Baler

Baler is the capital town of Aurora...by the Sierra Madre Mountains. The place is scenic with the mountain range running across the province to up north. It is located at northeastern part of the Philippines, has streams and rivers running through the area. In the east is the Pacific Ocean. It has lush greenery by the mountainside, and panoramic beaches ideal for surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, mountain climbing and trekking. It is ideal for trekkers since there are very few that venture outside of the town proper to the mountains that can be reached by winding dirt road.

Among the tourist attractions of Baler are: Sabang Beach and Cemento Beach, and, the coastal islands of Dimamalangat, Aniao, and Lukso-Lukso that are rich in coral reefs.

Baler is known to most Filipinos, as the hometown of President Quezon that he frequently visited even when he was President. His wife, Dona Aurora, is also from Baler and was ambushed on one of her trips to Baler in the 1950's. Notably, the Baler Catholic Church is where the Spanish resistance fighters held off the onslaught of American troops until they finally surrendered on July 2, 1899. On the left wall of the church is a marker of Lt. Commander James Gilmore Marcher who and his regimen were held captive here.

Dicasalarin Cove, Baler

The above picture from the Sosyal Klaymers gave me the idea of this blog...this is Dicasalarin Cove, location of one of their hikes during the holy week this year. They took the bus to Baler...at Sabang Beach they started their hike to Dicasalarin Cove at the foot of the Sierra Madre at the side of the mighty Pacific Ocean. It sits on a white sand beach with the Sierra Madre mountain range with lush greenery as background...just takes your breath away. To quote Ayie's description of the place "there are no resorts, no facilities on this fine stretch of sand. A freshwater river, flowing from the mountains beyond, trickles out to the sea. Dicasalarin Cove's stunning beauty and relative isolation certainly make it one of Baler's best-kept secrets."

Though it is possible to take a short boat ride along Aurora's rough coastal waters but hiking to Dicasalarin is the way to go. The adventure will entail passing through most of Baler's barangays, climbing up to Pag-asa Hill where "the vistas are breathtaking, tramping through lush forests, scrambling across rocky shores and finally to the desolate beach where the beauty is as rough as the crashing waves of the Pacific." It took them less than an hour of uphill climb to reach an abandoned Pag-asa weather station where from its water tower is a bird's eye view of the Pacific meeting the Sierra Madre.

Reef side, Dicasalarin Beach

From this point, about 20 minute hike on a downhill trail is the reef side of Dicasalarin beach, in contrast to the cove, they came across black rocks and dead corals swept to the shore all the way to a "rock wall jutting out of the mountainside." To get to this rock wall, is either to trek a trail that traverses the white sand beach or to walk along the shore but in any case, the path is "unestablished and is dangerously sharp and rocky...a bit of rock climbing" make for an exciting hike to the "pristine white sands of Dicasalarin Cove." And there are nearby beaches to explore and other hills to climb for a more adventurous hike.

This is another white sand beach dotting the Islands...virtually unknown and discovered only by those who journey off the beaten track.