The sun hasn’t risen yet. Darkness coupled by rain bade us goodbye when we left our accommodation. It was a very short stay and we won’t be coming back again. We had to leave early, still tipsy as we were for lack of sleep. We need to travel for more than two hours to get to our first destination, hoping that we will be able to finish our planned itinerary just in time for our flight back to Manila.

Since we hit the road as soon as we woke-up, we just stopped by a convenience store to get our daily caffeine intake. As soon as we’re good, we hit the road again on our way to the Monastery of the Holy Eucharist, also known as the Simala Shrine.

The monastery was founded by the Marian Monks of Eucharistic Adoration who were originally from Pampanga, and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Lindogon. The shrine is an enormous church atop a mountain in Sibonga, Cebu. 

We parked our car some meters away from the shrine itself, as vehicles are not allowed to get nearer due to the pilgrims who would want to visit the church. In fact, there was already a very long queue of pilgrims when we arrived. While in the line, we bought some roses to be offered to the statue of the Virgin Mary.

When we finally reached the shrine, it was awe-inspiring.

We worked our way to the interior of the shrine, still following the queue of pilgrims. The church interior is just as beautiful as the structure outside.

We also went to the rear of the sanctuary where the reportedly miraculous image of the Virgin Mary is reposed.  There, we offered the roses that we bought when we were still in the queue.

After offering our roses and some prayers to the statue of the Virgin, we then started our way out of the shrine. We cannot stay any longer as we have a very tight schedule and a flight to catch.

While definitely far off and out of our way, the visit to the Simala Shrine was definitely worth it. It showed a different perspective on travel: adventures can include places that are rooted in faith.