It was the middle of summer and it had been raining for a week already. I was mostly spending my time in my room, staring at the computer all day because the weather wasn’t all that great. I was bored, itching to go out of the house and do something more exciting. My phone’s ringing woke me up one morning and my friend (on the other line) mentioned that he was going to Caluya on that very day for a photoshoot/news coverage. I quickly screamed my excitement and jealousy at him and in return he invited me … well sort of (it was more like a kind gesture). I took it seriously though since it’s not everyday that I get the opportunity to go to Caluya.

In case you’re wondering where Caluya is, it’s a town in the northern part of Antique Province. It is composed of a group of islands approximately 36kms off the coast of Panay. The most famous of the islands is Semirara, where one of the largest Coal Mine in Asia is operated. I’m sure you’re familiar with Boracay, well, Caluya is in the same area as Boracay only that Caluya is 3 hours away by boat from the mainland instead of the 5 minute boat ride to Bora.

After a minute of planning, 10 minutes of packing and getting ready, 20 minutes travel time, I was already in the terminal, where the vans heading to San Jose, Antique are stationed. We arrived at San Jose (the capital of Antique) after 3 hours and talked to some locals. They advised us not to go on with the trip because of the bad weather and told us that the waves there can get really gigantic. What’s worse was that it was already raining really hard when we got there. After a bit of thinking, we decided to push through with the plan anyways.

From San Jose we rode a grueling 3 hour bus ride to Libertad, Antique, where we spent the night. At about 3am the next day, we woke up to catch the boat going to Caluya. Let me tell you about the boat: It’s made of wood and looks like a pump boat only that it’s a lot bigger and can hold almost a hundred people + cargo. It was crowded, noisy, and really smelly. I’ve heard about this kind of ships before, they’re called “Lancha” or Barges and they have a good track record of sinking during big storms.

To our relief it didn’t rain that early morning (yet). In fact, the sea was so calm and the moon was almost full. The atmosphere was just perfect! We were seated at outside portion of the ship’s front deck when a slight drizzle came, which started to get stronger and stronger. Since the inside part of the ship was crowded we had no choice but to go inside the ship’s “basement” (not sure what it is called exactly). It’s the part of the ship where they put the cargo like ohh say: Rice, Poultry and Livestock feeds, and Live Pigs …. yes! there were pigs and they were smelly but we had no choice. Good thing I was able to doze off.

When I woke up, it was already dawn and my Caluya Adventure already started. In the island, we got to meet some public officials that toured us around. The storm ended that day and we were blessed with the summer heat! The place was beautiful and the people were very friendly and accommodating (not to mention, good looking). It was great having to spend two days in paradise! I had a lot of fun but I couldn’t help but miss my friends and wishing they were with me.

After my trip to Caluya ended and I’ve already arrived at the mainland. I wasn’t prepared to go home yet and wanted to see more sights before I return home. I decided to go to Boracay to visit another friend. Luckily, I found a jeep that goes straight to Caticlan from Libertad. My journey continued and I experienced another first …. going to Boracay via Antique!