Crossing the sea between Negros and Cebu
The best way to go from Cebu to Dumaguete or vice versa? Hop on a bus in Cebu and take the short but sweet boat ride across Tanon Strait. Or the other way around. Beautiful scenery
The best way to go from Cebu to Dumaguete or vice versa? Hop on a bus in Cebu and take the short but sweet boat ride across Tanon Strait. Or the other way around. Beautiful scenery
A quest for Dumaguete’s highly recommended budbud kabog led me to a beautiful discovery where locals eat. Their chocolate-e (chocolate drink) is just so delicious!
High seated, the pedicab driver called on passengers unloading from a bus at the San Carlos City terminal in Negros Occidental, motioning them to come near him. Some just walked past but I approached and after telling the driver to take me to the pier, I was off in a jiffy.
Finally arriving in San Carlos City, I was just too tired and accepting of my fate spending the night here. Two hours and a half hours ago, the last ferry bound for Cebu left and during that time, I was still tracing the meandering mountain highway in Don Salvador Benedicto.
The Murcia – Don Salvador Benedicto road is my highway of dreams. It’s one of the best highway experience that I’ve had in the country that kilometer after kilometer, I can’t just help but be in awe at the natural scenery unfolding before me. Stunning mountain ranges, cool weather and the scent of pine trees make this a trip to remember.
It is not only old churches that I am fascinated with but I find Spanish colonial era cemeteries, and to some extent, those during pre-war period with their wonderful architecture very interesting. When I get to places, after asking about the churches, I follow it up with: “Is the cemetery here old?”
In the Visayas, and possibly in the entire country, Iloilo has the best samples of colonial era, as well as pre-war cemeteries.
The church in Silay City, Negros Occidental. Built around the 1930s, the original structure, now a ruin, can be found just beside the present church.
In October of 2006, I visited the remote islands of Cuyo and Culion in Palawan for a photography assignment and passed Negros and Iloilo in transit. This is my account of that journey.
This is the 4th of a series. No doubt about it, I’m a sucker for old churches. That’s why when I travel, the first place that I go to see is the church, especially if it is colonial era. Not to pray, but to admire these architectural wonders as well as to take photos or do some documentation. I always find time to make my own visita iglesia.
For religious heritage lovers, Iloilo and Negros are must go to places in the Visayas. The former is a showcase of the Augustinian legacy as Panay island was where this pioneering order made its mark while the latter was administered by the Augustinian Recollects. Of course, like in other parts of the country, several of these churches have undergone various restorations and renovations that it is now impossible to see still untouched structures.
The San Sebastian Cathedral of Bacolod City.
Dominating the downtown area of Bacolod City is the Cathedral of San Sebastian. I do like its architecture: lofty and solid but elegant as well. Its lines and curves pleases the eye.