Thousand Miles Away

I am NORTEHANON.

Nortehanon is a name being called by the people who live and a native from Northern Samar.

Northern Samar is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar. To the northwest, across the San Bernardino Strait is Sorsogon; to the east is the Philippine Sea and to the west is Samar Sea. Most people speak Norte Samarnon, a variation of Waray-Waray, though Cebuano is also widely understood, being spoken in the municipality of San Isidro and the island municipalities of San Antonio and San Vicente. A third language Inabaknon is spoken in the island of Capul. Norte Samarnon usually is further subclassified into Balicuatro, Central and Pacific speakers. Northern Samar has a lot of tourism potentials that are still undiscovered and unknown by many tourists. You can find famous old churches, beautiful falls, rivers, caves, virgin forests, beaches, and other secret places. Three of these “secret” places are the islands of Biri, Capul and Dalupiri, all off the coast of Northern Samar. Remote and desolate, and definitely off the normal tourist track, forgotten Northern Samar evokes powerful images. Among the last frontiers in the country, its rugged coastline of limestone cliffs along the Pacific Ocean is a historical landmark. During the Spanish colonial era, Samar Island was the first Philippine landfall seen by the Manila galleons as they approached the end of their long voyage from Acapulco. Entering the waters of the Philippine archipelago, the galleons called at the fortified island of Capul off Samar, offered thanks for a safe crossing at the Jesuit church, and then negotiated the rough waters of narrow San Bernardino Strait toward Manila, their final destination. Capul also became the last stop on Philippine soil of the departing galleons before the long, often treacherous trans-Pacific sail to Acapulco in Mexico.

Actually, I am far from places I dream off and seeking for the nature’s beauty. Once there was a tourist map of the Philippines that I found in our mini library and suddenly caught my attention for it features the different spots of the Philippines and its 7,107 islands beyond the usual. At the back, I saw the Philippine map and I tried to locate those places known by their scenic beauty.

Most of these spots are from Luzon and more than thousand miles away from the place where I belong. I do that I sometimes felt a little of insecurity to other people who had their money to visit and experience different kinds of adventure just to reach and take a tour those wonders of the world particularly in our country.

But Behind those insecurities I never cease discovering…details, pictures, movies, articles and any visual aid featuring the Philippines spots is a great contribution to my hungry thoughts and curious mind in terms of discovering.

Above all, the place where I am right now is not a hindrance para di ko maexperience ang pagpunta sa ibang lugar.“Ok lang yun”, sabi pa nga ng iba…coz upon seeing those pictures and reading it seems that I’ve already done there. Imagine? Traveling without money…amazing!