The Lighthouse by the Hill - Malalag Tales

My favorite spot during my visit to Malalag's Eagle's Eye Beach Resort is a white lighthouse precariously rising atop a hill, flanked by a Port Terminal to the south and Eagle's Eye to its north. There is an unmanned picket fence that leads to the concrete stairs with an uneven surface, and steel bars dangerously poking out from the surface. It's an easy climb actually, but I carefully made my way up the hill, curious of the thorny weeds and the iron bars. As I reached the top, I saw a fastly eroding dirt road that leads to the white lighthouse by the cliff. One misstep, one imbalance then you'd end up rolling down a craggy hill.

The few from the top is awe-inspiring. Fishing villages facing some of the bluest waters. Despite big cargo ships docking from a distance, everything looked clear and serene. There was no way to check out what's inside the lighthouse so we didn't try further.

Some visits make you wince or question your effort's worth, while some sights tell you it's all worth while.

This is the Eye in the Sky.

Out of the dark blue. This photo only courtesy of flickr's imkidd.

Leaves of Grass

"From Montauk Point"

I stand as on some mighty eagle’s beak,Eastward the sea absorbing, viewing,(nothing but sea and sky,)
The tossing waves, the foam,the ships in the distance,
The wild unrest, the snowy, curling caps -that inbound urge and urge of waves,
Seeking the shores forever.

- Walt Whitman, 1888

The Light-Keeper

The brilliant kernel of the night,
The flaming lightroom circles me:
I sit within a blaze of lightHeld high above the dusky sea.
Far off the surf doth break and roar
Along bleak miles of moonlit shore,

Where through the tides the tumbling wave
Falls in an avalanche of foam
And drives its churned waters home
Up many an undercliff and cave.

- Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894

The small road right in front of Eagle's Eye Beach Resort and the hill. This heads to Sulop, Davao del Sur.

Please check out our post on Dawis Beach in Digos City - http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.com/2011/01/dawis-beach-digos-davao-del-sur.html

Malalag Davao del Sur - Simplicity is Beauty at Eagle's Eye Beach Resort

Eagle's Eye, which my trike driver said was "Eagle's Point Beach" in Malalag, Davao del Sur

Eagle's Eye Beach Resort is an under-the radar "hole in the wall" resort without much guests. There are no grand entrances leading to it, thus finding the place isn't an easy task. We initially reached the Malalag Wharf and had to back track to find our entrance. The resort is situated beside a hill where a lighthouse languidly props up. Though the place doesn't ask for an entrance fee, it has a bench and a limited number of huts you can rent. I had to get one of those open-air benches so there's a place for me to sit down.

A concrete bench and table without a roof will set you back by P150, while a cottage is worth P250 - a rather ridiculous price for an underdeveloped resort obviously lacking visitor amenities (no shower halls, no toilets, no restaurants or stores to buy food and drinks from). On the plus side, you have the whole beach to yourself. This, despite the fact that its neighbors comprise a fishing village and a wharf.

What we found interesting - it's located beside a hill where a white lighthouse nestles atop. We made our way up the hill, and despite treacherous steps and the grassy mound, the view from above is nothing short of spectacular. Malalag Bay stretches eastward, opening into the Davao Gulf and further into the tempestuous Pacific Ocean. Just imagine, if you could sail further eastward, you will eventually reach the Island of Palau.

BASIC INFORMATION

Malalag is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Davao del Sur. It has a population of 33,334 people, spread over 15 barangays. As we've earlier mentioned, it boasts of a wharf - Malalag Wharf, where ships dock. These cargo ships are seen from the beaches that dot the coastline. Malalag is located 25 kilometers south of Digos City and 88 kilometers from Davao City. Some barangays carry interesting names: Rizal (the Philippines' National Hero), Bagumbayan (a town in Zamboanga where Rizal was executed); Bulacan, Bolton, and New Baclayon, among others.

Next up: The Lighthouse on the Hill

This is the Eye in the Sky!

This table-and-bench will cost you PhP150. There are no restaurants so make sure you bring your own food and drinks (although there's a small store - a tindahan - just outside your entry).

These cottage will cost you PhP250.

This is probably the owner's cottage at Eagle's Eye.

Longest raft. These rafts will probably be carried off shore where fish pens are located.

POST SCRIPT:

An anonymous poster referred to us as a "travelling whiner" just because we pointed out facts, i.e. that this resort during my visit did not have the conveniences expected from a resort with hefty price tags for their cottages: no toilets, no canteen, no shower halls, heck - not even a sign board to say what its name was. This anonymous troll, so inept to even use a pseudonym, actually offers an unsolicited advice to the owners when he could have directly nudged the one seated beside him. "Don't worry about pleasing them", he consoles morosely. 

NO BRAINER

Which entrepreneur doesn't have a basic objective to please his guests? Idiots, right? If you've never heard of such a grandiosely moronic idea (that customers need not be pleased), this one should take the cake! Which begs the question, is there brain activity here - or has Elvis left the building? You can't keep sputtering English words in a sentence without valid thoughts. You have to make sense! Otherwise, it is wise to shut up!

This neuter further adds with a sarcastically conciliatory statement "... but tnx to ur whining it caught d resorts owner attention and deal with it directly". Now isn't that great?

If I were indeed a whiner aka someone who writes facts, it is imperative that I write as I see it! Let's not even forget the fact that I was a paying customer. Thus I was somehow covered by customer's rights, i.e. to voice my thoughts regarding services paid or rendered. I paid PhP150! I wasn't peddling lies. Most entrepreneurs listen up and try to be better, and they move on! These onion-skinned troglodytes may do well by improving their services - or the the lack of it! I don't subscribe to the asinine excuse of "appreciating simple rural life" to make up for the absence of a toilet in a place where an unroofed table costs PhP150.

So I urinate by the bushes in my own country which I don't do in poorer nations like Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, etc. That's how simple rural life is appreciated, right? And that's supposed to allow me to see "miles of beauty"? The stench of urine?