I only stayed in Masbate City for three days to finish the work assigned to me. I had no choice but to pack my bags and begin another journey to other parts of Bicolandia. My office ordered me to go to the Sorsogon town of Bulan.
The fastest way to reach Bulan is to ride a passenger boat at Masbate City port. The boat is scheduled to leave Masbate City at 2 PM every day. Our guide took us to the port after we finished our lunch. The Masbate City port is managed by Philippine Ports Authority, which is a government-owned corporation.
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The fastest way to reach Bulan is to ride a passenger boat at Masbate City port. The boat is scheduled to leave Masbate City at 2 PM every day. Our guide took us to the port after we finished our lunch. The Masbate City port is managed by Philippine Ports Authority, which is a government-owned corporation.
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We found the Bulan-bound boat berthed at the wharf. The boat's name is Kulafu 5.
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I saw porters load sacks of rice and other cargoes to the open space at the front of Kulafu. This boat is not for people who want an easy travel. Its seats are just monobloc chairs. The open window is this Kulafu's aircon that also bring in saltwater when the sea is rough. The worst part is that the engine of the boat is too noisy. You can hear the “brrrrrrrrr” of Kulafu's engine a mile away.
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| One last look at Masbate Port. |
Kulafu's engine started at around two o'clock. We moved away from Masbate in no time.
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| View of Masbate City from the sea. The Masbate Cathedral is at the center of the photo. |
Masbate City may already be urbanized but other areas of Masbate Island still have the rural ambiance. The province still boasts of large tracts of greens, which I saw after a few nautical miles.
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| Mountains ans greens of Masbate Island. |
Kulafu moved southeastwards aiming for the south end of Ticao Island.
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| The red line shows our route from Masbate City to Bulan. |
Travel on open sea is boring. There were no dolphins swimming beside our boat. I even waited for a kraken to eat Kulafu but to no avail. I only got excited when we saw land. We finally reached the south end of Ticao Island!
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I got excited when I saw land just after two hours on open sea. I now understand why sailors of old are so mad to see land. Being at the sea for a long time makes one miss dry land so much.
The sea got rough suddenly the moment we passed Ticao Island. We are back to the open sea but the boredom is gone. The winds are strong and waves came crashing at Kulafu. The sprays forced us to close the windows. Everything is doing fine until a woman became sea sick. Other passengers stood up to help her. We tended the sea sick woman until we reached Bulan.
It was dark when reached Bulan. We traveled for four hours. Our journey would have been much longer because the boat's captain wanted to save fuel and made Kulafu travel very slowly. The boat traveled faster when the woman got sick. What happened to the woman was bad but it had a good effect, somehow.
The sea got rough suddenly the moment we passed Ticao Island. We are back to the open sea but the boredom is gone. The winds are strong and waves came crashing at Kulafu. The sprays forced us to close the windows. Everything is doing fine until a woman became sea sick. Other passengers stood up to help her. We tended the sea sick woman until we reached Bulan.
It was dark when reached Bulan. We traveled for four hours. Our journey would have been much longer because the boat's captain wanted to save fuel and made Kulafu travel very slowly. The boat traveled faster when the woman got sick. What happened to the woman was bad but it had a good effect, somehow.
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