Imagine standing on top of a cliff, with the breeze softly caressing your face. Below you the waves are silently crashing, and you see a vast stretch of dark blue waters. An occasional bangka or a passing ship would break the spell, but otherwise it’s blue as far as your eyes can see. Your eyes follow the blue hues to the horizon – a perfectly straight line connecting the east to the west, breaking the monotony of dark blue hues to make room for the lighter shades of the sky. The sky is magnificent in itself, peppered by thin and feather-like clouds. You sigh at how beautiful and picturesque the scenery is. For a while you think you’re dreaming, but then you realize that this is real, that you’re actually stuck in the middle of paradise, and that the breathtaking view you see is not in your imagination but right in front of you.
I’ve heard many things about
Antulang, and I’ve seen the
pictures as well. But nothing compares to the experience of actually
being there. Knowing that Antulang is just 40 kilometers south of Dumaguete and nestled on top
of cliffs, we decided to go there and see for ourselves.
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| The rocky Antulang shore |
We
arrived at just around 3PM. We were welcomed with leis and
drinks, and after settling in we hiked down the winding stone staircase
to go to the beach. Now when people say beach, the first thing that
comes to mind would probably be powdery white sand and turquoise-blue waters. What
greeted us in Antulang was quite different.
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| The stone path and some boulders |
First, there are huge
boulders strewn all over the long stretch of sand. The winding stone
staircase blended perfectly with the rock formations, and I felt like I
was stuck in ancient ruins. The most surprising
thing of all is that the white sand that was once there is now nowhere
to be found. The waves and the harsh current from the sea must have
changed the landscape, because the beach has become very rocky. It was,
however, still a sight to experience, because we were in the shoreline
while the sun was setting, and the orange and purple hues reflected in
the vast sea was breathtaking. We walked the entire shoreline on the
stone path they created by the cliffs, and when we reached the end it
was already dark.
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| The beautiful Antulang sunset |
M O O N L I T G I R L T A L K
A
few minutes after sunset, the moon started to rise. In my life
I’ve experienced so many sunsets, but I’ve never actually experienced a
moonrise. From our dinner table at Waldo’s Bar, all we could see was an
infinite stretch of black. The few stars that were scattered in the
night sky weren’t enough to light it up, but then we saw the moon, in
its bright yellow glory, slowly peeking its way over the horizon. And
just like that it started rising, slowly and beautifully lighting up the
night sky and the vast stretch of sea under it. Its glow was
magnificent, and it was something that couldn’t be captured in a
photograph.
It was during this moonlit night that we talked as if
there was no tomorrow. Back in high school, before the days of the
cellphone and the internet, we used to talk a lot. We were with each
other 5 days of the week, and as if that weren’t enough we used to talk
for HOURS on the telephone. For the life of me I couldn’t remember what
we talked about as silly 13-year old girls, but that was a decade ago
and a lot has happened since then. It’s bittersweet in a way, because it’s
when you realize that so many things have changed. Change, like growing
up, is an inevitable part of life and you just have to go with the flow
and not fight it. But then again, we are comforted by the fact that no
matter how harsh time and distance can be, the best things somehow
manage to remain the same.
I N F I N I T Y P O O L
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| Catching the last few minutes of sunrise |
After hours of seemingly endless talking, we got a good night’s rest and greeted
Saturday morning with refreshed faces. I managed to catch the last few
minutes of the Antulang sunrise, and that was a beautiful experience as
well. We had our breakfast buffet at Waldo’s Bar by the cliff, and it
was a delight to eat danggit in such a posh place. We couldn’t leave
Antulang without dipping ourselves in its signature infinity pool, so we
did just that. The pool is made of salt water and is situated at the
edge of the cliff, so as you swim the sea is at your eye level, and you
feel like you’re swimming in open waters. Our early morning swim was
uninterrupted by the harsh rays of the sun, because we were shaded by a
canopy of pretty trees. The experience was out-of-this-world, and the
pictures we got from that swim alone are breathtaking.
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| Antulang's infinity pool |
Soon it was
time to bid such a beautiful place goodbye, but we had to move on
because there were still so many things to tick off on our to-do list.
After experiencing Antulang, I can truly say that it’s one of
the best views anyone can ever lay their eyes on.
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| A cottage on top of a cliff |
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