Sunday, October 5, 2014

Southern Cebu Habal-Habal Tour: Oslob x Boljoon x Alcoy


From Aaron's Beach Resort, we negotiated 3 motorcycles to be our service vehicle for 500/each. The plan for the afternoon is to visit the following places for the rest of the day; Tumalog Falls, The Oslob and the Boljoon leg of the Southern Cebu Historical Trail, and Tingko Beach in Alcoy.


The first stop which is Tumalog Falls is not that far away from the resort. You will reach an intersection with the road going up to the jumpoff to Tumalog Falls. In that intersection, there are also habal-habals available for rent for P10/person. Please follow this link for more information regarding Tumalog Falls.

The Immaculate Conception Parish Church
The next part of the tour is the Oslob stop of the Southern Cebu Heritage Trail. This heritage park contains important old sturctures with a lot of history namely the Immaculate Conception Parish Church, the Baluarte, and the Cuartel. The whole park is adjacent to the sea which is perfect for watching the sunrise.

The sea right next to the park
The entrance to the museum 
In front of the Cuartel is a small museum which houses some of the old artifacts that played a part in the history of Oslob. There are also pictures of how the heritage park looked before on it's golden days. Cameras are not allowed inside and the best part is there is no entrance fee needed.



The next structure that can be found in the park is the Cuartel. The Cuartel is supposed to be a Spanish barracks but was not finished. It's remains with it's thick walls now lay right next to the museum.



The plaque at the Cuartel


The next structure that can be found on the park is the Immaculate Conception Parish Church. To give a brief history with one of the oldest Spanish colonial era church in Cebu, it's construction began in 1830 by Fr Bermejo and was completed in 1847.

The church bell tower
The church bell tower was only added in 1858. The church was burned back in WWII in 1945 and then restored in 1955. The church was again recently razed by fire in 2008 but it was then restored to its former glory in 2010.


The last structure is the remains of the Baluarte or watchtower. It was built back in 1788 with the main purpose of defense against the Moro raiders of the past. There 6 other watchtowers along the Oslob coastline.



The statue at the front of Baluarte is of Fr Julian Bermejo who was responsible for the plan of the Balaurte as a defense system from the Moro raiders. After buying from a fishball vendor in front of the church, we are now back in our habal-habal to go to our next leg of the South Cebu heritage trail at Boljoon.


Upon arriving at the Boljoon Plaza, it is the church of Nuestra Senora de Patrocinio that will welcome you. The church was build in 1783 by Fr. Ambrosio Ostero which was continued by Fr. Manuel Cordero in 1794 and then finished by Fr. Julian Bermejo. The church is declared by the National Historic Institute as a National Historical Landmark and then declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum the following year.


The walls are as thick as the pillars which are two meters thick and made of mortar and lime. The interior is decorated beautifully. It has a main nave, a transcript, and twenty-eight pillars which support the walls.




While walking around the plaze, we encountered a structured called Escuela Catolica. It was used before as a school for religious teachings.



Another significant structure in the plaza is what they call Dakong Balay or blockhouse which was also built by Fr. Jullian Bermejo. The blockhouse is a 120 x 80 meters structure on which artillery was mounted before as protection from the Moro. Now it just stands as a belltower with Rizal Park below it.


Boljoon is rich with old houses and we don't have enough time as we still have to go to Alcoy for the last leg of our tour. Before leaving we bought some kakanin from an old lady for P7 each.


On the way to Alcoy, Ili Rock on the left side
Tingko Beach which is just on the side of the highway can be found on Alcoy. There is no entrance fee required as it is a public beach. The sand is fine with a peachy white color and waters are clean. We arrived around 5PM so there is not much sunlight around but the clear waters is still evident.



The waves are not that strong and there are parts of the beach with seaweed on it. We were approached by a boatman who offered 'island hopping' for P50/person but we denied because there is not enough time. There are stores, restaurants and accomodations on the other side of the highway so you don't need to worry if you forgot something.

Lots of tiny fish in Tingko Beach
After lazing around and having fun in the beach, it is time to go as we still have to get back to our accomodation in Aaron's Beach Resort in Oslob. Before returning, we made a stop over at Oslob public market to buy fish and we cooked our food in the kitchen of Aaron Beach Resort kitchen. Huge thanks to them as they also lent us plates and utensils for our food! :)



DAY 1
DAY 2

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