Wanderlust | Baler, Aurora Philippines (Day 1)

April 22, 2017 Day 1

Baler, Aurora is 232 kilometers away from Manila with an estimated travel time of 4 – 7 hours by land. It is the capital of Aurora and known as the “top surf spots” in the Philippines. The waves serve as its main tourist asset, attracting hundreds of surfers. On the other hand, Baler conjures up visions of lush forest, cool mountain, cool river waters, cool summer sea breeze and probably one of the finest destination in the country.

Me and three of my friends went to Baler, Aurora last April 22, 2017 (Saturday) and we stayed there for 3 days. It was supposedly a 2 days’ trip but last April 23, 2017 (Sunday) we decided at the last minute to extend our trip. So instead of leaving on April 24, 2017 (Monday) we decided to leave on April 25, 2017 (Tuesday). My friend chatted me through Messenger early in the morning last April 21, 2017 (Friday) and asked me if I wanted to come to Baler with them and they will leave at midnight. It was a last minute invite and I didn’t bother to think twice. I immediately said ‘YES’. It’s Baler, Aurora we are talking about here. One of the place I’ve always wanted to visit. The bus will leave at midnight so we decided to meet around 9 in the evening at this certain place so that we can all go to the bus station together. When we reached the bus station we waited for more than an hour for the bus to arrive. The bus left before midnight which is really nice because we arrived at Baler before 5 in the morning.

The transient house we stayed in is owned by one of our friend’s parent. They let us stay in the transient house for free. It was a bungalow house. There is a table in front of the main door where we always eat, a simple living room, two double deck beds, a room with a double size bed, a kitchen and a bathroom. The transient house location is perfect because the markets and restaurants is just walking distance, even the hanging bridge and the Sabang Beach. I asked my friend how much is the transient and it costs around 4500 – 5000 PHP per day. The transient house was worth it though. It can accommodate maybe around 10 – 15 persons depending on how you guys decided to sleep in it.

When we reached Baler early in the morning we decided to eat breakfast first at our friend’s house because the transient that we were going to stay was not ready yet. Our friend bought us ‘Pandesal’ and coffee which is a traditional Filipino breakfast. But the ‘Pandesal’ in Baler is different. It is not the traditional Filipino ‘Pandesal’ which only have bread crumbs. The ‘Pandesal’ in Baler was coated with butter and fine chopped garlics. It tastes so good. Now I’m missing the ‘Pandesal’ in Baler. After taking our breakfast we went to our transient house and settled down our things and fix ourselves, then we ate Goto that was being sold a house away from our transient house.

After taking a bunch of breakfast the first tourist spot we went to was Baler’s Hanging Bridge in Brgy. Zabali. It was my first time to walk on a hanging bridge and to tell you the truth it is not that fun. It was really horrendous because the hanging bridge has broken woods in it, but the view was breath taking. The adrenaline rush I’m feeling while walking through the hanging bridge was unbelievable. I was scared at the same time I’m excited. At the end of the hanging bridge there’s a souvenir store down the stairs where I bought 2 cups for only 150 PHP.

Next stop was Sabang Beach. This beach is known as the surfing spot in Baler. We went there early in the morning. Around 8 – 9 in the morning, that’s why we went there just to look at the beach and asked if how much is the surfing lesson. The moment you reached the entranced of Sabang Beach there will be people who will come to you and offer a surfing lesson. The price range for the surfing lesson is 350 PHP for 1 hour.

Right after walking down the Sabang Beach my friends and I decided to go back to the house and go to the wet market. Because, we are Food Technology graduates, we decided to just cook our foods instead of eating in a restaurant and spend a lot more money than cooking our own food. After eating our lunch, we all took a bath and played some card games in the girl’s room. At round 2 in the afternoon we all decided to go out and go to the Quezon’s Ancestral House and Museo De Baler. There is a 30 PHP entrance fee at both places, but we got in for free because our friend’s mom is a counselor in Baler. I’m not really into history and museums. but I will give you a brief info about those two places.

Quezon’s Ancestral House is in front of the small Baler Catholic Church. The Quezon’s ancestral house was a very simple house. The original design and details of the house were almost not altered even though it had already gone some restorations. Inside the house you will see some old books, some local Filipino costumes, old painting, old books and old furniture’s.

Museo de Baler is located downtown, just a walking distance away from the Baler Catholic Church and the Quezon’s Ancestral House. It is actually a pretty small museum. It is a non-air-conditioned museum so it is actually hot inside. There is also a rolling stores outside where there’s a bunch of the cafeteria’s where you can buy and eat foods. Oh, and don’t forget to look for ‘Pacita’s Pasalubong’ booth where Aling Pacing sells Peanut Butters, Coco Jams, Chocolate Peanut Butters, Atchara and other pasalubongs. She offer’s free taste of the peanut butter she sells and to tell you the truth, those are the best peanut butter I’ve tasted in my entire life. So don’t forget to try it.

Baler’s Catholic Church

After touring downtown, me and my friends decided to go back home and change our clothes to go back to Sabang Beach to try out surfing. When we got back to Sabang Beach my friend bumped into his elementary batch mate who is one of the surfer instructor and he offered us a great deal. He offered us 300 PHP each for 1 hour and 20 minutes. A lot cheaper than the offer from the instructor. The surfing lesson took about less than 5 minutes. The instructor will just tell you the basic thing you need to know about surfing and then you will hit the waves with your instructor. The instructors were really nice and funny. They will tell you what you are doing wrong while surfing. We actually took more than 1 hour and 20 minutes. The instructors said that they were just waiting for us to say that we’re done. Which is why we thought that they were really nice. After surfing my friends, batch mate offered us a 3D temporary tattoo and I’m all for it. So I decided to have one for just 150 PHP.

After surfing, we decided to go home clean ourselves up and cook our dinner. Which is grilled liempo. After eating our dinner we decided to watch a movie until we fell asleep. That’s our first day experience in Baler.

Next post will be our second day experienced in Baler.