Waterfalls, Hot Springs, and a $20 Hut on the Ocean | Philippines Motorbike

The waterfall cave had a mandatory guide

Her name was Beverlyn. Everyone called her Lightning.

Kilat in Visaya. The word for the thing that splits the sky. She told me this while her son made noise somewhere behind her and her coworkers laughed at something I didn't catch. I paid the 300 pesos. Didn't negotiate.

Best decision of the morning.

Combo Waterfall, Cebu — Off the Beaten Path

I was willing.

I had it to myself. Lightning held the camera. The cave was dark and the water was loud and I floated there longer than I needed to.

Some days the road just puts something in front of you.

A $20 Oceanfront Bungalow on Cebu Island

I'd been looking at mountain hotels. Then I saw the bamboo hut on the coast and changed my mind.

Twenty dollars a night. Ocean view from the bed. A little porch. Lisa ran the kitchen and the prices weren't marked up because a foreigner showed up — that matters here more than you'd think. I had dinner watching the sunset and booked a second night before I finished eating.

Some places you know immediately. This was one of them.

Mainit Hot Springs Cebu — 120 Degrees and Worth Every Second

The name means hot. They were not wrong.

Mainit Hot Spring Resort sits in a canyon on the southwest side of Cebu, fed directly from the earth, pools carved into the rock at temperatures the body was not designed to enjoy. The hottest read 55.3 Celsius. I touched it once with my hand and pulled back fast.

The second pool was 49.3. That's 120 degrees Fahrenheit. I got in anyway.

Made it about two minutes before I started sweating underwater. That's not a metaphor. I was actually sweating while submerged. I got dizzy. I got out.

Ten minutes up the road there was a cold spring. I went straight in without counting to three. A young woman doing laundry in the river watched me from across the canyon without changing her expression.

Four out of ten as springs go. Ten out of ten as a moment.

The People You Meet on the Road in the Philippines

She had nine children and a question.

I didn't catch all of it. The road was loud and my Visaya is nonexistent. She was smiling. I smiled back, said nice to meet you, and kept moving.

Some conversations you're not meant to finish.

Canyoneering Cebu — When the Road Says No

The third waterfall of the day required a life vest, a mandatory guide, and two to three hours of canyoneering minimum just to reach the falls. I wanted fifteen minutes in a pool and a reason to feel something.

We had a friendly disagreement about this. I passed.

Drove up the mountain instead. Had what might be the best chicken wings of the entire Philippines trip. Went back to the hut. Took a nap.

The road is in charge. Sometimes it charges extra.