BASEY wakes up to eco-tourism
The once sleepy town of Basey in Samar is slowly waking up to eco-tourism, luring local and foreign tourists to places previously overlooked either due to its insurgent past or lack of basic infrastructure.
The town, however, is decidedly keeping its laid-back life, which is a huge come-on for urban travelers looking for a quiet place while discovering new adventures at their own pace.
Basey town is just 30 to 40 minutes away by car from Tacloban City in nearby Leyte island.
Public transportation costs between P20 to P25 per person from Tacloban to Basey town.
Basey-bound tourists will have their first glimpse of what’s in store for them by passing through San Juanico Bridge, once the longest bridge in Asia, which connects the two Waray islands of Samar and Leyte.
Once the favorite "picnic ground" of armed groups, Basey is shedding its dangerous image by focusing on its tourist attractions.
The town’s main tourist draw is the Sohoton National Park, which is one and half hour boat ride from the Basey’s wharf in Brgy Baybay.
The national marine park covers 840 hectares, boasting of fascinating geological features such as three major caves, hugs, limestone boulders, rockholes, weathered formation rocks and underground rivers.
Approaching the caves from the river onboard a pump boat will remind any tourist of scenes from the movies of Indiana Jones series and the Lord of the Rings combined.
Cathedral-like dome
One of the Sohoton caves features a cathedral-like dome with an entrance of a parabolic arch-type for about fifty-meters high. It has a flat door area near the entrance, about twenty meters in width and fifty-meters in length.
One can see spike-shaped crystalline stalactites hanging from its rustic ceilings and cavernous walls while being amazed with the stalagmites on the cave’s floor.
The cave ends in a sort of a Palace balcony overlooking the natural fresh water swimming pool below.
The marine park also features a natural rock formation imitating the shape of bridge arc that connects two mountains ridges spanning the Sohoton River.
The stone bridge is forested at its upper portion where monkeys, wild boars and parrots co-habitate in their fragile environment.
The sights in the Sohoton park are just awesome that one will emerge from it as a changed man, thankful and mesmerized by God’s wonders.
Sohoton Park is steadily drawing tourists from here and abroad and is now Basey’s biggest tourism earner.
The caves there are just part of the vast cave system found in the entire Samar province, regarded as the second biggest cave system in Asia.
Darwin Esfuerza of Basey Tourism Office said tourist arrivals in Basey have increased significantly in the last two years as local and national officials finally took notice of the potential of Basey through its Sohoton National Park.
Esfuerza said from January to April this year, tourist arrivals, mostly Americans and Canadians, reached 1,673 heads from the 1,149 in the same period last year.
In April alone, there were 896 tourists who came and visited Basey from the 125 tourists in the same month last year.
"It’s not a big number but it is surely picking up. With a good marketing strategy, we hope to see tourist arrivals increasing ten-fold," the tourism officer said.
He also hoped more modern motor bancas would be fielded to replace the noisy and aging fleet used to ferry tourists.
Local tourists availing of the Sohoton Tour package are charged P2,427 while foreigners pay around P3,135.
The tour fee covers payment for the motor banca ride, guide from the Basey Tourism Office, lighting equipment, cave entrance fee and permit.
The tour starts from 7 a.m. and ends around 4:30 p.m. The more adventurous spirits could use kayaks to reach the caves. Kayaks are rented for P100 for a group of five and a fee of P200 for the guide. A road network was built a few years ago to directly connect the national park from the town proper, but the sorry state of the road has forced tour operators to prefer the river route.
The tourism officer said on a good day, about 50 to 60 tourists flock to explore the caves of Sohoton.
Peak season for exploring the cave system of Sohoton is from January to May. Tourists come in trickle during the off months but hardly on the rainy months of October to December when some parts of the national park are submerged by rainwaters.
Last year, town officials with the assistance of Department of Tourism (DOT) launched a river cruise along the Basey’s snaking river that would take visitors to far-flung barangays of Rawis and Guirang and finally, to Sohoton.
The river cruise service has been temporarily stopped after one of the engines powering the floating barge conked out. To raise awareness on preserving the fragile eco-system in and around the Sohoton area, tourism and local officials in cooperation of An Waray Party-List launched a "Caving Congress" last year, calling all stakeholders to help preserve the pristine state of the national park.
Rawis Cave
In Brgy Rawis, which is an hour by boat from the town proper, a Sohoton-bound traveler could take a pit stop and spend a few hours exploring the newly-discovered Rawis cave.
The mouth of the cave is so small and covered by lush vegetation that it has eluded discovery for many decades. The cave opens up to a gigantic hall and ends at the other side of the village.
Local folks have also discovered century-old skeletal remains of towering beings, which are believed to have inhabited the mountains and rivers of Samar many years ago.
Rawis residents also believed that the cave was used by local insurgents before as entry and exit points when launching "surprises" against military troops assigned to the area.
The caves in Sohoton Park and in Rawis, however, are just a small part of the full tourism arsenal that Basey can offer.
Religious heritage
Basey is also hosts to one of the oldest churches in the region, dating back to the 17th century.
The church of St. Michael, located on top of a hill overlooking the sea, was founded by the Jesuits in 1591 and has changed hands from the Augustinians in 1768 to the Franciscans in 1795.
The church was used as a fortress by Samar revolutionaries during its revolt against Spain.
During the Japanese occupation, the church was turned into a theatre house to propagate Japanese culture and years later into an evacuation center during the Liberation.
Years ago, one of the ivory images was stolen by a resident looking for a quick buck but it was returned after the interloper grew a conscience and just left it at the door of the church.
The church also played a key role in the historic exchange of Sto. Nino images between Tacloban City and Brgy. Buscada in Basey during the 18th century, which is commemorated every year.
The Basey church then had in its possession a big replica of the Sto. Nino while Tacloban has the smaller one. Tacloban was then just a barrio of Basey, but the most prosperous one.
The parish priest of Basey thought that Tacloban should host the larger image of Sto Nino in order for more people to see and revere, thus the "Balyu-an (Exchange) Rites" was born.
The Balyu-an Rites re-enact the fluvial exchange by two communities of the two Sto. Nino images right at the middle of the San Bernardino Strait, separating Samar and Leyte.
Every year in June, water crafts in various sizes and colors converge at the center of the sea separating Samar and Leyte to re-enact the religious exchange of Sto. Nino images.
From the church, tourists could take a brief walk through the old public school of Basey, which is also perched on a hill, lending some charm on a place of learning still dotted with few "Bahay Kastila" houses that have endured the times.
Banig weavers
Patrons of arts and handicrafts, on other hand, would surely be fascinated with the native mat weavers of Basey, who produce "banig" in intricate designs and various colors.
One could visit the shop of Delsa Padernal in Basey town to gawk at mat weavers working on their latest masterpiece.
Usually, the banigs were used as sleeping mats but the cottage industry has evolved and has produced new creations such as bags, hats, table mats, pillows, dividers, slippers and many other products made of native straw materials.
For wine lovers, Basey tourists could sample the region’s popular local brew, the tuba or bahalina, which could rival the most expensive wine in the world.
Basey boasts of producing the best tasting tuba in Samar. No need to find a tuba tavern or beerhouse since town veterans would readily oblige to an instant tuba-drinking marathon just to please visiting guests and tourists. Basey folks and the rest of the Waray-Waray people drink tuba to celebrate and grieve.
Hungry diners could always rely on fresh catch of the day since Basey is basically a fishing village. By afternoon, one would see fishermen peddling their fresh catch from the sea in the town’s flea market just near the wharf area. Fresh meat - other than cow - and organically-grown vegetables are also a part of the Basey diet.
Sights and flavor
Basey folks could also concoct the most fabulous "kinilaw" (raw fish delicacy) and "hinatukan" (cooked in coconut broth) dishes, perhaps owing to the obiquitous coconut trees abounding in the area.
Tired souls could seek shelter for the night after a day of exploring Basey’s sights and flavor, in the still limited number of lodging houses dotting the town.
Among these are Villa Catalina, San Leyte Beach Resort , Bajas Building and Celbalor.
Room rates range from P400 to P1,700 a night. Celbalor and Bajas are the most accessible lodging houses since these are very near the town’s wharf or "bay area" where the tours to Sohoton are launched.
Tourists could readily embark on a tri-sicad (pedicab) for an exhilarating tour of the entire town for just P5, where one can savor the laid-back existence of the village that is unmindful of the creeping urbanization.
Foreigners – a few of them have made Basey as their temporary address -- looking for Internet access could go to the Internet cafes in the town, among which is the more classy Planet Cafe owned by Basey native Jenelyn Metela.
And if you happen to choose to stay overnight by crossing over to other island, one can try lodging at Hotel Alejandro along Paterno Street in Tacloban City, which is replete with black and white historical war photos dating back to the arrival, departure and subsequent historic return of famous US General Doughlas MacArthur. Hotels in Tacloban City have also tie-ups with local tour operators which offer tour packages for Basey.
When hungry upon your touch down at the Tacloban airport, please don’t bother to check the airport cafe called Sunrising. The eatery in front of the airport is unabashedly unapologetic for their defective electric fans; softdrinks served with no ice and no "siling labuyo" (chilli) for your chosen dip just because their chilli plant has died.
Basey folks are much different -- they would go out of their way, part the seas and the mountains and will even cross the large expanse of San Juanico Bridge just to serve their guests with ice-cold softdrinks that would usually go with a glass of tuba.