Thursday, December 4, 2014

A Glimpse of Guiuan, Eastern Samar

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Guiuan, Eastern Samar

Last month, I got a message from my senior. She told me that I was one of those people from the tower who will be sent to Guiuan, Eastern Samar for a special assignment: To facilitate the take-off and landing of Kalayaan One (the callsign of PNoy's flight).

With only a limited time, I immediately packed my things and off we went to the easternmost province of Visayas.

The province of Guiuan is three hours away from Tacloban City, the regional center of Region VIII. Last year, Guiuan was the first province to experience Super Typhoon Yolanda's (Haiyan) wrath, with a maximum sustained wind of 315kph. The province wasn't also spared by the 7-meter high storm surge generated by the storm.

A year after, some had already started a new life but the damages brought about by Yolanda are still there, as of this writing.

We left Tacloban at four in the afternoon and safely arrived Guiuan at past seven in the evening. We traversed through different limestone formations, coves, and mangrove-rich estuaries of the neighboring towns of Samar Island and endured the butt-numbing ride due to the damaged road networks.

Since all hotels and resorts of Guiuan's town proper were fully booked, we stayed at a surfing resort of Calicoan, located at the outskirts of the province. The place was so stunning since it was facing east, directly to the infinite blue of Pacific Ocean.

Too bad, I only went to Guiuan for work. I believe there are so many places to visit and things to do. I shall go back to this quaint town of Eastern Samar if time permits.


Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Waves.

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Yolanda did this.

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
It's still 5:40AM yet the sun is already up.

Guiuan, Eastern Samar

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Beautiful.

Guiuan, Eastern Samar

Guiuan, Eastern Samar

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Big waves.

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Guiuan Airport

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Guiuan Radio

Guiuan, Eastern Samar
Spot the president and his BFFs

I shall return, Guiuan.

22 comments:

  1. Loved all the pics!! I love the highway in the first collage a lot :)
    I love Sheldon's pic on your blog title <3 <3 <3
    btw nice about me too :D I like the Natalie Portman part too ;)

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  2. 315 KM per hour, that is some speed. On one side nature is so beautiful with pristine beaches and green palm trees, and on the other we see the destruction.. I wonder if we are responsible for the same by all the global warning etc...

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  3. Guiuan is a beautiful place and the Guiuananons are really nice people. I went there last year to volunteer after typhoon Yolanda's wrath and I came back again last month. Although the town hasn't fully recovered yet, it has changed a lot already. I didn't even recognize the place we went to before because last year it was all rubble. Now, houses are already built and plants have started to grow already. What I really like about the Guiuanons are they are selfless. When we came to help last year, they were all smiles despite their sufferings and told us to focus on Tacloban first because they needed the most help. They even invited us to come back after they've recovered so they can hank us back for the help and so they can show us how beautiful Guiuan is.

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  4. I love the photos. The Philippine coastline is so marvelous! I wish I can visit this place one day. With Ruth in the horizon, I hope people in the Eastern Visayas are prepared for the storm.

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  5. Beautiful photos! It's such a pretty place. .good you got to visit it!

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  6. First time to know this beautiful place in Samar. I think, typhoon visited this place? It damaged the essence of the hidden beauty.

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  7. Hopefully Guian can weather this second typhoon RUBY it had just last night. Initial footage from Tacloban have just come in.

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  8. always enjoyed seeing sunrise! force of nature can be quite scary as well.. on one hand, the beauty ; on the other, the wrath.

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  9. Guidance is so beautiful... love the beach shots! Good that you got to see this place as a part of work assignment, next you can plan a vacation here.

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  10. The sea looks so beautiful especially the coastline. Your photographs are lovely :)

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  11. Guian is such a beautiful place even after Yolanda, you can still see it's beauty. Sad that this place and it's people have to experience such calamity. Great shots! I believe your shots would eventually uplift the spirit of the people. :)

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  12. Amazing! This could be another surfing spot in the making. Great photos too! I wish to explore this province soon!

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  13. Looks like a great place to chill and relax! Or even to take wedding photos! Love the scenery!

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  14. It's such a beautiful place and I feel bad that it was one of the towns badly affected by Yolanda. How are the people who live there now?

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  15. I love the beach photos, especially the ones with the waves!

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  16. This is so amazingly beautiful! Simply breathtaking!!!

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  17. Guiuan in Eastern Samar looks like an amazing place to visit. I love the photos you shared becasue they showed how beautiful and pristine the area is...

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  18. Lovely place and great shots! Would love to visit when in that area! Thank's for sharing

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  19. The photos are beautiful, though I immediately felt sad when I saw those trees split. broken and uprooted by Yolanda. I hope there no casualties this time for Ruby.

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  20. I love this post. My mother is from Guiuan and I've been to guiuan a lot of times. Great pictures and great shot!

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  21. Love all the photos! It's sad that Yolanda damaged even Guiuan. But no one can't deny, the place still looks beautiful! Anyway, I haven't been to Samar yet, but I'd love to visit Guiuan some time in the future too. :)

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