Last April 8-10, the Araling Panlipunan teachers of our school went to the not-so southern part of Luzon to visit a beautiful municipality called Baler. We stayed there for 2D1N. I was so excited because I never visited Baler and I never imagined that I can see in my own eyes the beautiful environment that I only saw on the Anne Curtis - Jericho Rosales starred film Baler.
Baler is known for one of the surfing capital of the Philippines but little we know that there are many tourist spots that we can enjoy and experience in visiting Baler and that's our main objective.
We decided to visit there because Baler is the province of my subject coordinator. She said that Baler is a beautiful place that we can relax and free ourselves from the polluted city of Manila. We travelled by land for almost 5-6 hours. During our travel, my subject coordinator told a folklore old town story of the origin of Baler. She said that a great storm appeared on the 27th day of December on the year 1735 and a huge wave called tromba marina devastated an old town that was then located in Barrio Sabang. Among the survivors were the Angaras, Bihasa, Bitongs, Lumasacs, Carrascos and Pobletes who swam toward the nearby Ermita Hill.
Upon reaching Baler, we first visited the beautiful and peaceful municipal hall/grounds and take pictures on the huge BALER letters. There were different pasalubongs stores there at that time so we grabbed the chance to buy some pasalubongs to our relatives in Manila.
Beside the Municipal Hall of Baler (maybe 30 steps) you can find the historical and old church of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. In 1898, 54 Spanish soldiers garrisoned the church and made it as their barracks and known as the last stand of the Spanish empire here in the Philippines. The church is a little bit small but it is very beautiful inside and out.
In front of the church is the ancestral house of Doña Aurora, the wife of Manuel M. Quezon. It's a Spanish designed house where you can see the different things that were properties of the Quezon family.
Located at the back of Baler Church is the Museo De Baler. It houses several historical artifacts that link it closely to the Philippines' first and longest colonizer, Spain. It also houses old letters. reports and drawings from the Franciscan memorabilia and missionaries who settled in Aurora from 1609 to 1899.
After Museo De Baler, we went to the famous Ermita Hill or what they call as the Land of Hope. From here you can see the uphill view of Baler and the Pacific Ocean. Ermita Hill plays an important role in the history of Baler. It is where the only survivors of the catastrophe "Tromba Marina" fled for safety where the entire old town of Baler was engulfed by sea water.
We also visited the hanging bridge of Tibang and Sabang. We risked our lives crossing the rickety bridge. It was full of fun, enjoyment and fear in crossing the hanging bridge. There was a funny moment there while we were crossing the bridge, we were so scared and our nerves were cracking while the locals were just crossing the bridge like nothing to be scared of. It's like they were laughing at us through their minds hahaha.
We also visited Pleasant Valley Guest House wherein you can hire a boatman. While boating you and your friends and family can enjoy the clear water of the river and feel the fresh air coming from the sasahan/bakawan and from the Pacific Ocean. It was an hour of boating starting from Sabang up to the Tibang-Sabang hanging bridge and vice versa
That's the part 1 of our trip in Baler. There are still many tourist spots that we will visit on our 2nd trip like the Mother Falls, Digisit, the different islets, Cobra Reef etc. We didn't visited all of the tourist spots so that we have reasons to go back and enjoy the beautiful and peaceful place.
There are different transient houses available in Baler that you can occupy. Also, I must recommend not to eat on fast food restaurants instead buy fresh seafoods, vegetables from the market and cook it to feel the rural way of living in Baler.
I must say that our trip in Baler is one of my few trips that I enjoyed most. the place is wonderful, the people are kind and hospitable and mostly, you will deeply learn and gather information about slice of the history of the Philippines.
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