{ TRAVEL PHOTO DIARY: GIBITNGIL ISLAND }

The most unplanned of trips could turn out to be the most fun and nerve wracking experience!!!

The four of us got together for a few drinks on the eve of Sunday and our conversation eventually circled around the unchartered island of Gibitngil in Medellin. Then a little over 4 a.m. we found ourselves taking the first bus bound for Medellin. Because we were armed with the littlest information about our destination, we were faced with a situation on where to get off the bus and how to get to the island. We found out from the locals of Kawit that the only way to get there was to reserve a motorized banca form the local government. Alas it was Sunday; a no-office day! Although we happen to find one at the port with a group of people bound to the island but they were too HEARTLESS to offer us a ride. My God we didn't even look like psychopaths to be rejected like that. So that was a minor glitch in our NO-PLAN plan.  Good thing there was a local fisherman who was kind enough to look for a banca. After about an hour of being stranded we were finally seated or much like cramped up in a small fishing boat en route to Gibitngil.

Glitch number two was our flaw to bring with us lunch. Gibitngil is a fishing village without the amenities of a first class resort. The local government is still on the process of developing the place as a tourist destination so the beauty of the place is still raw.  Give it a few years and I think Gibitngil has the potential to be the new tourist destination of the north. I would have really wanted to visit this beautiful sandbar which I heard was located on the other side of the island but we were already faced with the situation of going home because the heavy clouds were already acting up.

The greatest and probably the scariest adventure was our boat ride home. I honestly thought we were going to die. I've seen wild waves in Malapascua but this one is different. Our boat was too small for the rowdy waves plus the heavy downpour made it even worse I thought we were going to capsize and get lost in the middle of the ocean. I mean I know how to swim but God I'm afraid of sharks. Although there's less chance that the place is infested with sharks but still I'm paranoid like that. What was supposedly a 15-minute trip turned out to be a quarter less of an hour. But I'm glad we survived the ordeal. 

Surely this spur of the moment trip was one for the books!