Although it has been associated with Bagyong Yolanda (or Typhoon Haiyan) Leyte is famous for a lot positive things.

What is Leyte known for?

Its language Spoken
Most of the people in Leyte use Waray dialect. I have observed that during my travels on this eastern region of Visaya, although some portions prefer to use Cebuano or Bisaya too.

Tip: In addition, people are actually well-versed when it comes to Tagalog dialect so you would not have a hard time explaining and asking things to them . They also have their accent so I suggest you not to mimi it as it may be viewed as being disrespectful to others.

Just like other Filipinos, they also communicate with gestures, eye movements or contact, and hand gestures. It usually happens when one cannot fully explain himself or herself as the sender of the information. It is also typical to some of them to point direction of places are and where objects us using their mouths. People in Visayas and Mindanao do not usually use the term po to indicate respect towards elderly, but rather speak in a softer tone.

It is somehow closely related to bisaya/cebuano is Cagayan de Oro because some of the words are the same. It can also be easily understood and learned for someone who is bisaya.

Leyte has also been known for its significance in History. It is where General McArthur made his return in the Philippines. McArthur, as I have read one article way back 2012, could have been one of the Presidents in United States of America because he was quite popular during the World War II.

It has famous old churches too and the San Juan bridge that was constructed during the reign of the infamous President Ferdinand "Macoy" Marcos.

It is also known as the home of Lucy Torres-Gomez, congresswoman, wife of Richard Gomaez, and one of the prettiest politician we bumped unto during our Tour in Lower House.

Where is Leyte?

Photo courtesy from Google Maps
Basically it can be found on eastern portion of Visayas.

How to get to Leyte?
There are a lot od point of entries to visit Leyte since is it located on the center of the Philippines. You can travel there by bus and ro-ro system if you are from Manila. I tried travelling their by bus and that was the one of the worst decisions I had made, because a kid peed in the bus causing a huge disruption on our entire trip. It also had flat tire when it reached San Juanico bridge. It only caused P1,600.00 for that travel but the 30hours stress caused by the travel was not really worth it.

Entranced Bislig

I could have not make it to Leyte if not for joining a local beauty pageant. I had my internship in Pasig and my grandma's sister asked me to join. I am just 5'1 tall but my grandma pushed me to join such charity event. I won first-runner up on that event by the way!

Leyte, particularly Bislig is what you expect it is. It is like Bukidnon that would really overwhelm your eyes to such green picturesque view.

❌The signal around Bislig was not that great though because the house of my dad's cousin was near a mountain. I never bother checking my phone whenever I am in Bislig.

✔The water was overflowing and there were coconut farms and ricefields around us. We even had an hour hike their cold spring which is only visited by the neighboring houses.

I tell you, it gave me a vibe of being in a forest because we could hear monkeys following us. I was not scared becausw they never bothered attacking us and were just looking down on us.

The water is so cold. Last year, we had picnic with our relatives. We had a boodle fight. We ate on banana leaves. We had grilled meat and fish, sweet potatoes, banana, and *ginamos (or preserved fish).

Last year was one of our longest trip to Leyte too since we need to travel to Cebu by boat.

The Bewitching Lake Danao

It was my second time in Leyte that I visited Lake Danao or Danao lake. The lake is 143 hectares wide. It is so deep that you are not advised to swim with no lifevest. There as also a humor that those who drown will never have their bodies seen. There must have been mythical or unknown creatures below the water surface.

Before you reach the lake, you can actually have a view of their geothermal plant.

The view when heading there is also amazing. Here are some of my shots:

It is a good place to enjoy with your family and friends. The locals even sell food so you do not need to worry if you have not brought food with you.

They even sell talaba and sisig talaba for such cheap price!

Kids can also enjoy the lake and swim since there is a shallow portion of the lake.

The lake is so majestic and quiet. It looks like godzilla lives underwater.

There are also floating cottages with hourly and daily rate. I swear the experience is fun.

Other areas to visit in Leyte

Visayas State University, Baybay City

This state college is so huge that you can actually have a tour inside it. There were dorms make out of wood with traditional american style. You can ask someone to give you a tour. The field can also give you a 360 degree view of mountains.

This was a spring quite far from Bislig. I forgot how it was called though.

The Destructive Climate Change and Human Activity Vs. Economic Growth and Development

This article by Rapplr talks about the disasters in Leyte for the past years which you could checj out by clicking the link.

Last July this year, an earthquake struck Leyte particularly Ormoc City (wherein Richard Gomez is the incumbent Mayor). That was really in headlines. Leyte suffered a lot as some infractures and houses collapsed and/or destroyed. In October 1987, more than 400 people died because a typhoon struck Leyte unexpectedly. In 1991, Typhoon Thelma struck killing at least 4,000 people. Meanwhile, the infamous Typhoon Yolanda killed more than 6,000 people. Yolanda then became one of the most controversial issues ever.

I always remember my father telling me that WRONG DECISION + WRONG TIMING will always result into DISASTER. That is what happened during the 1987 and 2010s typhoons that struck Leyte. I had been reading reports before on different journals that illegal logging was prevalent causing flash floods to occur because there will be not enough roots that would absorb flood water and trees that would somehow serve as barriers from such type of calamity.

If this had been monitored, strictly implemented/regulated by the local government unit (LGU), there would be lesser impact coming from these typhoons. Capacitating communities would also be helpful. Individuals should know who to run to, where to run, and what to do when such natural calamities occur.

The LGU must also coordinate more with geologists and other technical experrs and IECs (Information Education Communication) should be conducted frequently so that time to time, residents in flood prone areas will be aware what to do. Aside from that, those hot-red zones should not be inhabited by civilians. Businesses or plants should not also be given permits as it might not only affect the monetary aspect but the lives of the employees would be at stake. As what they say, prevention is better than cure.

This reminded me of an incident during the reign of Typhoon Haiyan. There was a construction of a mall along the Cagayan river, but then it was against the natural course of the river. The owner and contractor did not expected it would then be affected by a 100 years worth of rain. It killed construction workers and an officer from Manila.

I also believe in the saying that history repeats itself. I also learned this after Typhoon Sendong hit Northern Mindanao badly that . It is important to know the original course of the river as some rivers go back to their original path.

In regard with earthquakes, according to some of our geologists in MGB10, there is not enough technology that could warn human beings about upcoming earthquake. There is also a possibility of undetermined fault lines or which that belongs to the ring of fire.

Awareness must always be present to everyone at all times.

PRO-TIP: Having relatives and friends working and staying in these tourist spots is helpful as you can have easy access on these tourist spots! You also do not need to pay for cottage rentals for resort or hotel stay.

You will definitely appreciate your stay if you commune with the locals.

Reference:

• Language Spoken in Leyte
  http://leytegulf.hammersites.net/language.html
• Natural Disasters in Leyte Province
  https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/174983-fast-facts-leyte-province-natural-disasters
• Go visit Philippines
  http://www.govisitphilippines.com/quick-facts.php?province=Leyte#

For more information about Leyte, please check this following websites:

• Tourist Spots in Leyte by TripAdvisor
  https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Attractions-g298462-Activities-Leyte_Island_Visayas.html

Multiple devices had been used in taking these photos and are not limited to: Samsung J2 2016 Edition, LG Stylus, Samsung Digital Camera. VSCO (a phone application) had also been used to enhance the photos to its nearest color.

Come join me next time on my trip there. I would definitely by your nicest host.