The sky was sullen gray as we entered Sira-an Hot Spring at the town of Anini-y in Antique. Actually, it was the ideal weather for taking your clothes off and dipping down at the steaming pools of Sira-an. Add in a bit of drizzle and it would’ve been perfect.

Well, except that there were too many people who probably have that same thought; the resort was almost filled to brimming when our group from Antique’s Katahum Tours arrived.

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THE RESORT FACES THE SULU SEA

I once thought of dropping by Sira-an Hot Spring some months back when I first checked out the neighboring Anini-y Church. Unfortunately, time was something I was lacking back then and I had to be content on looking at its gates as the bus I was riding on sped past.

Anini-y. Anini-y. Anini-y. Like a chant, I silently repeated the name to myself lest I forget where I would need to alight from the bus that I took all the way from Iloilo. I have been doing a Visita Iglesia of sorts around the Province of Iloilo and I decided to cross Antique and include the diminutive Anini-y Church on my list.

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ANINI-Y CHURCH IS MADE FROM BLOCKS OF CORAL STONE

Fast forward a few months later and I’m back at the sleepy town of Anini-y.

Invited by Antique’s Katahum Tours, I again crossed the border of Iloilo and stepped back into Antique’s mostly uncharted tourist destinations. We’re going to visit a few more towns across the province and see what can drive people to visit the area where the stigma of aswang legends still persist.