Awesome Anawangin
Long time dream of visiting the splendid Anawangin Cove & Capones Island in Zambales finally realized out of a drinking spree with girlfriends. It's everything they said and more. Clean camp site, pristine beach, & glorious sunset.
Meet up was at my place, as always when we travel north. We hit the road before the sun came out and was in Pundaquit by 7am, thanks to the new scenic SCTEX highway (read rant about this beautiful highway) and an F1 racer "solemate" for driver. We brought groceries from Manila but bought the fresh items, block ice, coal from the local market, it's actually part of the fun.
We found a parking area near the beach of Pundaquit and rented a boat to bring us to Anawangin Island. The rate was P3,000 for both ways. I'm not so sure if it's too expensive but we were 7, so we got a bigger boat plus we brought like the whole supermarket with us.
The most amazing thing about Anawangin is that you don't have to climb several mountains or cross 7 seas or spend gazillion to be in paradise. The boat ride was short, so in about 30 minutes you come face to face with the most breathtaking view of mountain, salt & pepper beach (white with sprinkle of black) and the clearest of water.
And exhale.
We were early so we almost had the whole place to choose from. We switched several tables until we decided we got the perfect one. Everyone did their share to set up the camp so in no time the tents were up and soon we were having coffee and breakfast.
Anawangin is an island with no electricity thus no modern amenities. No hotel, no convenience store, no cellular signal, no internet. There are couple of deep wells for washing and improvised toilets. We brought everything from tents to portable stove to water for cooking.
We eat, we nap, we pay respect to the beach, we eat, we drink, bask in the sun, we nap, we drink, trek around the island, we swim. You know what's the other amazing thing here? Where else do you have 7 urban people hanging out without anyone making a phone call or checking text messages??
Time here passes by so slowly, seriously. We felt like we already did a lot of nothing and yet no time has passed. Later in the afternoon, when the sun isn't so fierce, we parked ourselves on the beach, swimming, drinking, being silly posing for the camera, and wait for the sunset.
And what a sunset!
We bought firewoods from the island caretakers for bonfire. We also set up a grill for barbecue. After the scrumptious supper, we sat around the bonfire roasted marshmallows and chillax, Ben played his guitar, and Nadine introduced us to the game of Malarkey. It was a very fun game of BS.
Soon one by one people went into the tent to sleep. I continue to lie there staring at the great vastness dusted with gazillion of stars. It was so peaceful and spellbinding. I decided that I will sleep outside with the stars as my blanket.
