The entire morning of our trip to Aurora, we've been able to visit four places in Baler. It started out in Balete Eco-Park, followed by a visit to the town plaza of Baler. It wasn't really planned but we headed to the Hanging Bridge in Barangay Zabali. Afterwards, the driver decided to bring us to Ermita Hill, as suggested by the one with us who lives in the province.
Ermita Hill is a historic site due to a phenomenon during 1700s. A huge tidal wave ravaged the town, and Ermita Hill is where 7 families sought refuge to survive from the deluge.
To get there, you have to pay for entrance fee before you go uphill. There's a plain area of the hill where you can park your vehicle. I think the fee is Php 15, which is reasonable enough.
At the hilltop where you can park your vehicles, and buy some foods and souvenirs. The parking lot is wide enough, and it can accommodate a number of vehicles.
The place is protected as it is surrounded by trees. Hopefully, they won't go further development that will compromise the trees. They should stay that way so it can protect the hill.
The road is pretty steep. You have to walk there to get to the view deck, and have a view of Baler Bay. As you can see, the trees are giving beauty to the entire place.
That's me walking uphill.
Captured this while on one of the view decks where you can view the town of Baler, as well as Baler Bay. The view is breathtaking. You can also see the mouth of Tibag-Sabang River. That's the same river where the Hanging Bridge we visited was located.
Zooming in, that's the town of Baler which you can see some big establishments in the town. The beach there is where some tourists do surfing. I was stunned though because bay usually do not have huge waves.
We headed to the other viewdeck where you can view this side of the mountain and the see. It is still breathtaking, and it is facing Pacific Ocean.
Me and my girlfriend enjoying the woody area.
Me and my girlfriend at the viewdeck. It is actually difficult to find the better angle because of the light.
My girlfriend at the viewdeck.
We enjoyed visiting the place because of the refreshing ambience. With the trees around, and the view of the mountains and the sea at the viewdeck gets you closer to nature. There's actually a part of the hill where statues of the families who are climbing the hill for refuge during the devastating tidal wave. However, no one informed is where it is, thus we are unable to see it. Maybe on our next visit, we're going to look for that one.
We are already tired and hungry at the time because lunch time had passed before we left the place. We went to the house of the friend of our friend's mom to cook our lunch, and after that, we headed to our main destination, where we will be spending the vacation.
