Sorsogon: Bulusan Lake & Volcano, Barcelona Church & heritage houses in Juban

If you're looking for something else to do in Sorsogon after whale watching in Donsol, drive down south! The province has a few interesting sites south of Donsol, particularly in the towns of Barcelona, Bulusan, Juban and Matnog.

The capital of the province is also named Sorsogon. Sorsogon City is actually two towns that were merged when the city was created: Sorsogon and Bacon. Drop by the Sorsogon Provincial Capitol which has a really elegant park with centuries-old trees still standing. Taste seems to be a missing element among many local governments. But Sorsogon proves that it still exists.

A few kilometers from Sorsogon City is the town of Barcelona. The Barcelona Church is the best preserved Spanish colonial church in the province. But the altar has been altered. In front of the church are ruins of the Old Barcelona Presidencia. We noticed construction going on beside the ruins of large letters which spell "Barcelona, Sorsogon." By now, it should be finished and I'm sure this will be a popular photo spot for visitors.

Further down is the Bulusan Volcano Natural Park where Lake Bulusan is located. The lake, on the southern slope of Bulusan Volcano, is quite small at 28 hectares. There are facilities for rowing and kayaking. You can also walk around the shore which is a little over two kilometers, or hike up to Bulusan Volcano.

The town of Bulusan used to have a fortress church. The church is no longer there. But the walls and belfry, which must have doubled as a watchtower against Moro pirates, are still standing.

Bulusan Volcano towers over the towns in the southern end of Sorsogon. We got a really nice view of the volcano from Irosin Church.

On the way back to Sorsogon City, we passed by Juban which has five elegant heritage houses namely Alindogan, Alindogan-Gorospe, Grajo, Lasala, and Olondriz.

Anyway, you can visit all of these sites in a day. At the southern end of Sorosogon is Matnog, the jump-off point for Samar. The town has the best beaches in the province, particularly Subic Beach on Calintaan Island. That's my next target.

Here's something for you. Saw this quite a lot around Sorsogon. How many people are in this tricycle?

Sorsogon: Bulusan, Sorsogon residents demand halt to construction of gas station beside church belfry

I got an SOS e-mail from Bulusan, Sorsogon. Now it's a gas station being built beside an old bell tower! It seems the Roman Catholic Church, Inc. is unstoppable! This is absurd!

Abraham G. Tan writes me, "We have an online group currently working on putting a stop to the construction of a gasoline station in a parcel of land which was originally a portion of the church's outer patio. The gasoline station, once finished, would superimpose itself on the ancient belfry and could only be but an eyesore. Yes, we were told that it indeed was all our current bishop's idea. Thus, we're not really expecting an easy fight. We already sent him a letter, for which we are yet to receive any response."

If you want more details, check out the nine page letter the group sent to Most Rev. Arturo M. Bastes, S.V.D., D.D., Bishop of Sorsogon.

On the Bulusan belfry, Tan writes in Flickr, "Its original pyramidal dome had been removed and replaced with a new one, the same period (early 1970s) that the old stone church was torn down (don't know if such destruction was really necessary), so I was told. Still, this belfry, the largest of the four baluartes de piedra dotting Punta Diamante in Bulusan, the Moro piracy days defense muralla, the stone fort that encloses the church complex of the Parish of St. James the Greater (one of the oldest in the province, founded in 1630), remains grand in its antiquity."

Learning about this development in Sorsogon is very frustrating. When will this ever stop? When will they ever learn?!