Disclaimer:
this is a third person version of this post, coming from the same author. No plagiarism here. :)
A sudden
decision along the way resulted to an unexpected adventure for IFWanderers Ces,
JC and Jecoy. Read on to learn about what happened!
Jecoy had a 2-week vacation last July, and squeezed in it
was a day and a half with Ces and JC.
It was that short because Jecoy’s weekends were blocked already and, Ces
and JC preferred to take only 1 day of leave from work. So the plan was to travel the night
before, sleep after arriving to the destination, get on with the activities the
next day and leave before nighttime on the same day.
So where were they headed? San Juan, La Union – one of the top surfing destinations in
the country. None of them tried
that sport yet, so doing it for the first time would be fun!
In Jecoy’s previous home leave (January 2012), the three
also had a quick road trip. They
had the classic: Tagaytay-Nasugbu (Caleruega) combo trip. At that time, they used Ces’ car, which
was then still less than 6 months old.
This time, it was Jecoy’s then less-than-six-months-old car’s turn to be
tested. And tested it was.
The trip was going as planned. They started traveling by 8PM, had the car’s tank filled
with fuel before going to the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), had a quick dinner
at one stopover, and then continued the trip. They took a turn to Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) to
save time. Upon exiting it, they met a fork and turned left, for that would
lead to La Union. But then they
also read the sign pointing to the right.
“Uy, papuntang Baler yun oh!” (“Hey, that way is going to
Baler!”)
The three have been intrigued with Baler, Aurora for more
than a year already. They thought
of going to that place, but for some reason didn’t push through. At this moment, a U-turn will make it
happen!
Ces stopped the car (she replaced Jecoy after the stop-over
at the NLEX). “Ano?” (“What?”), she asked. JC checked Google maps and compared the distance between San
Juan and Baler from our point.
Baler was nearer. “Tara,
Baler!” (“Baler – let’s go!”)
“Teka, teka, rough road papunta dun diba?” (“Wait, wait, the
road going there is rough, isn’t it?”) Jecoy asked, thinking about his
car. “National road naman dadaanan
natin.” (“We’ll pass by the national road anyway”), said JC. For some reason, that convinced
everyone. Jecoy thought all
national roads are paved.
And so they made the U-turn.
 |
| This doesn't look inviting, does it? |
Their excitement just mounted after making the
decision. They were to finally
satisfy their curiosity! Actually,
the purpose for the trip was still intact, for Baler is also a surfing spot!
One hour from the fork, the road was just fine. They had 2 routes to choose from. And they took the shorter one,
according to Google Maps. :) And amazing how this app also gave an
estimate of the travel time! So
they expected to reach the destination before midnight. That’s what they thought!
The ascending and winding road started. They were passing by the
Mountains. That’s how you go to
Baler, you traverse parts of the Sierra Madre Mountain range before you reach
the municipality.
The road was still paved, so it was okay. But then the pavement ended. But still, the road was smooth, looking
ready to be cemented soon. So, it
was okay. And then the road became
rough. Oh boy!
Because it was dark, and they wanted to be safe and to not
stress the car’s tires too much, their pace was slow. Their initial assumption of reaching the destination before
midnight was wrong. Looking at the
map, and judging by their pace, they thought, maybe they’ll arrive a couple of
hours later. That was optimistic,
for they didn’t expect things they encountered next.
The group was still having fun through it all. As it was very dark and remote, they
started scaring each other a little bit and making fun of the situation. They developed an imaginary story of
what would happen next, with the components of Filipino horror movies, no less. :)
Aside from Jecoy’s car, only a few trucks were passing
through that road. No bus, no
nothing. That gave them a hint
that they were on a road less traveled.
It wasn’t raining that evening, but some parts of the road
were wet. There were little pools
of water, and then a big one. They
stopped. “Is that passable?” Ces
asked. JC got off the car to check
if the water’s deep. After
inspection, they continued with the journey.
Their imaginary story resumed, and then they met a
fork. The right one’s going up, and
the other’s going down. They decided
to take the road at the right.
Good thing Ces was driving slowly, for the road abruptly ended! Oops, there’s a river below. There was a bridge that seemed to still
be under construction and hasn’t reached their side yet. So they took the road
going down. It was narrow, and they
passed by a small bridge, which looked temporary, to go to the other side.
The journey continued, and the friends were just focused on
moving safely. Their pace was
terribly slow. They were passing
by small spillways along the way, and then they stopped and doubted again. Could that be a river in front of
them?! Good thing there was a
truck behind. So they asked the
driver of the truck if there was a way to go across. The driver said that they didn’t have to worry, it’s a
spillway and the water is shallow.
They took his word for it, and off went the car. Whew, yeah, it was passable!
All that time, it was Ces who was driving. Then Jecoy replaced her a little
after. Ces rested, took a nap
even. JC got to the front
passenger seat; they wanted to have 4 eyes on the look at all times. After some time, the thing the driver
didn’t want to happen, happened.
The car got stuck in the mud.
As Jecoy is not an experienced driver, this got him really worried. They woke Ces up for support. Jecoy and Ces decided to switch places
again when coaching did nothing.
Looking a little more to the right, the road would’ve been better if not
for the sharp rocks scattered. So…
they asked JC again to get off the car, this time to put some of the rocks out
of the way. :P
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| They stopped to appreciate this view. It's not just about the destination, but what you see along the way. "That must be the reward for this," they thought. |
Such were the challenges they encountered in that it took a
long time to get to Baler. By long
it meant, the sun rose already and they were still on the road. Ces was really tired and Jecoy took
over the final stretch, driving through San Luis until they reached Baler. It was 8 o’clock in the morning.
Upon reaching their destination, the group looked
immediately for a hotel and checked in.
As Ces and JC were talking to the receptionist, Jecoy asked one of the
staff about the roads going to Baler.
Then he confirmed that the road they took was not the common one at the
moment. “Daanan ng mga truck
yun...” (It’s the road used by
trucks…) – so they’ve been told.
They had to see the beach right away. They headed to it immediately after
checking in. And what they saw was
beautiful. The sight washed away their stress and reassured them that the trip
was worth it!
 |
| That. View. |
They took breakfast and decided to take a nap first before
going out to surf. They were to go
back to Manila on that same day, so they better have a little rest. By around 12 PM, they prepared and
headed to the beach. Surfing at
noon, why not? As it was
lunchtime, they had to wait for the instructors to finish their meal. The friends chose to have their meal
after the lesson. So they dipped
in saltwater while waiting.
When the instructors finally arrived, the trio was pumped up
for surfing! However, the waves didn’t match their mood – it was the lean
season. That meant the water was
calm – the waves were not tall! In
one hour, perhaps less than 10 were acceptable for surfing. They were not able to maximize the
lesson, spending most of the time waiting. But they still enjoyed it!
Jecoy was able to stand with ease right from the very start,
thanks to his wakeboarding experience.
JC and Ces had to try a few times before they were able to get the
balance.
After the lesson, they had lunch, during which they took
time to savor the food and the atmosphere. That was the only other time they had rest, for they started
preparing for departure right after.
By around 4 o’clock, they were already on the road. They took the other route, the one
passing through the municipality of Maria Aurora and Pantabangan Dam. It was indeed faster because most of
the road was paved. They also felt
safer, well, it helped that the sun’s still up.
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| A picture with the welcome sign, on our way out, haha! |
Realizations
- The group realized, turning back never really occurred to them during their struggle. That’s good, for the whole experience was, in a word, precious.
- A Ford Focus TDCi is strong enough to tackle a road trip to Baler. And a full tank is all you need!
- Not all national roads in the Philippines are paved! Hopefully, they will all be soon.
- Jecoy told his experience to a friend in Korea, who hailed from Baler. According to this friend, the route they took going to Baler used to be the more common one. In Aurora’s official website, it was termed Baler-Bongabon Road. However, the bridge in Nueva Ecija, was destroyed a few years ago because of a super typhoon. Okay, so what they thought was a new bridge under construction was actually a destroyed one.
- Now here’s an interesting bit. According to his friend, the other route, Canili-Pantabangan, which is more commonly used today, is actually more dangerous. It is because there are more steep slopes and at one portion, where there is a sharp turn, many vehicular accidents already happened. She even told him they were lucky to have chosen the other road on their way to Baler. Hmm…
