I alighted from a motorbike, my hair all windswept and my knees wobbly from the ride. I glanced briefly at Tangalan Church, the St. John Nepomucene parish, and the darkening evening before heading straight to a barbecue vendor. Laying down two sticks of isaws on her grill, I immediately paid with a hundred-peso bill and waited for my change, I needed a couple of twenties for my ride back to civilization.

Shadows were looming as I started my two-hour walk back to Tangalan’s town proper a couple of hours back. After witnessing a gorgeous sunset at Jawili Beach, I was forced to walk back to town since there were no more tricycles plying the road to Poblacion. Flagging anything with a headlight, a motorcycle finally slowed down and allowed me to hitch a ride.
 
The guy was clearly drunk and he drove like a horde of aswangs were on our tail.

►CHECK FOR AFFORDABLE LODGINGS IN TANGALAN

The sun fired off its last rays of the day. The clouds streaked, burning bright orange across the waning blue sky. I stood awed for a moment, unsure where to position my camera. The whole stretch of Jawili Beach sprawled right before my eyes. I was all alone to witness this moment, without a soul to share its beauty.

Packing up my equipment after shooting Tangalan’s Jawili Falls in Aklan, I decided to follow a sign from a dirt road I passed earlier in the day. A blue starfish painted on a white plywood. An arrow right beside it pointed to something a hundred and fifty meters ahead.

►CHECK FOR AFFORDABLE LODGINGS IN TANGALAN

Huffing and puffing, I made my way towards the hundred-foot apex of Jawili Falls in Tangalan. Its numerous basins came into full view as I reached its highest elevation. I counted and reached up to seven. I mounted a camera on my tripod and heaved a sigh, I finally reached one of the not-so-famous waterfalls of Aklan.

Coming from a four-day tour of Capiz, it was just a few hours since I arrived in Aklan. After quickly dropping my bag at the La Esperanza Hotel Kalibo, I boarded a bus again, this time to the quiet town of Tangalan.

Aklan is known for two things, the world famous Island of Boracay and Kalibo’s Ati-Atihan Festival. Other than that, I haven’t heard anything else about the province. Since I still have two days before my flight back to Manila, I decided to check out places not usually found on the tourist map.

►SEE: BORACAY TRAVEL GUIDE