Ironwulf.net Ver 6: En Route - Philippines, Travel, Photography

The coastal city of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental is also considered the land of the gentle people. At some sense I had to agree with that since I found Dumaguete upon first impression very peaceful. You don’t have that sense of danger or urgency. It’s almost like any rural city but this one dominated by the large Silliman University and a lot cleaner in my opinion. And it was a surprise to see a lot of foreign backpackers and nationals are here. Just says something about the place.

One of the more popular destination in Bohol is the municipality of Loboc. More famous for its musically talented and award winning Loboc Children’s Choir, the place also holds the 2nd oldest church in Bohol, a scenic cruise along its river and another world famous primate, the Tarsiers. Here recounts our brief exploration of Loboc, the oldest town in Bohol.

Old churches are fascinating structures. If other countries and cultures have temples or mosques constructed in elegance to glorify their gods, I consider our churches as silent witnesses of our history. A milestone as the time it was constructed and the history it tells on its walls. Their design tells much about their story and the area where they are situated. I became even more intrigued of our historical churches when I got to visit one of the oldest churches in our country, the Immaculate Concepcion Church in Baclayon, Bohol.

Itbayat Island is actually a giant uplifted coral reef, and research claims it’s one of the world’s largest. Knowing this first time around made me think how this was possible. I guess that explains how the island doesn’t have a shoreline and the texture of the cliffs does resemble a giant coral. Interesting isn’t it? So how is it like living on a giant coral reef?

When you’re in Batanes, always expect the unexpected. This small region is governed by the weather and the people’s strong belief. So whatever plans you’ve layout here, prepare to change it, as every turn on its winding roads, every change in the wind’s direction and the changes in the tide of the sea holds a few surprises. This we learned in extreme ways during our stay in the region.

This is to continue the Taal Discovery. After our hike at Taal Volcano, we were off to the Taal Heritage town, which is 45min to an hour long drive from San Nicolas. It was already pass 5 in the afternoon when we reached the town itself. It was a very interesting town, quite small in contrast to Vigan but you could easily see the historical houses being towered by the gigantic Taal Basilica at the town center park. The Basilica is huge, and what a perfect timing that I forgot to bring my wide angle lens in times like this. I have to get really far just to take a shot of it.

Will try to finish up the entries on our northern Luzon trip in the coming days. I will also have individual posts on some interesting objects along the way. The first couple of weeks has been very busy at work. Double deadlines as they say. Well to continue on…