Exploring Philippines 128 - Eastern Visayas (Post 6 - Palo Cathedral, Tacloban, and Ormoc)

The day before I left Leyte, we managed to roam around the nearby towns and explore those places further. Our first stop was at Palo Cathedral.  That time, the structure was under some re-painting activity.  When we got there, it was raining a bit hard and so we waited for the rain to stop.

Most of the old and big churches around the country are normally grand in its structure and design and Palo Cathedral is no exception.  Since its inside is newly painted, it is bright and vibrant.  It was good that the morning mass was over and it was still open.  Thus, we had ample time to take some pictures.

After our short stint inside the cathedral, I circle around the structure while Ron waited for his girl.  The place  was indeed huge and with the good repainting job, a visitor might say that the cathedral is newly built.  I really took my sweet time taking pictures and we were not anxious of the time because we don't have something important to rush that time.  By the time I finished taking pictures, Ron's girl was already with him. And we drove towards the town of Tacloban.

Since we were able to visit most of the places in Tacloban like the Imelda's mansion (commonly called Sto. Nino shrine), the Sto. Nino church, the Leyte Park, we just content ourselves driving around the town proper.  By lunch time, we went to a restaurant that is equivalent to Dampa in Manila. After a hearty meal, we cruised once more the pasalubong area in downtown Tacloban where I bought several packs of my favorite dried fish - the danggit.

The next day, Ron drove me to a terminal in Tacloban where I rode a van towards Ormoc city.  I opted to travel by boat since I planned to visit Cebu and stay there for a couple of days.  The trip was fast enough and after I purchased my ticket for a ferry ride going to Cebu, I decided to explore the town of Ormoc with my spare time.

When I traveled from Tacloban to Ormoc, it was raining hard. From the van's radio, it was announced that a typhoon is approaching the province of Samar and Leyte. The moment I arrived at Ormoc, the rain would temporarily stop and pour again.  Since I still had some minutes to spare, I decided to visit to church in Ormoc.  Unlike in Palo, the church in Ormoc city is modest.  Though its altar is almost similar to the old grand old churches in the country, its size is really not the big.  Anyway, with the rain limiting my mobility in the area, I only had some pictures of the church.  I no longer ventured to the other parts of the town because I need to be at the ferry's terminal on time.

Tough a typhoon is coming and it rain hard that day, there were only a couple of surface water bumps that we experienced.  All in all, the craft was fast and we arrived safely at the port of Cebu.  I cancelled my earlier plan to stay in Cebu for a couple of days because of the typhoon.  I immediately purchased a ticket for a connecting ride via a large vessel towards Iloilo.  It was an overnight trip and we arrived safe and sound in Iloilo the next day.  I roam around the city of Iloilo first before going home.  By nightfall, I was already home and it was a good decision on my end to cancel my stay in Cebu because the province of Samar, Leyte, and Cebu were already experiencing heavy rains that day.

Palo Cathedral

Sts. Peter and Paul church in Ormoc