Baler - the capital of Aurora province
After our trip to Lanuza and the bus ride from hell I decided we were primed for the 7 hour journey over the (Sierra Madre Mountains) to Baler which is were they filmed the surf scene in Apocalypse now.
We set off for the 5.30 am bus at Cubao and managed to get the last few seats squeezed between surf boards plastic chairs and a folding table. There was a mixed crowd on the bus some local and foreign tourists as well as people returning home to the provinces for the May bank holiday weekend. The bus station had recently moved (leading to much confusion prior to departure) but took a detour to its old location to pick up extra passengers. Given there were no seats left this seemed rather ambitious until we realised the plastic chairs were to be put in the aisle ( I did wonder at this point were the folding table was going to be placed but it stayed stored for some unknown future use). The initial part of the journey was uneventful with stops every few hours then we began the climb up in the mountains - the scenery was fantastic and the roads challenging - Not for the faint hearted- the bus got hotter and hotter - a novel experience here where most of the time the aircon is set to freezing and people are forced to wear woolly hats and coats just to survive long trips without experiencing hypothermia!
Then the bus broke down! In the middle of nowhere . I knew something was up when the driver started to walk away and then hid being a small roadside shack- the major obstacle was actually getting any information as to what might happen next - we soon realised that the smart people had just started hopping on any form of local transport to get off the mountain- so we followed. The latter part of the journey was completed on the local bus which was great fun - piled high with rice and other provisions - the open windows actually made it easier to see the view and the breeze was refreshing after the stinky hot äircon"bus -
We arrived in Baler late afternoon almost 12 hours since we left the house - and loved the place. Our friend Paul Watts, another volunteer has a house right on the beach. He and his wife were away the first night so we had the place to ourselves. Theres a handful of guest houses- Bays'Inn being about the best which is next to Paul's place - they had a great food somewhat of a novelty in small places like Baler. I discovered eggplant salad yum yum! (barbecued aubergine mixed with onions,tomatoes, chilli's and vinegar P75). They have aircon rooms for around P850 - Baler was about the cheapest place we have been to so far! Facilities seemed fairly basic but OK - For most people the attraction is the waves.
There are surf instructors and it cost P450 for an hours lesson - they were pretty good as most people seemed to get up on the boards fairly quickly.
The Beach at Baler has brown sand but is long and picturesque framed by the Sierra Madre with its white cloud topped peaks. The waves were great and its a real surf spot! The surfers are out all day but the beach is at its busiest first thing in the morning. Its the real thing with some pretty impressive moves happening on waves. The kids were out on the boogie board and Marc on Paul's surf board all day - There's even a night scene - with a couple of disco / karaoke bars and even an acoustic venue. The market was awash with wonderful vegetables - very different to Lanuza where we found it difficult to get enough for a simple meal.
Paul and his wife were back for the Saturday night when we all went to the acoustic bar to drink beer and watch surf videos. Its such a small place we kept running into the people who had been on our bus all weekend - By Saturday night we felt like locals and knew the other people in the bar.
On our last day we met the Governor of Aurora who bought us lunch. She was very hospitable and working to promote Baler as a tourist spot.
The journey back was slightly quicker - we took the adventurous route back - yes even more challenging than on way - the last bus to manila leaves early on Sunday morning so Paul and Marivic suggested we take a van to Cabanatuan later in the day and hook up with a Manila bus there - The road - winding madly up and down the mountains- was very beautiful. As we came down the other side the sun was setting on the valley below - very memorable. Certainly i hope we can return to Baler. They have now started weekly flights but if u had a decent car and driver u could make it in 7 hours making it possible for long weekends - A fun place to visit - especially for the surf competition in February!
