After merienda at Le Palme Beach Resort in Pandan, we said goodbye to our host Ms. Gigi Bautista, who had to fly back to Manila, and return to our van for the 12-km. drive to the next  town of Libertad where we were to have lunch at the residence of Mayor Norberto P. Raymundo Jr..

Our motorcycle escort

As we entered the poblacion, welcome banners and a motorcycle escorts, with tour guides on board to accompany our van, greeted us.  They first accompanied us to the Municipal Tourist Information Center before proceeding to the mayor’s residence.  This town really pulled out all the stops to welcome us.

The banig welcome banner. A nice touch

Libertad is noted for its banig weaving and another sign, this time made with banig, welcomed us at the mayor’s residence.  After introducing ourselves to Mayor Raymundo, another feast awaited us for lunch – grilled tuna, adobong pusit, freshwater shrimps, etc., plus dessert of ripe mangoes.  The eating goes on and on.

Adobong pusit

Freshwater shrimps

Grilled tuna

Standing out among the guests was, aside from Clelia, was another foreigner – the bearded and thin Tony Liakhovetsky, an Israeli from Haifa.  This hardcore guy, who speaks 6 languages, has literally hitchhiked his way around the region.  Checking on his Facebook account, he came from Japan and Taiwan before entering the Philippines and exploring Luzon and the Visayas.  Korea is next in his itinerary.

The hitchhiking Tony Liakhovetsky (photo from his Facebook page)

We were invited to observe an actual banig making demonstration, explore Maanghit Cave and watch the sunset at Pucio Point, but before all that, I had to buy a pair of trekking sandals to backup my damaged pair.  A policeman brought me to the town’s market on his motorcycle but, as there were none available, I had to settle for rubber flipflops.

Media group with Mayor Raymundo (center, in red)

How To Get There: Libertad is located 143 kms. (a 4-hr. drive) from San Jose de Buenavista and 77 (a 1.5-hr. drive) kms. from Kalibo (Aklan).