exploring bantayan island

after our island hopping we took a short nap and by 2PM we're out, glen our guide is waiting for us to tour us at the island and bring us to the bantayan public market.
we rented a motorbike (scooter type) with glen as our driver to explore bantayan island. motor rental is Php 250 and we paid for a 1liter gas sold at the street which is prefilled in a coke bottle which was Php 42 at the time. and we just gave Php 150 to glen for touring us
our first destiantion is the bantayan public market i cant remember which driver told us when we were in cebu city that if we wanted to buy danggit and we're going to bantayan island anyways, it's better to buy danngit at bantayan island because danggit is cheaper at bantayan island.
and true enough we were able to buy danggit for only Php 350 per kilo, comparing it to the Php 600+ per kilo in manila, it is a very good deal, also glen helped us haggle with the vendor and it was easier since they converse in cebuano, as y'all know we dont speak nor understand cebuano.
bantayan public market is a typical market you can see in the provinces
they have all sorts of dried fish, and weird looking bagoong? in tanduay bottles
they have lots of these dried fish which i forgot what they call, this one is pre-packed for 3 for Php 100
we also passed by bantayan townhall
actually the city of bantayan is pretty easy to explore, the church, plaza, townhall, and fire station are within the same vicinity
the big and old bantayan church or Saints Peter and Paul Church. "Bantayan was the first parish to be established in Cebu by the Augustinians. It was founded on June 11, 1580 as the Convento dela Asuncion de Nuestra Señora. It was one of the few parishes to be a part of the Archdiocese of Mexico (with the Archdiocese of Manila separating only in 1595)"
as you can see the church is big. "The geographical location of the island bring forth the trade between neighboring islands. It was at this point, Bantayan serves as transfer point of missionaries for the neighboring islands of Panay, Negros, Leyte, and Masbate. Forty or more friars are stationed alternately to the island for orientation and language studies before being permanently assigned to their respective areas. It is also the reason why a very big church with its huge convent was erected."
it is also a point of interest that it is only at bantayan island where catholics are excused to eat meat during the lenten season. story goes that when the spanish friars we're building this huge church they have commisioned every able islander to help build the the church fast, since all the fishermen are working as carpenters for the church, and lenten season is fast approaching the friars wrote to the vatican and explained that they do not have food since fishermen are working to finish the church and that they only have chicken and pigs, so then vatican gave approval that they can eat meat during holy week but it is a special case and for bantayan island only and that should be a secret :)
and i have to mention that bantayn island have ukay ukay stores as well!!! actually even a tcebu city i found lots of ukay ukay stores, but most of these stores just have a bunch of piled ukay ukay clothes on tables and its up to you to do the halukay :), no ididnt check out their ukay ukay because it was too hot
and i saw lots of old houses, spanish era houses like this one... there are more old elaborate houses at bantayan island.
still smiling even under the strong sun, hahaha adik talga sa pictures kahit andar motor picture taking pa rin LOl
next stop is at ogtong cave which is inside ogtong beach resort. we had to pay Php 100 for entrance
they have a pool and a well manicured garden, its just that the place is to resorty for my taste and their beach front is too short, besides i've heard it is more expensive to stay here
che posing at ogtong cave
my turn to pose LOL
ogtong cave is big and small, it would have been relaxing to swim in this fresh water if we brought our swimsuits but well too late
so we just waddles and took photos inside the cave, too bad we werent really able to rech the other end or else we'll get wet, well actually che got wet LOL
this is ogtong resort's beach front, thought it's nioce that there's a couple coming back from kayaking that added color to the photo. i think ogtong resort is the only resort in bantayan that offers kayak rental and jetski, though im not really sure about it
after being the sun we decided to go home with our danggit loot and tons of pictures and bought lechon manok at sta. fe market
we also bought puso, cebu's special rice, they packed their rice suman style like in the photo and call it puso which is Php 2.50 each
after eating and relaxing a bit we went back to the beach and spend our last night at bantayan island drinking at the beach. i was really having a hard time when we were packing our things already because we had to wake up real early to catch catch the ferry's first trip which is at 5AM the next day. waaaa bitin
we were on schedule, and the ferry left at 5AM, we reached hagnaya port at past 6Am and true enough thre are buses waiting at the pier for passengers, who left immediately and by 630AM we we're already on our way to cebu city... we we're actually early arrived at 9Am at cebu and had to kill time at the airport while waiting for our 12noon flight, and as always we got delayed with cebu pacific and stayed on air for about 30minutes i think and arrived in manila past 2pm, an hour delayed. as soon as i hit the bed i slept tired and dreaming of bantayan island

sigh goodbye bantayan island... welcome summer

***my other bantayan island, cebu pictures and posts:

• trip to cebu
• going to bantayan island
• kota beach - bantayan island
• virgin island
• exploring bantayan island