It was actually harder to plan out where to go during long holidays. Costs of travel fares and accommodations are higher, and usually the cheaper ones are already fully booked. So, when my usual travel buddies just decided to visit some old friends in Pangasinan, I tagged along. We arrived in Dagupan at 3am after a 4-hour bus ride away from Manila.  We just took a short nap then went for a roadtrip.

We initially planned to look for penitents around the area but it was not just Dagupan’s tradition. The sun was still high up when we scouted the rocky shores of Victoria Beach. The mangroves lined up by the shore while staring straight ahead to small stumps that made up Hundred Islands. I was hooked to this place. We rested for a while before we started chasing the sunset.

Our gears were all set up, the tides were low and a few more rocks surfaced as the water glistened in sun’s rays. We were watching out for a few clouds to add up color to the sky. But as the sun was setting down, the clouds slowly disappeared. The sunset’s orange and pinkish hue was still there but it was disappearing fast, we were scrambling for the last remaining glow of the sunset.

This place still had its charm. As the sun sank further in the horizon, the sky was saturated in magenta outlining the serene beauty of the usually crowded Hundred Islands.