Valencia, Bohol


The joyride continues! This time I went to Valencia. Still in Bohol, yes. Because there are three in this country - two towns both in Region 7 (Central Visayas) and a city in Region 10 (Northern Mindanao)!

From Garcia-Hernandez, we started backtracking on my way back to Tagbilaran, passing by all towns along the way, to complete my planned route since yesterday, visiting all the southern towns of Bohol.

I was excited to see this town, but, that excitement was immediately crushed on arrival. Argh!
Sto. Niño Parish Church of Valencia, Bohol
That's the Sto. Niño Parish Church of Valencia, Bohol - the one thing that got me excited to be in this town. It was closed! On a Monday mid-morning? How cruel to an aged roamer that is me myself and I!

On hindsight, we should've visited earlier, instead of going straight to Garcia-Hernandez - as there are early morning masses (usually). It most likely would've been open. Ayayay, bigo ang aking kamahalan!

Anyway, I continued listening to my guide who told me that this church still has a wooden floor. That's what I had hoped to see. I remember the church in Lazi Siquijor was like that, so I wanted to compare.

He said this church is also one of the biggest and beautiful on Bohol island. The floor inclines down to front from the entrance; the walls are very thick; there's a choir loft but no choir uses it; there's a pulpit but unlike at Garcia-Hernandez it is at the altar; the ceiling has no paintings; and so on, and on. Haiszt!

As if to add salt (and calamansi) to 'my injury' huhuhu hahaha, I could not even go around the external areas because it started to drizzle again! Wala, I was not very lucky today. Well, it happens. It just did!

He told me and pointed to the parish office/convent that is not by the church but across the highway. I just glanced at it. Not interested. Nawalan na ng gana hahah! So we moved west to the municipal hall.

And this is the Municipal Hall of Valencia, Bohol. All of a sudden I was not at all interested hehe!
Municipal Town Hall Building of Valencia, Bohol
Not sure if I was just hurting and sour-graping because of the closed church or if I was really stating a fact, but looking at that munisipyo I even told my driver/guide "ang pangit, color pa lang ampangit na"!

Well, looking at it now in my pictures, I can't help but compare it with those of other towns that we just visited. Pangit nga hehehe! Even their Jose Rizal wearing a blue coat does not look like the Jose Rizal of many other towns! By the way, I am now wondering, di ba kasalanan mo as an artist if a monument you made doesn't look like the real one? I think ang dapat sa artist na ganyan eh, barilin din sa Luneta!

Was I being a bit too "nega"? Not really "a bit", I was "very nega" at this time, I realized that! It happens, right? Early morning.., I was excited.., then poof, disappointment. So, aburido to the max ang lolo nyo!

The cute part was... my driver/guide agreed with any of my negative thoughts hahaha! That's THE tour guide! Nakikiramay hehehe! Not really nang-gagatong, but he saw my points-of-view! Example: on that municipal hall, he was first to broker the idea saying 'it looks just like the palengke of the other towns'!

But he did know how to tone everything down hehehe! Like when I was saying the building's color was "duh", he said "baka naman first coating pa lang yan, sir"! At least we had a good laugh! Masaya na rin!

As we stood watching this 'pastel colored' munisipyo, guide told me of visitor-attracting places of this town, like there's a spring resort similar to Maambong - continuously fed by cool/cold fresh mountain water. Ah, they have their own white sandy beaches too - from the east to the western shores. Noted!

By the way, I did not (I don't) forget to look out for vintage houses, and there are in Valencia. like this:
Beautiful old ancestral house, Dr. R. Lim's residence in Valencia Bohol
We were already running fast to exit Valencia, so I barely caught a snap of it. But I saw that it's big, old and wooden - at least probably originally. It is obviously being refurbished (everything on ground level is already concrete), but 'tastefully'. I mean they're trying to retain the original look of its glorious past!

That made for a nice end to my Valencia visit. Still a good day after all!

Next town? Dimiao. Coming up soonest!

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