Travel Bugs: Aurora (a little exploration)

The boyfriend originally planned for a climb but after some charmspeaking I have convinced him to go beach bumming. I was desperate for beach; I was craving for a total relaxation when I won't have to carry my heavy trek bag and walk for miles, all I want to do is to slack even for just a couple of days and with that, I just requested even for a quick Batangas beachcapade but thankfully, I am blessed with a boyfriend that has the same appetite for traveling and exploring, until the idea of Baler sprouted like a mushroom. But a few days before our Baler trip, a storm named Ofel decided to go power trip and almost spoiled our trip. But thank God He spared us from any danger, considering the many landslides that we had to pass way and back our journey and still blessed our trip.

We headed for Baler around 1AM at Genesis bus terminal. The regular bus rate is 460 php. It was a very long bus ride because there were many stop overs, hence we reached Baler at around 6-7AM. I was asleep almost the entire travel time but it was so sweet of God to wake me up on the spot that showcases the very beautiful range of Sierra Madre, which welcomed me in the morning. God is really always there to make me feel I am loved and still under His unfailing grace. Anyway, from the terminal we rode a tricycle (15php) going to the lodge-in that will serve as our home for 2 nights. The place is called Amihan. The room rates are pretty cheap. Our room for 2pax is 500/day. About the amenities? Well they have a decent place to cook, a table to eat, and restrooms that are just okay. The ladies restroom has a busted light bulb so, we (girls) were using the gents' restroom instead.

Our first day was a pretty waste because of the bad and bed weather. The bad weather refrained us from touring around Aurora, while the bed weather sucked us in to a deep slumber. We tried to go swimming/surfing during our first day but the wind was just too cold to tolerate, well there were still other surfers out in the beach but they are most probably very used to it already. So we just slept through the half of our first day and woke up to go to the wet market to do some supplies shopping.We just basically, slept, shopped, cooked, ate, and slept during our first day with bull frogs ribbiting all day/night long.

Kath and Pao

With our surfer guy friend Jude

Dinner is served:

God blessed our second day. He woke us up with the beautiful Baler sunrise; it's as if it didn't rain all day the day before. No trace of storm. Sobrang galing lang talaga ni God! He painted the sky with beautiful shades of blue, orange, and pink. Swabe. And with that being said, we didn't waste any time. After watching and taking photos and basking on the sunrise, we were on our feet and ready to explore Aurora.

We were expectators:

And God didn't disappoint us:

And we tried to capture every scene:

And we were truly happy:)

and off we head for the road

On our way, we couldn't help but notice the flooded streets of Baler. It's not that it's our first time to see flooded streets but it's because the water was clear! There were no floating dead rat or floating candy wrappers and the likes. It wasn't smelly too. We... well sort of got amazed with Aurora's clean environment so to speak.

Our first stop is the largest (in Asia), oldest (600 year-old), the most popular and the mother of all Balete trees. It's so huge we actually climbed inside it!:) It was so much fun climbing it because it's not everyday you get to go inside a tree haha but I had a hard time on one area because my guide was asking me to climb up a branch that my legs couldn't possibly reach! My guide is a boy and way taller than me, and he's asking me to copy his tracks but what can I do? My legs are shorter than his! Anyway, I'm glad we made it to the top of the tree and down to the bottom again. Anyho, I felt like Peter Pan inside ze tree. haha! :)

See how huge it is?:)

The entrance to the tree

Here's how it looks inside:

Can you spot them boys?

Me on top of the tree; On one of its many branches.

The boys, enjoying the whole climbing spree haha

The view from the top

Our next stop was supposed to be the Mother Falls but because of the heavy rain the previous night, the current of the river we need to cross became too dangerous for us. So we just stayed at the "entrance" or at the jump-off of the trail that will lead us to the Mother Falls.

For lunch, our kind tour guide recommended an eat-all-you-can Chinese resto for us. I forgot its name but they say it's popular among the locals and tourists. A plate costs 185php. The food are pretty good. I loved their breaded Dory (I suppose) fish and all their vegetable menus. Iced tea is bottomless. :)

My plates hahaha!

After feeding our hungry stomachs, it's time to feed our eyes again with more of Aurora's beautiful spots. Our next stop was this beach in San Luis, Aurora. This is my favorite part of all the places we visited. It's very peaceful and perfect for slacking off. The view is awesome. Going there was extra difficult for our driver because of the landslides we had to pass but it was all so worth it. <3

The rock formations up close:

The boyfriend so high with nature. :)

The other side of the big rock

The newest love team in town: Pao and Kath :D

Team JS

Just a few steps from the beach is a falls you can literally see from the road. And it was our next stop.

For our last stop of the day, we headed for the Ermita Hill. Locals say that a long, long time ago there was a tsunami that hit Aurora and only 5 families got saved when they ran for safety at Ermita Hill, hence these statues were built as a reminder of their plight.

The view from the hill

We spent our last night basking by the beach. Had a little drink; had a bunch of fun!

The next day was pretty short. We visited the museum real quick then headed for the bus terminal going back to Manila because Jo and Kath have their work already the following day. Fortunately, I have a sembreak so I still get to enjoy hehe. For the tour, we just rented a tricycle because it's cheaper than a van given that there were only 4 of us on this trip. We paid 800php for the tour, which was pretty fair considering the rough roads we had to take, landslides we had to pass, and the long distances from one location to another.

The 4 of us made it against the odds! haha