Made It To Mabini, Bohol

As said in the previous story, Mabini is probably just a little more than 10 kilometers from Alicia, and I liked the way going to this remote town, consistently amid a topography similar to the Chocolate Hills.

Like Alicia, Mabini too does have high hills with panoramic views, not yet well-known to many tourists.

Finding this town however, is a little bit tricky if you are driving. You first have to reach La Union!

No, not the province in Region 1! Just a barangay in Candijay, where you find a crossroad (there are no directional signage), and that's where you veer east, off the Bohol Circumferential Road to find Mabini.

In that picture, we were coming from Alicia (north), so we had to head left (east) to Mabini. If we went straight, we would have entered the center of Candijay, and onwards to the coastal road to Tagbilaran.

Mabini is a coastal town. It is in the eastern-most fringe of Bohol island. However, the center of town is still about 10kms or so away from the sea! One big barangay by the sea though, Lungsodaan, which means "old town", is probably where this municipality started to sprout. There is even a fishport there.

Mind you, even as far down to the coastal areas, there are still those 'chocolate hills'-like mounds. You will readily notice them as their tops don't have trees, just grass! But the most-mentioned 'wonders' of this town, are still the panoramic high mountain views and lush forests, just like in the previous towns.

Which is not really false, because indeed, they are great places to see and experience (but hiking isn't just for me hehe)! There are caves and waterfalls. Wow!

The coastal areas are not that well-endowed with long wide stretches of white sandy beaches. There are seaside resorts, even if the sand may be coarser than say, at Anda or Alona. Although there's also a sandbar that's a favorite weekend destination of locals. And I'm curious about the surrounding reef.

The town is a known source of fish in Bohol. You will notice many seaside families are into production of dried fish - which, to me, means an abundance of fish, more than they need to eat. Plus (and this is what I like most), due to abundance of mangroves here, Mabini is a known source of crabs. Alimango!

But, back to reality, intermittent rain and lack of time meant I only "explored" the center of town hehe!

That's the Mabini Bohol Municipal Hall, better viewed from the highway pavement some 2~3ft above the general ground level of this area of town. Probably making sure that their roads are never flooded.

Here's another shot of the same building (I moved a little to the left, avoiding that water fountain)...

I just realized, it looks like a common characteristic of municipal halls in Bohol, is that they have wide green spaces fronting their buildings. Not just mere front lawns, but garden-like or park-like. Sana all!

Then of course, as usual, I asked where might the church be. Driver did not know, so we asked people. A woman said turn right at the corner, just across the gate of "central" (the Mabini Central Elementary School), then just go straight to the end, and we should see the back side of the church at a big park.

We did. But some 200 meters on, even before reaching the park, it was also crowded by students and other people. It looked like the same event that we saw happening in Alicia was also in progress here.

So, sorry to my readers who are big fans of catholic churches. Maybe next time :)

The public market, also a new long building, but called just "public market", not "municipal emporium"!

Behind that is a big edifice that, I am guessing, must be a sports center and/or multi-purpose building.

I think this Mabini is worth coming back to. Hey, did you know there are 4 towns in the Philippines that are named Mabini? And they are well distributed! One is in Pangasinan (Northern Luzon); another is in Batangas(Southern Luzon); yet another in Compostella Valley(Mindanao), and this one in the Visayas!

Anyway and meanwhile, let's go back to the main road and head for the next town - Candijay.

========================================  Click these numbers for a chronology of stories: 01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10
11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20
  21   22   23                                                      
======================================== Or just click "Newer Post" or "Older Post" below.