COTTA BATO CHURCH RUINS AT CATARMAN - WHY SPANIARDS ARE ATTRACTED TO VOLCANOES

With the many places I've visited throughout the country, it seems that every nook and cranny of the Philippine archipelago has a Spanish presence imprinted in its history.  One of the reasons that I came up with this observation is probably the attraction of Spaniards to volcanoes.  For example, the famous world famous Mayon Volcano in Bicol has a church ruins in Cagsawa. The world famous Taal Volcano has its church ruins in the town of Talisay.  Even Mt. Pinatubo ruined the Bacolor church in Pampanga but residents rehabilitated what's left of it.  Next photo shown is the Spanish bell tower.

According to the historical marker on Cotta Bato's entrance, this town was once a thriving community until the eruption of the volcano wiped out the town and destroyed its church. It makes you wonder why the Spanish friars didn't restore the church afterwards.  There are many theories I came up with.  First. the natives have a high reverence for the spirit in the volcano, so the Spanish priest established a church to dissuade the people from worshiping the volcano god and instead convert to Christianity. Having been wiped out by the volcano in front of the natives, the priests lost face and their influence afterwards.  Photo below is the church convent.

My second theory is probably related to Spanish colonial and spirit of adventurism.  Since Spain was at that time a superpower with expansionist intentions, they fancy places that has a continuing element of danger, for example, the ever-present threat of living near an active volcano.  In this way, their level of alertness is always high in anticipation of a possible uprising from the natives.  Below is a marker narrating the events that took place in 1871 that wiped out the town.

Of course, my theories are open to argument,  but I believe that there is one thing that everyone will agree with me.  And that is, people whether native or foreign simply just cannot resist the beauty of nature that volcanoes can create of a place.  In the aftermath of destruction and violence, a period of succession begins and the end will always come out beautiful and awesome!  So when we arrived in this once devastated place, we took the time to enjoy ourselves in the midst of history.

Despite my size, you can just imagine how small I am beside this humungus, centuries old tree beside the convent.  This is a favorite photo site  of the many tourists that visited this historical place.

The ruins is perched on the high grounds of the island with a navigational vantage point and this explains why an eye-sore like this modern-day light house was erected in a historical site such as this.  The Spaniards did proved that this place has indeed a military purpose.

 This is the perimeter wall or what's left of it, where the entrance to Cotta Bato is located.  This is the only wall left and the other three walls of the square are no longer around.  Beyond this wall, residents constructed a small chapel to retain the reverence of this sacred place. 

 Before departing the place, we took a posterity group picture along the cliffs overlooking the sea.  The view here is spectacular.  The visit to this place is quite interesting for me.  Don't expect too much when visiting this place.  It may be quite simple, but the beauty here is its simplicity.  The purpose of this place is give us a small glimpse of history of how the Spaniards live in simple grandeur in an island paradise such as Camiguin and how God took it away from them.  Until next adventure, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoy its history!

ARDENT HOT SPRING - NATURE'S HOT TUB OFF THE BOWELS OF MT. HIBOK-HIBOK

Welcome to another adventure in my blog.  I’m here together with my son and we are about to be treated to  a new experience in this volcano island of Camiguin, something you would expect to come out of a volcano – HEAT!  And what’s the best way to enjoy heat without sweating?  Transfer it to water and presto!  You have a hot bath! Courtesy of Mt. Hibok-Hibok Volcano!  

Ardent Hot Spring is one of the attractions in the smallest province of Camiguin.  Groundwater heated by geothermal energy vented by Mt. Hibok-Hibok oozes out into the surface where inhabitants took advantage by containing it in natural pools like this and allow ovrflow water to run-off to the river like this.  To improve the quality of water, the sides where cemented to keep it from turning muddy.  The result is clear, lukewarm water so enticing you want to stay in and laze for the whole day.  

 What made this place cool is the way the developer retained the forest ambiance of the place.  The hot springs in Laguna is already far too anthropogenic.  Even though hot water comes naturally from underground, it is pumped into a swimming pool that is completely covered with ceramic tiles.  However, one cannot blame the owners of hot pools in Laguna.  They are constrained by the sheer volume of vacationers from nearby Metro Manila that prompted them to be more practical in maintaining the cleanliness of the pool by covering it with ceramic tile which makes it more manageable.  Concrete pools like this in Ardent will easily turn dirty when a huge number of people bathed in it all at the same time.

If you were wondering how hot the water is, I'm sure this picture will answer your question.  The water is slightly 1 degree lower to experiencing a high fever.  Immersing yourself in it slowly will immediately give you that sense of sleepiness as the warm water absorbs all the tension in your body and your brain responds by completely surrendering the body to its captivating warm but rejuvenating effect.  I can honestly say as experienced by all the guys out there,  a sudden dip into this hot caldera will make you feel like hard-boiled egg. ha ha ha ha! 

Aside from my son who's in the other pool, this is the entire bunch that's with me.  The girls are my sister and nieces and the guys are my cousin and nephew.  You can just see by the looks in their faces how much they enjoy the natural hot tub here in Ardent Hot Spring.

 Of course being the main character on this story, nothing compares to the exhilaration that this experience has brought to my mind and spirit.  This sure is a stress-buster from me after finishing another school year and just recovering from a major operation as a result of cancer.  The warm water in indeed rejuvenating, relaxing and most of all fun because I may not be able to pass by again this way so have to enjoy this place as if this is the last place on earth.

The rest of the place still has its natural flair with all the vegetation around.  The air is clean, the greenery soothing to the eyes, no traffic around.  No annoying vendors. just simply natural.

 Well, this concludes another adventure in the island of Camiguin.  The adrenaline in these guys sure hasn't gone down yet because we still have plenty places to go before the day's end.  Just as the saying goes, if by chance you may be able to visit this paradise , please do! Please CAMIGUIN! HA HA HA HA!

KATIBAWASAN FALLS: SEEMINGLY NEVER-ENDING FALLING WATERS OF CAMIGUIN

One of the memorable places in this island paradise is the visit to the popular Katibawasan Falls.  I'm not sure how it got its name but in the Tagalog vernacular it might be implying the never ending falls.  The falls is one major water outlet coming down from a cliff with some small trickles down its side.  The place is already well developed for tourists with concrete stairs leading to the bottom of the falls and tables and washrooms for picnickers and bathers.

 

 

The falls poses a majestic overture over the granite walls of the mountain, garnished with lush vegetations on it opening and sides.  If finally falls down forming a pool at the base making it ideal for visitors to admire its beauty and bathe on its surprisingly very cold water.

The best time to enjoy the falls is to arrive early in the morning when there are still very few visitors and no one dares dip in to the ice cold water of the pool.  This is the perfect time to shoot pictures to avoid having too many people in your background and of course to find the perfect spot to swim, dine and just merely relax in comfort.

 

It's not always that one gets to visit a beautiful place like this, and  be able to visit it again in the near future.  Most often you don't get the chance to visit again.  So when in a special place, take advantage of the moment and try to enjoy it in as many ways as you can.  That way you have no regrets in not doing something that you ought to have done in the place.  Every moment lost in a place may be a moment lost forever.

Many of the blogs I've read often involves the writer merely visiting the place and doesn't actually involve immersing themselves in the place.  The experience feels incomplete when one just merely describes the place visually and doesn't actually felt the cold,wet but soothing effect of the water penetrating up your spine and making you shiver to the bones upon leaving the water.  For me, the culmination of one's visit will always be a total immersion of one's self to the place.

 We stayed until lunch and rested a bit because we still have many places to go in the island in the afternoon.  We had just came from White Island and our spirit of excitement has not gone down a bit.  This really shows how beautiful the island of Camiguin is.

In every tourist site such as this, there will always be a pasalubong store where one can buy a souvenir, may it be a t-shirt or a simple token.  Souvenirs serve as our constant reminders of how happy and fun it was when we visited this enchanting place.

Of course, one gets hungry after the adrenaline rush brought in by the experience begins to subside and the best thing to satistfy your craving is to taste and eat something unique and special to the place.  Although simple as it is, eating this kipping is a once in a lifetime treat as this is something you don't normally see in Manila.  After this, we proceeded to other exciting destinations in this wonderful tropical island called "CAMIGUIN!"  I hope I can "CAMIGUIN!"