Archive for 'Aurora'
22
Noong ginagawa ang Baler-Bongabong Road nung dekada 20, may dalawang ginawang rest house para sa mga manggagawa ng kalsada at para sa mga dumadaan doon. Ang isa ay ang sa Villa Aurora at ang isa naman ay sa lugar na tinatawag nating Boundary. Mula sa Reminiscence ni Poppo Olag:
From the hamlet of Kalanan, a winding unpaved road zigzags dizzily along the curve of hazy-gray mountain cliffs to the scenic spot of Boundary. This demarcation site between the provinces of Nueva Ecija and northern Tayabas (Quezon), now Aurora province was developed into a resting station as sanctuary for the road builders. The development started in 1926 during the tenure of Manuel A. Gonzales, the ninth mayor of Baler in conjunction with the construction of Baler-Bongabong national road.
Boundary is located roughly about 68 kilometers west of the town of Baler on the Sierra Madre Mountain ranges overlooking the Pacific Ocean which stands some thousand meters above sea level. Its climate is airy and refreshing, phenomenally cool during the months of October through March, and marvelously pleasant from April through September. Because of its excellent climate, varieties of orchids grew luxuriantly in its surrounding, besides the evergreens that made the place mystically mesmerizing.
At the summit stands a rest house, and from its location the panoramic vista of the blue Pacific silhouetted by the Sierra Madre peels back with breathtaking sceneries. A slippery lane connects the rest house to the national road, and some hundred meters below is a swimming pool designed and engineered by Mother Nature. Shaded by giant ferns, towering trees, and impenetrable by sunlight, the pool is chillingly cold.
Pareho nang wala ang dalawang rest house na iyon. Pero ang binabanggit na swimming pool ay naroon pa at mahabang panahon na nalimutan. Ngayon ay na-restore na uli ang lugar. Pwede na uling pagpiknikan at paliguan. Di ito kaagad makikita dahil ito ay nasa bahaging ibaba ng daan. Ang makikita lamang ay isang billboard na nagtatanda kung nasaan ito.
Ito ang isang video ng lugar na nakita ko sa Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLKpXGhywyQ