Let's continue what I was saying in the last paragraph of my previous post.
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| Good road from Balilihan to Batuan. But there is something wrong (see next photo below). |
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| The driver is too young! Definitely not even a high school kid. And they were running very fast. |
After Brgy. Hanopol Norte (Balilihan), we entered a Brgy. Mahayag (Catigbian), which confused me, as I thought Balilihan and Batuan were next to each other. That's when my driver said "It's Complicated"!
So, he explained that...
After Hanopol Norte, this road touches the southern border of Catigbian (although far from poblacion, at probably still 10 kilometers away). Right side of this road is still part of Balilihan, while the left flank is already Catigbian. Next it enters a short 5km stretch that is, this time, all inside Catigbian. Until you reach a bridge, where these three towns of Balilihan, Batuan and Catigbian are supposed to converge!
Complicated nga! Balilihan and Batuan are next to each other, but the road passes a bit by Catigbian!
Eto naman exciting...
Reaching that bridge, driver/guide casually said "Makapiko Bridge, sir, Loboc River na yan"! My chinky eyes opened veery wide, and I immediately looked out the window! But he continued, as if to clarify, by saying that the Loboc River Cruise area is maybe something like still 40 to 50 kilometers downstream. All I could say was "ah okay, akala ko andyan sa baba" hehe! Yet still, that bridge should be marked so!
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| Makapiko Bridge (under reconstruction) over the upper tributary of Loboc River. |
Hey, I asked so I learned, that upstream from Makapiko Bridge, the river is still named Loboc River, but on one of its banks are already the Chocolate Hills of Carmen. And a few more kilometers upstream is the upper/northern end (or should we say "start"?) of Loboc River. Whoa, that was a mighty hefty info!
Nice new things learned again. Wow! This guide knows and tells things beyond the "usual" tourguide's spiels. Imagine, I got to visualize, how long Loboc River is, where it comes from, and where it passes.
Next we arrived at the intersection of Balilihan-Hanopol-Batuan Road (where we just came from) and Loay-Carmen Road, known to many travelers as being the usual "Tagbilaran to Chocolate Hills" route.
I told the driver/guide to proceed to Sierra Bullones, since I've seen Batuan many times (just count the numbher of times you went to the Chocolate Hills from Tagbilaran, that would be the number of times you passed by Batuan). But on hind sight, I just passed-by in those many times not roam around town!
So I said "ah, there will be future opportunities for exploring Batuan's town center" - because nga, it is along the road to the famous hills. But even so, my driver/guide filled me in with things about Batuan.
Sightseeing Alert by the way: once you reach Batuan, be ready to keep looking left and right, because, many of the hills will be up close, and at ground level, as you traverse the road. Instagramable areas!
What new information did I hear from my guide this time? Ah many things! Like Batuan is just 3kms to the Chocolate Hills Complex, so, all the hills you pass-by along the road, are some of the hills that you will be looking at, from atop the viewdeck of the complex. Hint: they're closer viewed at roadside level!
There's a barangay in Batuan that's officially named "Behind The Clouds"! Oh ha? And if you may have already heard about it, yes it is often mentioned in historical accounts, since it already bore that name as early as before the Japanese forces came! Guide says it does have an unofficial name - San Jose!
Kayo, ano pangalan ng mga barangay ninyo?! Kasing astig din ba ng Behind The Clouds?
Anyway, as mentioned above, we just passed by Batuan, the Chocolate Hills and Carmen town proper on the way to Sierra Bullones. Why, what's in Sierra Bullones? Aba ewan ko hahaha! At this point, I did not know what to expect yet. But the objective was (as usual): to see places that I have not seen yet.
Here we were anyway.., as we stepped out of Batuan, entering the 'area of responsibility' of Carmen!
But I liked the sides of this portion of the road, lined with Indian trees. It looks real nice, right?
From behind those lined trees, one could already see Chocolate Hills on both sides of the road. And, a few hundred meters onward from those Indian Trees (well, maybe a kilometer), is where you veer right to a road on one of those famed hills mismo, going up to the Chocolate Hills Complex Viewing Deck.
I didn't go there this time. But of course, for the adventurous roamers who do not know yet, it is in this area, also left-and-right (even as you exit Batuan) that you'll find the many shops that offer ATV Rides.
Teka, have you ever been to Buenos Aires? That should be a yes, if you've been to the Chocolate Hills Complex! Because it's part of Brgy. Buenos Aires, the first barangay of Carmen, once you exit Batuan!
I learned more from my guide! Such as: the Carmen town proper is still 5kms from the Chocolate Hills Complex. Not too many tourists actually see Carmen's town center, because it is beyond the hills, and nothing much for them to see or do there. Tour operators know this, so they go to other sites instead!
Naalala ko lang, (I don't even know if it's good or bad), in other countries, their governments "mandate" tour agencies to ensure all their guided tours stop-by at certain places, otherwise they'll be penalized! Di ba? Yun mga walang saysay na tindahan ng kung anu-ano? When I ask tour agencies to omit them from my itineraries, they usually say 1) "does not decrease price", or 2) "not possible, against the law"!
Well anyway... basta what I'm saying is, Carmen is actually a nice progressive town to visit.
When I say 'progressive', I mean it is fast changing into modernity, the reason I took this picture...
There are not (anymore) so many big old houses in this town. Everything seems to be "changing" with the times into the modernity of the 21st century. I won't even be surprised if this becomes a city soon.
By the way, about the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in 2013, that was first reported to having somewhere below Carmen as epicenter, it was later changed to be somewhere else, though we know that Carmen was one of those heavily devastated - even the viewdeck over at the Chocolate Hills crumbled, right? I asked my guide where that epicenter really was. He said somewhere between Sagayan and Catigbian.
Isa na lang! One more thing about Carmen. It is said that all of Carmen's barrios (now barangays) had Spanish names. Some were "Filipinized", and as of today, only three (Katipunan, Matin-ao and Tambo-an), out of its 29 barangays, do not have Hispanic names. At walang numeric names like Brgy. 69 etc! Well, "Carmen" was purportedly chosen as its name in 1869 in honor of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. I did not even know "Carmen" (Spanish) is "Carmel" in Eglish! But their patron is St. Anthony The Abbot!
Okay now.., somewhere on the northern outskirts of Carmen is this tricky corner (attention drivers)!
It almost happened to us, because the driver/guide was busy explaining/describing things hehehe! It was just 'luck' I asked if that island and building had historical value. And the driver/guide said "oops"!
So he reversed a little, and we turned right as you can see in the picture haha!
Let's talk about Sierra Bullones, next!
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