Friday. 30 July. Assembly time 0400 am at Genesis bus terminal in Cubao. Btw, Genesis is the only bus company who offers trips from Manila to Baler. They have special tires which can endure the roads to Baler. The roads are quite rough but they are currently under construction already to provide accessibility to tourists.
The travel time from Cubao to Baler is 8 hours, with three stopovers. We got there at around 12 noon. A tricycle took us to Bahia de Baler, where we were booked by the secretary of the Senator. Then, after arranging our things in our rooms, we met our guide (not our tour guide), Atty. Gail, for lunch. She was the one who took care of us during our stay there. She works with the Senator.
After having our meal, Atty. Gail, with the driver, and Kuya Allan and Kuya Jun, the official photographer and videographer, led us to Dica (or Dicasalarin, as what I can remember of the place's name). I thought that when we arrive at Baler, we can already tour the city by ourselves but while we were on the bus before leaving Manila, Louie told us that we have an itinerary and Atty. Gail will be accompanying us. So, in other words, we were treated like VIPs. hahaha. I was wondering why are we going to Dica. Atty. said that the Senator wanted to see us. Alright. We were all nervous. --- 45 minutes of travel to Dica. All we can see on our way to the place were the mountains, the sea, and the sky. So beautiful. At the same time, I was afraid because the roads are not cemented, well, only some parts, and the rest are under construction, and with just one wrong turn, we might fall on the cliff. Good thing the driver knows the way very well.
We arrived at the Senator's place. Speechless. Then, he already approached us. We were all starstrucked. hahaha. He introduced us to his staff, all of them were fresh graduates, from UPLB and Leyte. He let us taste their suman. It was really good. Unfortunately, we haven't bought some for pasalubong because there were no cooked suman in the store on our way home. Anyway, after eating, he let us tour the place. We were brought to the cove. It was really beautiful. It was really a time for relaxation and nature appreciation. God's creations are indeed amazing. Here are some of our photos. :)
We really had a tiring yet great time. When we came back, we did a little discussion with him about our paper and the culture and tourism of Baler. The Dumagats (whom we met while we were on the cove) arrived with fresh fishes they caught. One of the colorful fishes was called Mameng. Senator have them cooked and invited us for a dinner. It was like a dream for us. Hahaha
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