yard. Joni strung a hammock between two palm trees and I just commandeered one that Ralph had hanging under the nipa shelter.

Bill Andrews website about Northern Samar – excellent source of  information about the islands!

http://www.northernsamartravel.com

It really was a paradise but we headed out first thing in the morning back to the mainland. Ralph and Rick  are avid scuba divers so it was great to get some information about the area.

For me Biri is more interesting than Dalupiri or Capul Islands.

We stopped at a few resorts on the way to Catarman. They are out of my league price wise. At Bobon Beach Resort it was 90 pesos just for two Nescafes. These kind of resorts bore me.

There are a few westerners that have built monuments or homes along the northern coast near Catarman. Here John shows me around his place.

It’s very well built and has solar panels that can power the place. I loved the tour but would not choose to build on this coast due to the weather and typhoons that pile debris on the beach. It is very difficult to keep them clean.

My main interest was getting past Rawis, the town at the end of the road.

We crossed the bay in a pumpboat to Laoang where I bought a ridiculous fisherman’s hat, but it was so cool with a neat design!

I definitely didn’t want to loose my footing on this crossing.

The trip had just begun! Now we were into the mud! This is the kind of back country that I thrive on.

We were thinking about staying in Palapag for the night but we still had a lot of daylight left so decided to push on. Nearby Batag Island has a lighthouse that I wanted to see but will save it for the next trip to this area.

We were really moving through the area quickly and were able to make good connections as we went because of Joni’s extensive knowledge of Samar.

It had been raining 3 weeks continuously in this area and the roads were drenched. Jeepneys were not running, just motorbikes were attempting the drive, and not many of them were on the road either.

We pushed on through the mud to the town of Mapanas. Joni said that there was no lodging in that place but maybe the mayor would put us up for the night. This whole area is NPA country and some would suggest that camping and night driving is not advisable. We did not experience any difficulties and decided to push on into the night to Gamay.

A beautiful first rate hotel is situated right on the river in Gamay. It is so very weird to arrive, covered in mud, and check into a place like this. We found some food in town and returned to shower and get a well deserved sleep.

Feeling great the next day, we headed to Lapinig where the road ends again. Even the habal-habal motorcycle taxis won’t attempt it in the wet season. There is a dotted line on the maps but the local habal-habaldrivers said the trail was not passable.

The passenger boat had already left, so we hired a private boat for 600 pesos to get us to Arteche. The boat took a short cut through the mangroves and we made it in less than an hour.

It was kind of groovy winding our way through that mangrove swamp. The pole man in the bow kept very busy.

The rain had let up and we continued down the coast to Oras. We were planning to met a guy there but he had already left so we proceeded to Taft. From there you can cut over the mountains to Catbalogan.  I was thinking that it might be cool to drive around the island in one go,  if we would head further south and followed the coastal road to Basey, so I asked Joni about it.

Joni agreed so we continued south to Borongon where we stopped in to see Pete of the Pirates Cove Resort for a quick visit. On the way out of town we got some fried chicken and stopped at a roadside cafe to eat.

We were starting to wonder where to spend the night and I suggested that we might try to camp at the Marabut Falls on the south side of the island (3 hours distant). Joni thought that would be ok but when we arrived there around 10:30 pm, the caretaker was not to keen on letting us in. The owner has a bunch of fighting cocks up there and was probably afraid that we would try to nick a few.

We had to decide. It was still about 2 1/2 additional hours back home to Catbalogan.

I could drive it but was getting tired. Joni suggested camping in the Basiao Cave near Basey. He really knows Samar inside out!

He could find it even in the dark but wasn’t sure I could get the bike down there. Sure enough, around midnight,  he found it and I drove over a few logs and set up camp for the night.

After a great night had breakfast in Basey we turned north.

Motorcycle trips in other countries

Most of the hard driving was behind us and soon we were weaving through the traffic in Catbalogan.

Trexplore is located at the Abesamis store near the Jolibee .

09192943865

09053233572

trexplore @ yahoo.com

Joni is probably the top authority on Samar for knowledge about the back country, caves and waterfalls in the area. Stop in for a chat if you are passing through town!

Motorcycle Samar