Category Archives: Sightseeing

Maira-ira Beach (Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte)

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After lunch at the resort, we all decided to do some sightseeing and swimming.  From the highway, we turned into a 2-km. long dirt road.  Along the way, we passed by the bell-shaped Timmangtang Rock and made a short stopover at nearby Bantay Abot (meaning “mountain with a hole”) Caves seen along the seacoast of Sitio Gaoa, Balaoi.

According to folklore, Timangtang Rock and Bantay Abot Caves are believed to be lovers, the former being the female and the later the male and are collectively termed as “Lover’s Rock.”

Timangtang Rock
Bantay Abot Cave

Upon arrival at the lovely Maira-ira Beach (also called Blue Lagoon), we stayed at a simple nipa picnic cottage. Hemmed in by hills around its perimeterand largely deserted, except for a few fishermen’s houses, it also has sparklingly white sand  and clear blue waters.  Though its sand was much finer than its better-known neighbor Saud White Beach, this beach has yet to become popular with the mainstream beach-combing crowd.

The crescent-shaped May-raira Beach

Just offshore, in Brgy. Balaoi, are the identical Dos Hermanas (Two Brothers) Islands.

According to folklore, two very close brothers one day went fishing at sea.  Unfortunately, they were met by a typhoon while at sea.  Vowing to be together even in death, they both drowned. To serve as an inspiration to others, the two islands were said to have appeared later.

Dos Hermanas

Saud White Beach (Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte)

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We arrived at  the touristy Saud White Beach, along clear, tranquil and palm-lined Bangui Bay by 6 PM.  The beach is home to a number of resorts and we were to stay 2 nights at the upscale Saud Beach Resort and Hotel.  We were the first to arrive at resort, the others arriving much later as they made a stopover at Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos.  These were anxious moments as I couldn’t contact their Globe mobile phones.  The beach was definitely Smart country.   Upon their arrival, we all checked in at airconditioned rooms with bath, cable TV and fridge.

Saud White Beach

Pagudpud, called the “Paradise of the North,” is reputed to have the longest, continuous white sand beach in the country.  Though not as gently sloping as Boracay’s White Beach, Saud White Beach has offshore coral beds and, unlike Boracay, an occasionally moderate to high surf ideal for water sports activities such as surfing.  Beach volleyball is also a favorite activity here. Most of our stay, however, was spent picnicking, eating, siestas and swimming.

Saud Beach Resort & Hotel

During lunch the next day, we were reminded that we were in Marcos country as joining us at an adjoining table at the restaurant, as guests of town mayor and resort owner Reynolan Sales, were Ms. Irene Marcos-Araneta, her husband Greggy, their kids and their usual bevy of security men.

Saud Beach Resort & Hotel: Saud White Beach, Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte.  Manila booking office: 94 Katipunan Rd., White Plains, Quezon City.  Tel: (632) 921-2856 and (632) 928-9853.  E-mail: inquiries@saudbeachresort.com and reservations@saudbeachresort.com. Website: www.saudbeachresort.com.

Loboc River Cruise (Bohol)

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After our short bonding with the tarsiers and my church visit, we all returned to the dock where our double-hulled, flower-bedecked floating restaurant was now waiting for us.  The restaurant has 4 long tables, 8 benches, kitchen, mini-bar and comfort room and is pushed along the river by a motorized boat.   We started our cruise from Loay Bridge. Cruising along, we dined on grilled pork or fish, fried shrimps or steamed crabs, all with chopped tomatoes and onions on the side; pansit plus other native fare, all served with generous servings of pandan-scented rice on wooden plates lined with banana leaves.  We washed these all down with either ice-cold soft drinks or the much healthier buko juice.   

Loboc River Cruise

The idyllic rural scenery is also a visual treat.  Along the way we observed heartwarming daily activities like mothers washing clothes and children bathing nude or diving from coconut trees bent precariously close to the water.  We also passed returning floating restaurants and small native outriggers loaded with passengers.  The endpoint of our 2-km.  cruise was Busay (or Tontonan) Waterfalls.  The falls drops 15 m. in 2 stages and is used to generate electricity for the town.   Here, we dropped anchor and guests were given the option to go for a quick, cool swim or just continue chatting or dining.  We just did the latter.  After about 30 mins., the boat made the return trip back to Loboc.   

Busay Falls

Chocolate Hills (Bohol)

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From Baclayon, we proceeded to the junction town of Loay and, from there, traveled up north to the town of Carmen and the Chocolate Hills, a destination truly synonymous with the province.  Along the way, we passed some of Bohol’s wonderful scenery, including a man-made forest of mahogany trees in Bilar standing in perfect symmetry along the road leading to Carmen.  Upon arrival at the complex, we ascended 213 concrete steps to reach the observation deck, the hill’s main vantage point.  Early morning and late afternoon (to watch the setting sun) are said to be the best times for photographing this strange and mysterious landscape.  You can also hike between the hills.

Chocolate Hills

This 14,145-hectare Philippine National Geological Monument consists of 1,268 grass-covered, cone-shaped “haycock” hills, a broad, half-kilometer high upland plateau irregularly distributed among the towns of Carmen, Sagbayan and Sierra-Bullones in the east central part of the island.  Formed of sedimentary limestone, shale and sandstone, these 30 to 120-m.  high, beautifully arranged and symmetrically formed hills look like droplets of Hershey’s chocolate, thus their rather sumptuous name.  They also look a delectable chocolate brown during the dry months of April and May, before turning a deep shade of green during the rainy season. 

Church of La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria (Baclayon, Bohol)

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Church of La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria

We had just finished unloading our luggage and were savoring our welcome drink at our resort when our tourist van arrived to pick us up.  Barely catching our breath, we were again on the move as we had to compress a tight, pre-arranged sightseeing tour around Bohol within the day.   The province has a quite efficient road system with concrete roads encircling the province and traversing the land from Trinidad on the north and Loay in the south.  Besides this, second-class roads also connect the other towns, thereby completing a truly serviceable transportation network.  Touring the island is thus a breeze since travelers can start practically anywhere.  From Panglao, we again crossed the bridge to Tagbilaran City.  About 3 kms. out of the city, we made a photo op stopover at the Blood Compact Site at Brgy.  Bool, the site of the blood compact between Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Rajah Sikatuna on March 16, 1565.

The Blood Compact Site

Our first real stop was at the town of Baclayon were we visited the Church of La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria, one of the best examples of Philippine Baroque combined with Western and Eastern influences.  Reputed to be the oldest church in the country, it was first built by the Jesuit Frs.  Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sanchez in 1595.  The present coral stone church was built in 1727. The church’s simple Early Renaissance facade has a 21-m. high, massive square bell tower (now connected to the church by a portico-façade installed in 1875), a fine porch and massive stone piers (in which some of the town’s priests are entombed.   Inside are an intricately carved, gilded altar and icons plus two side retablos, all dating back to the Jesuit era.  It also has a pipe organ installed in 1824.  The pulpit, installed in 1870, is located at the epistle corner.  The floor’s glazed tiles were installed in 1875 after the completion of the portico. 

Bataan’s Vietnamese Connection

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It being Good Friday, we fittingly made plans for a self-imposed, late afternoon Calvary-like hike, up Mt. Agalis, to the remote Pintong Alipi Falls.  Bienvenido “Kit” Nazareno, Vener’s 55-year old uncle, volunteered to drive and accompany us there.  The 30-min. jeepney trip to the jump-off point included passing by the 380-hectare, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA)-managed Bataan Technology Park in Brgy. Sabang. Now being developed as the “Silicon Valley of the Philippines,” this place used to have a humanitarian beginning, it being the former site of the Refugee Processing Center (PRPC), a refugee processing camp for Vietnamese “boat people.”  

A Vietnamese relic at Bataan Technology Park

It was said that the PRPC was among the most comfortable refugee camps in the world.  No barbwire fences and no border soldiers to accost the refugees coming in and out of the camp.  Set up in 1979 under the United States Repatriation Program, it served as a temporary home and transit center for the relocation of Indo-Chinese refugees (Vietnamese, Khmers and Laotians) victimized by the American war in Southeast Asia.  Here, they were trained in English, American history and vocational skills.  The center housed 18,000 refugees at one time and more than 100,000 have passed through here.

Remains of the first Vietnamese refugee boat

Today, the PRPC is no more as it was closed in 1994.  All we saw during transit was a shrine and the rotting remains of the first refugee boat to arrive there.  Vietnamese cuisine, however, has left an imprint in the town.  Near the town hall is a store serving hu-thieu, a soup concoction consisting of sotanghon noodles, sliced hard-boiled eggs, spices and bean sprouts.  We sample this before we departed Morong for Manila.  We, however, missed out on the bun-mi, another Vietnamese-inspired favorite which consists of grilled bun stuffed with pipino, tomatoes, onions and sliced meat with spices, mustard and mayonnaise added.

Holy Week in Morong (Bataan)

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Napot Point

After our Dambana ng Kagitingan pilgrimage, it was back to my car again for the final drive to Morong. Along the final 23-km. stretch from Bagac to Morong, we passed the controversial Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, situated 18 m. above sea level at Napot Point.  Morong was the chosen site for this “white elephant,” which was supposed to be the first nuclear power plant in the country.

Begun in 1977, it was constructed by Westinghouse (allegedly under a “conspiracy of corruption”) and was expected to generate 620 MW of electricity when completed.  After much delays (construction was stopped in June 1979 due to the Three Mile Island incident in the U.S.), it was finally completed in 1985 at a cost of US$1.95 billion (its initial budget was US$1.1 billion).  However, cause-oriented groups staged a number of “No Nukes” rallies.

They protested its potential to life and property, and its being built on a major earthquake fault line.  The Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in the former Soviet Union in 1986 was the final nail in its coffin as Pres. Corazon Aquino ordered it mothballed that same year.  To this day, it has not been decided what to do with this overpriced but unsafe complex and the sophisticated equipment already installed there.  In the meantime, the country is left with the problem and an incurred US$2.2 billion debt.

Sunset at Morong

We finally reached Morong late in the afternoon and stayed at Vener’s house, located near the town’s Spanish-era church and a few hundred meters from the beach.  A soothing and well-deserved cool afternoon dip at the beach, augmented by a beautiful fiery sunset, relaxed our tired bodies. Early morning of the next day, Good Friday, provided an opportunity to observe, up close, the countrywide Holy Week ritual of self-flagellation.  I first encountered this shocking and bloody ritual when I was still living in Malibay (Pasay City).  Here in Morong it is called pagbubulyos.   This is performed mostly by men, both young and old, who wish to fulfill a panata (vow) of public atonement for one’s sins.  This panata is done for a minimum of 10 successive years and is reflected in the bulyos, a whip consisting of bamboo strips tied to sturdy cord.   Each strip represents one year of atonement, its number being reduced every succeeding year until he completes his panata.  Each strip should be secured properly.  If one is detached during his rounds, another strip (and another year) is added to his bulyos.

Before the actual flagellation, the flagellant’s back is prepared by beating with stick and paddles until swollen and numb.  Numerous small cuts on the back are then made with razors, with vinegar or salt sometimes applied to the cuts.   Only then is the raw back whipped continuously by the bulyos.  The flagellants, most with heads covered, walk barefoot along the town’s streets, stopping by the church to pray, then continuing on until they reach the sea where a healing noontime dip awaits them.

Taal Volcano: Hike to the Crater Lake (Talisay, Batangas)

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Mt. Binintiang Malaki

This Holy Week, I availed of a standing invitation from Ms. Lily Rodrigo-Canlas, president and C.E.O. of Jesu-Mariae School, my son’s school, to stay at the Jesu-Mariae Center in Tagaytay City.  This retreat/seminar center could comfortably accommodate 80 people in dorm-style facilities.  With this center as a jump-off point, I planned to revisit Taal Volcano via the Kayabok Trail on the other side of Volcano Island.  Joining me were my son Jandy and daughter Cheska who’s been egging me to include her in my escapades.  Joining us were 5 of Jandy’s teachers: Mr. Robert Castaneda, Ms. Veneriza “Vener” Trillo, Ms. Theresa “Thet” Quieta, Mr. Joel Fatlaunag and Mr. Erwin Vizcarra.  All, except Robert, are jittery first-timers at the volcano.     

Picnic Grove with Taal Volcano behind us

We left Manila on the morning of March 27 and arrived at the center in time for preparation of a delicious barbecue lunch.  After customary visits to the city’s Picnic Grove (where we went horseback riding) and People’s Park in the Sky (now in a sorry state of disrepair), we returned to the center for a delicious supper and retired early as we had to leave very early in the morning for the volcano trek. 

Cheska horseback riding with Thet

The next day, Holy Thursday, we all awoke by 5 AM, had breakfast, pack our provisions of bottled water, sandwiches and bananas (good trail food) and left the center by 6:30 AM.  From Tagaytay City, we went down to Talisay (Batangas) via the treacherous concrete zigzag road called Ligaya Drive, down to Brgy. Caloocan.  As soon as we arrived at the boat landing station, we were swamped by boatmen hoping for an early kill, this day being a holiday.   Soon, they were trying to pluck our feathers by charging us a cutthroat rate of PhP3,200 just for the trip (with 6 passengers only).  It was soon watered down and we settled at the still horrendous price of PhP2,400 to bring all 8 of us to our destination.

On our way, by boat, to Volcano Island

We left the station by 7 AM on board a big motorized banca.   The trip was smooth all the way as the waters were calm. As we went around the island, the 311-m. high (the island’s highest point) Mt. Binintiang Malaki (translated as “giant leg”), soon hove into view.   This northwest cone, seemingly featured on most Taal Volcano postcards like an island (actually connected to the real Volcano Island), emerged overnight during the 1707 eruption but is now dormant. A dismal sight during the voyage was the presence of numerous fishpens which our boat had to negotiate to get to the other side.

Nearing the homestretch

We landed on the island’s western shore at Brgy. Kayabok by 7:30 AM.  All throughout the trip, the boatman kept egging me to get a guide (at extra cost of course) but we have decided even before the trip to do without one as the Kayabok Trail was definitely well-trodden.  We also refused a lady islander’s rather steep offer to guide us for PhP500.  Anyway, we had all the time in the world even if it meant getting lost in a small island.   Our seemingly concerned boatmen seem to have other things in their minds.  I wonder why.

The Crater Lake seen from a distance

We began the trek on a happy note, following the well-trodden trail up a hill. The sun soon rose brightly on the sky and we began to feel the effects of the intense heat from the morning sun.   As we soon reached the top of the hill, the trail began to fork, leaving us in a dilemma.  All the while, we somehow had a feeling that we were being followed and, soon enough, our boatmen were hollering for us to come back.  We ignored them.  Later, we encountered our huffing and puffing boatmen along the trail.  We were told that we took the wrong turn and they, in all kindness, offered to guide us in the right direction.  Or were they?    It soon dawned upon me that these boatmen were concerned, not with the guide fee (which I consistently refused), but with the fact that they may lose their first big meal ticket (or buena mano) of the day among the winding trails.  We could just as easily have taken our boat ride back to Talisay from the other coastal villages.  With this in mind, they never left us out of their sights after that.

Finally, at the Crater Lake

Vegetation on the island is sparse, consisting mostly of short grass, tall, nettled spear grass (cogon) and thorny brambles.  The treeless trail we trekked was all loose volcanic ash and the ground underfoot was also hot as volcanic rock retains heat both from the sun and the hot magma trapped deep within its bowels.  This, coupled with the sweltering heat of the sun, soon made our tongues hang out.  Our party was soon divided into two as our neophyte mountaineers Vener and Thet began to lag behind.  Cheska, however, proved to be tough and resilient as she kept up with the guys. 

The island within the Crater Lake

We took solace under the small shade of occasional thorny aroma trees (most of the large trees have been blown away by previous eruptions) where we quenched our parched throats and munched bananas as we waited for the stragglers to arrive.  Along the trail we passed by one of Taal’s 47 craters.  This seemingly dormant crater had a flat, cogon-covered bottom.  We also encountered makeshift refreshment stalls selling canned softdrinks (PhP30) and bottled water (PhP20).  After a tiring uphill hike, the shimmering blue-green waters of the crater lake made its appearance like a mirage on the horizon.  It was all downhill after that and, soon enough, we reached the crater lake’s rim.  It was 9 AM and the hike took all of one and a half hours.    It could have been longer.  Our socks and shoes were soon off as we couldn’t wait to dip our tired feet in those inviting waters.  However, the lake’s waters deepen just a few feet from the shore. About 30 m.  offshore is the small, crescent-shaped island.  The lake’s waters are actually dilute sulfuric acid with salts and other minerals such as sodium, boron, magnesium and aluminum added in.   Acidity in the water, measured in pH (the lower the pH, the higher the acidity), is a “whopping” 2.7 (neutral pH is 7.0) with about 3% sulfur.   Sulfurous waters have medicinal qualities and it did wonders for my mosquito-bitten legs.  Our boatmen also took home 1.5-liter bottles filled with this salty and bitter water.  Also as a result of the sulfur deposits, the stones at the lakeshore are coated yellow.

L-R, Vener, the author, Jandy, Thet, Robert, Erwin and Joel

After lolling about the waters, taking our lunch of sandwiches and photo shoots for posterity, we left the lake and retraced our way back to our boat and left the island by 11:30 AM.  Any notions of being in Tagaytay for an early lunch were dashed when our boat engine conked out (obviously out of gas) just a kilometer off the shore of Brgy. Caloocan.   We had to wait for half a hour for a relief boat to ignominiously tow us back to shore.  After paying our boatmen (they had the gall to ask for a “tip”), it was back to our car for the uphill drive back to Tagaytay and a well-deserved lunch.  Back at the Jesu-Mariae Center, we collapsed, dead-tired, on our beds. 

Sunken Cemetery (Catarman, Camiguin)

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From Cotta Bato, we made a short drive to the Sunken Cemetery, site of the community cemetery which sank during the 1871 eruption.  After paying a PhP2 entrance fee, we proceeded down the hill to secluded, brown-sand Sabang Beach.  About 200 m. offshore is the huge concrete white cross which was built from 1997 to 1999 to replace another installed further offshore in 1982.  

Cross at Sunken Cemetery

Sunken Cemetery (6)

Connecting the cross with the shore is a nylon rope from which is tethered a boat for crossing.  We paid PhP10 each for the two-way trip.   According to the boatman, years ago, gravestones were still visible during low tide.  Now they can no longer be seen.  Every year, on May 1, a fluvial procession is held there.  The islanders row out to offer flowers and floating candles to the dead.

View from Sunken Cemetery

From our vantage poin at its terracet, we had a panoramic view of Mts. Vulcan Daan and Tres Marias. Scattered along Mt. Vulcan Daan’s northwestern slope is a winding trail with life-size, white-washed cement figures of the 14 Stations of the Cross depicting the passion death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Sunken Cemetery (12)

The last station is a sepulcher carved out of volcanic rock.  During Holy Week, a Panaad is held for religious retreat and penitence.  It features a 2-day, 64-km. trek around the island, from Brgy. Benoni to the Stations of the Cross.  The sun was just setting when we returned to shore and a well-deserved rest back at the resort.  

Sunken Cemetery (9)

Sunken Cemetery (4)

Sunken Cemetery: Brgy. Bonbon, Catarman, Camiguin

Taguines Lagoon (Mahinog, Camiguin)

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We all left Katibawan Falls by 11 AM and proceeded on a 40-min. drive to Taguines Lagoon, near Benoni Port, for lunch.  This beautiful artificial lake has mantles of limpid water surrounded by craggy cliffs, huge boulders and gently rolling hills.  Truly, a relaxing break from a tiring tour around the island.

Taguines Lagoon

We stopped at J.A. Fishpen, a restaurant on stilts overlooking the lagoon.  Around it are fishpens where bangus (milkfish), mamsa (jack), lunab (surgeonfish), katambak (spadefish), danggit (seganid), maming (parrotfish), kitong and alimango (crabs) are bred.  Quite hungry, we feasted, kamayan-style, on fresh-caught and cooked alimango. kitong and bangus, plus fried chicken, pancit canton and halaan soup and washed it all down with buko and green mango shakes.

Image-03

J.A. Fishpen: Brgy. Benoni, Mahinog, Camiguin.  Tel:  (088) 387-4008.