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Who wants to go to Baler?”
What’s On & Expat editor Agnes Abrau put the question out to
the skeletal staff in our office, only half-expecting anyone
to volunteer at the last-minute to go along with a small
group of media invited by Senator Edgardo J. Angara to the
Baler Town Fiesta.
The fiesta, from August 17-21, also coincided with the
launching of various Aurora provincial projects such as the
inauguration of the Aurora Technological Institute, Aurora
Coffee Research Center, and Mariculture Park Project, among
other things, so it would be chock-full of official events
–which while great for news doesn’t necessarily make for the
most exciting travel story. Another con: the idea of setting
off on an eight-hour butt-numbing bus ride on a mostly
bumpy, and sometimes harrowing, stretch of road just as
“Super Typhoon Egay” was about to hit Northern Luzon was
hardly the stuff of dreams, much less the ideal travel
conditions. Although it could make an interesting trip, I
thought.
And so began my journey to Baler, the capital and oldest
municipality of Aurora province, more popularly remembered
as the location where director Francis Ford Coppola shot the
famous surfing scene in his classic film Apocalypse Now.
Aurora province, which was a part of Quezon province up
until 1979, is also known as the birthplace of former
President Manuel Quezon and his wife Aurora, for whom the
province was named. Today, it is considered one of the
poorest provinces in the Philippines but what it lacks in
per capita income it more than makes up for in natural
resources, in the friendly smiles of the locals, and an
undeniable potential to become a top tourist destination
someday in the future. |
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“We’re positioning Aurora
as a multi-attraction province,” explained Senior Tourism
Operations Officer Michael Palispis. The plans include the
construction of a new airport in Casiguran in the northern
part of the province, adding more hotels and resorts, and
doing much-needed improvements on the infrastructure. For
now, travelers must traverse mostly gravely, unsurfaced
roads, which are prone to landslides during rainy season,
and makes getting there an adventure in itself.
The Long and Winding Road to Baler
There’s a saying that every journey begins with a single
step and that’s exactly what you’ll be feeling – that is,
like it feels like there’s a thousand more miles to go –
after spending a few hours squirming in your seat resisting
the urge to ask: “Are we there yet?!” Never mind if you were
driving through scenic routes like California’s Pacific
Coast Highway or Italy’s Amalfi Coast. The reality is it’s a
long way to Baler and the drive, which is probably one of
the biggest deterrents for potential tourists, is filled,
for the most part, with the usual sights that you see across
the country: forests, rice fields, carabaos grazing, bahay
kubos, and the like.
Having said that though, when you do finally get to the
final stretch before reaching Baler, as the thick fog rolls
to give way to a breathtaking view of the spectacular Sierra
Madre mountains in the distance, it becomes clear why those
that do get to Baler almost always come back. “For us here,
this is where the Sierra Madre mountain range begins, not
ends,” observed Ricky Avaceņa, director of the Museo de
Baler and grandson of the late Presi
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