I went on a personal matter to my hometown over the weekend and despite being such a pain in the butt – literally, because of the long land travel from the airport – I was still glad to discover new places, plus a few more to tick off my bucket list! Eastern Visayas is such a gem to explore in the Philippines, and we’re not just talking about its heavenly beaches.
First, my cousins brought me to Pagatpat, an eatery with a view which they often frequent. The billboard says it’s a “century old seafoods restaurant” and it’s located in Matalom, Leyte.
The resto consists of bamboo cottages on stilts deep within a mangrove forest. It faced the sea and we could even glimpse the popular Canigao island nearby. Needless to say, the resulting views were fantastic and Instagram-worthy.
We opened the place for breakfast. The manner of ordering was to choose from the fresh catch and tell them how you want it cooked. So we had this big fish for making into paksiw (cooked with vinegar), close to a kilo of large prawns sauteed in garlic butter, a really yummy pancit canton, rice & drinks. All that for only P1,000 🙂
After stuffing our bellies full in Pagatpat, my cousin suggested we motor down to Hindang Caves & Wild Monkeys. I wasn’t enthusiastic at first because I was scared of the bevy of monkeys when I first saw them. Not just two monkeys, it must have been 20 of them!
It turns out they were harmless. We were just told not to stare for a long time and to keep our cellphones out of their sight as they have a record of grabbing them.
We saw the caretaker feeding the monkeys with sliced bananas….
Hindang Caves was high up the mountains and it was quite a hike to go there. But the rock formations that greeted us were majestic…
There was also a zipline for only P180 per ride. With a sense of adventure, you don’t have to walk back all the way down.
Pagatpat Seafood Restaurant
Matalom, Leyte
Call 0906-6165929, 0928-7450771
Hindang Caves & Wild Monkeys
Hindang, Leyte
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