Fun in Samal

My sister in law's birthday is a few days away from my birthday, plus it is a holiday, so we decided to take a break in the wonderful Island Garden City of Samal. We took rode the barge going to Samal and checked in at Sunset Beach. It is called Sunset beach because you can expect to see a beautiful view of the sunset from the beach. Unfortunately, the weather was not so cooperative. It started raining at around 3pm, while we were still heading for the wharf to ride the barge.

Nevertheless we did not let the rain dampen our spirits. Unfortunately though, the bathroom of the cottage where we checked in had a very awful smell. We tried to call the attention of the staff and they did everything they could. Sprayed several air freshener but the stinky smell was still there. We concluded it was the wrong drainage piping that was causing the stinky smell. We ended up asking for a towel from them, got it wet and covered the drains.

Fortunately, the rain stopped just before it got dark. So we went for a quick dip (around one hour). We did not stay in the water longer because it was really very cold, especially when the wind starts blowing. The following day, we checked out before lunch and proceeded to Hagimit Falls.

We had a very funny experience at Hagimit Falls. We saw this toilet where you need to pay P5 per use. We did not use it as we thought there would be a much cleaner and free to use toilet on the way. As we passed through the location of the falls, we crossed the bridge and saw some nice toilets. Used it, and when we got out somebody asked us "mam ilan po kayo gumamit ng toilet?" (how many of you used the toilet?). I said 5, why? Apparently they are asking for a P10 fee per person using the toilet. It as a surprise as there was no sign and they were there when we went in but never uttered a word. They just called our attention after we used the toilet. So I argued to them about that. Then I said "ok fine I will pay, handed them the P50, but asked for a receipt. To which they said sorry we don't have a receipt for that.

So you earn money asking for a toilet fee and yet you do not declare this as income? In the end they refused to accept our payment no matter how much we tell them to take it. The thing is, these are just caretakers. How do they report their sales to the resort owner if they do not have a receipt? The lesson: Always ask if there is a fee to use a toilet!

After Hagimit Falls, we headed to the wharf for the barge ride, but waited for almost 2 hours to be able to get in.