Whew! We just got back from a partly impromptu trip into Mindanao. ‘Partly’ because only the first part was planned--- we took an extra day to drop by Davao City on the way back. So all in all, we had traveled over a total of 7 provinces and 3 regions, in 5 days. Hectic? Did I mention that 3 of those days were spent in one place, General Santos City, attending the 16th Mindanao Business Conference?
So where did we go? We started from Damilag (Bukidnon) at 8:00am sharp. 'We' were Malou, Marie, her 83-yo father Rick, her cousin Vinny, my 75-yo mom Vacion, my husband Edgar, our driver Toto and myself. Making good time, we had passed through Maramag at about 11:00am. Having bought snacks at Jollibee Malaybalay, we decided to proceed without stopping so that we could get done with the 'dangerous' part while the sun was still high. By 'dangerous', I don't mean 'life-threatening', just "Be careful, and be on your toes to avoid mishaps." That particular stratch of road is located in Carmen District, the first town of North Cotabato from Bukidnon.
Our border-passing was uneventful, so much so, that we eventually observed a significant abscence of vehicles coming from the opposite direction. After about an hour of driving, we may have counted only 3 motorcycles. We were slightly mollified when Vinny, formerly with the Department of Tourism, explained that provincial buses usually take a break during lunchtime. However, when we finally reached the next town, Cabacan, we were stopped at a military checkpoint and informed that there had been an ambush up ahead. An ambush! So that's why there were no cars on the road! The ambushers must have closed off the area so that no other innocent people would get killed. How kind of them naman.
True enough, as we drove over the bridge where it happened, some policemen and mga osyosero were still milling about, not paying any attention to us touristang Japon, as we viewed the sight with awed, yet somehow unattached eyes. There were even unwashed pools of smeared blood drying in the sun. Gruesome? Well, I have the ability to place myself outside a scene like a spectator.
A moment of silence passed over the group. Which is probably the reason why we missed our turn. It was supposed to take us to a shortcut that would lead us directly to General Santos City. Instead we followed the road through Pikit and into Midsayap and took a left turn there. Then spying a large sign that said Bulaluhan, we stopped gratefully and had our late, yet hot lunch by the road. (Very delicious bulalo, btw. Note the name, Dana's Bulaluhan Atbp.) After the meal, we proceeded happily along the road and came to another fork. We asked directions and were pointed toward the left branch leading to Datu Piang. Wherever that was...
(end of part 1)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment