Lost

It was around 7 am, Sunday, and we were supposed to be already heading back to Manila as previously planned.  However, being self-confessed suckers for old structures, churches particularly, and so many others seen along the way, we did not get to Sorsogon as scheduled and spent most of our Saturday on endless driving, posing and driving.  We decided to spend our night in Legazpi because we were not sure how long it would take us to get to Sorsogon.

We met manong, introduced in a prior blog…

Ate at Biggs…

And had a full body massage after, which left ETS badly beaten…

Woke up and at 7 am, had a simple but surprisingly good breakfast at the hotel…

 

And off we went to Sorsogon because it is where, according to ETS, the supposedly oldest Catholic church in the whole of Bicolandia is located.  I was actually not paying much attention to ETS babbling about this church because in my mind, what’s another church after seeing bazillions already along the way.

ME:  Ay naku! May mas maganda akong alam na pupuntahan dun, ruins ng something facing the blue Bicol sea.

ETS:  Talaga! Pero hanapin na rin natin tong Barcelona Church, maganda daw to talaga!

Of course, I could never say no to her Highness.

We drove endlessly, until I finally saw the ruins at the left side of the road.

ME:  ETS! Ayun na yung ruins!

ETS:  Wow! Oo nga!

Not a split second after, as I was figuring out where to park, ETS shrieked like a wounded animal…

ETS:  WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! Sa kanan, sa kanan!  Eto yung Barcelona Church!!!

Lo and behold, there indeed sits one of the most surreal structures I have ever seen.  Out of confusion and excitement, I ramped off to the road side notwithstanding the sharp stones all around.

I thought I have seen enough of great old churches but this one really skyrocketed to the top of my list.  Its quiet simplicity, the frontispiece being unpretentious and rather plain compared to the more extravagant, say, Morong Church, stands in a lot that does not seem well kempt, no other human beings in sight except for, ahmmm, ETS (?) and myself (?), give it a sad mysticism you can’t see anywhere else.  The sadder part is that, if I am not mistaken, according to ETS, this church is not considered a heritage site, ergo no budget to preserve it, which explains its current condition.

After basking at the beauty of the place, I prodded ETS to go all the way, for us to head to Bulusan Lake since we were practically at the foot of the mountain, so we thought.  Bulusan Lake, by the way, is the mouth of a volcano, so the lake is at the top.

And as she has narrated in her own blog, it was a long ride to get there and we made the biggest mistake of the entire trip.  We failed to gas up but proceeded anyway.  Road condition was the worst yet that my Itchy endured but she delivered, we finally got to the Bulusan National Park.

ETS was not as amazed as I was with Bulusan, but as for me, it is still a must-see when in Bicol.

However, God forbid, people might no longer have the same chance like we did to see Barcelona Church and sadly, Bulusan Lake is lost as you have probably learned from the news.