The “Check Brakes” Highway

Moving on from Burauen on this our Leyte Livelihood Tour, we decided to hit the City of Baybay for a layover, so that we’d be near our next appointment tomorrow. Look at the map, this is the green-colored segment of our tour. We went from Burauen to Dulag, Mayorga, MacArthur, part of Abuyog, part of Mahaplag, then down to Baybay City. Unfortunately I have no pictures, but oh my gee, this is not a road to take for the uninitiated on an evening drive. Most of the mountain portions are new concrete alright, but its twisting and turning amidst very steep climbs and descents. The expression “be careful” would be an understatement for one who is going to drive via this one fine (and new) road. Proof? Ah, almost every bend are prominently installed those big and wide reminders from the DPWH to “Check Brakes”.

At first we were having fun counting them “Check Brkaes” signage. They look something like this pic (though that is not one of them - I just grabbed this one from the tripwow of Wanderlustroots on tripadvisor, I hope he does not mind :). We were even joking DPWH probably has an oversupply of those ‘reflectorized’ signages that they just had to plant too many of those in this mountain area so they won’t have a negative audit finding about their expenses. But later, we lost count, when we were almost into the hundreds hehe! And later too, we realized, yes, those are really needed, especially during a night drive as the highway does not have lights and there are not so many villages. Other than your headlights, it should be veeeery dim everywhere! Oh eh c’mon, Roy our driver, much less us, did not even know to which way the road was bending on many parts of this mountain road! Good those signs were there.

But what a cool place to be on a hot humid day (moonlit night pala)! And we even opened our windows to savor the mountain breeze! Coolness! Ghost stories and some insects getting in the van as we cruised along made us close those windows again though, and be contented with the van’s air-conditioning hehe. We all just imagined that this must be a grand place to pass by during daytime as most everywhere were foresty areas with big trees. And oh, the views might also be really good during daylight as this is way up from sea level and cutting across the island of Leyte from east to west!

Told myself I should pass this way again – commuting, since I learned that the vans that pass here to/from Abuyog, Mahaplag, Baybay, Sogod, etc., only run during daytime. Yes, I will. Soon!

Aw, we arrived at the City of Baybay in time for dinner. But let’s do that next!

For a chronology of stories on this trip, please click the following: