Philippines is an archipelago country located in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. Philippines have a lots of tourist spots in the Philippines, beaches that will really amaze people and rich in natural resources that can only be found in the country.
Pangasinan is one of the province in the Philippines, 250 kilometers north on Manila. It’s name was derived from asin (salt) due to its salt making industry, more popularly known for its bangus and the Hundred Islands National Park.
The Hundred Islands National Park is the top tourist destination in Lingayen Gulf in the province of Pangasinan in northern Philippines. This national park is one of the wonders of nature. With its 124 islands at low tide and 123 at high tide. They are believed to be about two million years old. It is a wonderful place for seeing nature, for boating, and for diving. It is also a top bird watching site.
A trip to Hundred Islands National Park and its home, Alaminos City, is really a great diversion from the hustle and bustle of the busy, urban life. Last summer, I’ve been given a chance to have one week vacation at Pangasinan, where my grandfather and other relatives on mother side live. We also have a business there located at Palamis, Alaminos, Pangasinan, it is almost on the town there, where my family and I stayed for a week. One afternoon, we decided to have an island hopping at Hundred Islands. My last time that when I go there is when I’m only grade four, so it feels like I already forgot some places there. The smell of the breeze of the sea makes me feel more excited to go on the boat and have some fun already on the sea water. I’m not brave when I’m riding on any sea vehicle but the breathtaking places that I will see makes me brave enough to experience new adventures in my life.
“That was great! Awesome!” lines that I usually release on my mouth when I’m discovering every Islands we saw. White sand, islands with different shapes, virgin undeveloped beaches, and many different fishes that are free to swim on clear not polluted water. How beautiful tourist spots Philippines had. Some Islands are already developed like Quezon Island, The Governor Island and Childrens Island. I’m also amaze when where already far on the boat station that I feel its almost near the center of the sea that when I look on the water it’s not deep and I can see the sand and little fishes swimming. “Oh! How it happen that the water is so low, as what I expect that the farther you are on the island the deeper it is.” Our boat driver or our tourist guide as well first brought us on the PBB house there on one island were we also experience hiking to saw the bird eye view of the entire Hundred Island, were all tired hiking there but the surprise in the top removed our catching of breath because of what we saw that we really can’t forgot, It was really good-looking spot. We got to see unique islands too, including Bat Island, where it is fully loaded of fruit bats, and as usual the smell near that island is not so good but it was nice to experience, “LOL”, but take note catching them are strictly prohibited. And also, the Cathedral Island, with its large cave, and as I remember it was called Cathedral Island because of the light that passing on the top forming colliding light on the center of the cave. During our boat tour around the Hundred Islands, a lots of ideas and questions comes on my mind especially about the several caves in Pangasinan waiting to be explored. Hundred Islands is a great destination especially for those who love water and the beach. As what I heard from the boat driver and my father talking about, there was a plan that it will be developed more by the municipality of Alaminos, and they are planning to put zipline on every islands for the tourist to experience transferring to the other islands using it. It was a great idea but when I saw the interval of other islands to another I feel scared how would it be made, but I’m still looking forward to it and how I wish it was really safe to use if it is made already, and I hope so it will, cause on the other side of my mind I want to try it. That experience is so great, that I feel when I always remember it, I want to go back their again.
