Hundred Islands National Park

Having not gotten much sleep and a long ride in the night towards Alaminos, Pangasinan. Around 5:00AM or so, we got to the park and went to the back to have some breakfast. It was a fond memory of mine because it felt like we were so far from everything else and that we truly had this day all for ourselves. I got to try to local cuisine and we went to the nearby hall to register. We soon found ourselves on a boat heading off into the horizon. The sky was of a pretty shade of blue and the water looked turqouise, it was a peaceful and chilly morning. It was only the two of us and the boat driver.

Our first stop was Pilgrimage Island, it provided amazing views of the surrounding islands. One of the main landmarks of the park, a giant Jesus Christ statue stood above, standing watch over the whole sea. On the way up to the summit of the island, we had to do a hike that ran through the 14 stations of the cross with amazing artistic depictions. At the top, there was a church where we prayed for a bit before going to the other side of the island where the actual statue was.

The next island was Governor's Island, which required another hike but provided an even better panoramic view of the Hundred Islands. Our boat driver also took us to nearby areas to try out snorkeling and we were able to see a lot of interesting fish. He then took us to Lopez Island, where we were able to have it all to ourselves which was an experience unlike no other, we swam and walked around the white sand while appreciating our surroundings.

We went to Quezon Island next which was one of the more developed islands in the area, having some ziplines, banana boat and several restaurants and outlooks. Janelle and I ate our lunch here along with the banana cupcakes my mum packed for us. We had a little bit of trouble finding our boat again and had to ask local services to hail our boat for us with their megaphone.

With tummies still full, we went to Children's island where the water was shallow but also quite cold. We went to Cuenca Island next where it had this giant cave and then to Romulo Island where we bought some souvenirs, a pair of two shells with the engravings on it. Lastly, we went to Scout Island which was the last one for the day before our driver took us back to the mainland. All in all, it was an amazing day and really tiring due to the lack of sleep the day before but now it remains a forever pleasant memory.Read more