We are invited by my mother's siblings to our hometown fiesta. Out of excitement, we travel quickly from Ilihan to Dalaguete. It is an estimated 8 hours. This is the first time going back to my hometown after we transferred to Ilihan, due to some reasons.
The very first thing we did was we stroll at Obong Spring. Dalaguete was named after this tree Dalakit or what we've known as Balete tree. My late grandma once told me , that
this place had no name before. The there a ladies who washed their dirty clothes here and suddenly a Japanese soldier asked them something. Since the local ladies cannot understand their language,upon seeing that the soldier was looking at the Dalakit tree, she replied Dalakit. They thought they were asking about the tree. But the Japanese soldier cannot pronounce the word Dalakit, it becames Dalagit in their mouth. That's where Dalaguete get its town name. This tree is way older than my late grandmother and became a pride to every Dalaguetenon. It is a 400 years old tree. It seems like a giant watching over the people who bathed under the sunlight. The Dalakit tree is sitting on top of a rock where the water springs.
As we went down there, we decided to take pictures
We went to the sea after. Actually the spring is connected to the sea, the spring water meets the sea water. When it is high tide the spring is warmer, because the sea water will get inside the spring. When it's low tide, the spring is very cold, because the water is all from the spring.
We posed at the Obong Watchtower. We can't enter inside because it was under reconstruction to preserve the centuries old watchtower. It was serves as the towns lookout and defense against Moro pirates in the past. The roof has been lost to time and the only thing remains was it's wall and entrance. This was located near the sea and the cold spring. It is situated almost in between.
We get tired of strolling around, so we went back to the cold spring take a bathed.
The next day , we agreed on climbing in the mountains, where my late grandma used to live. It was a 2-3 hours of walk uphills. We decided to go up there at 5 a.m in the morning when the sun had not yet appeared in the horizon.
As we are walking up there, I can't deny the fact that it was an exhausting adventure.My feet hurts from walking many miles. I remember when I was a kid I used to go up and down this mountains with ease, but this time my breathe almost suffocated me.
I can't deny the fact that mountain views there are so beautiful and breathtaking. I think some of this mountains bear a resemblance of the chocolate hills in Bohol.
We decided to stop to rest because my feet seemed like they couldn't walk for another step.
A few minutes have passed and we start walking again and taking pictures.
Then another stopped, this time I'm not the only one who was tired, everybody need a rest.
My son told me to leave him behind, he said that he could not lift his feet and he was too tired. We laughed at him, and told him we were almost there, actually we were a few steps closer to our destination. After a long walk, we finally reached our destination.
We just brought a few foods , and they can't satisfy our hunger. So we look around for food and see a banana that is already ripe. So we cooked it. This is the advantage of living in mountains, there are lots of foods around. We run out of water so we get a coconut fruit as an alternative to water. We also cooked some corn.
My son cant get hold of his hunger and wants to eat the newly cooked banana which is so hot.
After everything was cooked, we dove into it.
We rest for a while.
We decided to go downhill because it's fiesta tomorrow. As we almost came downhill, we stopped under a molave tree and savored the scenery that nature offers us We can see the whole town at our location.
Downhill already, and my aunt invites us to their house to eat, knowing that we came from our grandma's house and she know how tiresome it was. After a big munch she let us sing a videoke, well I don't used to sing but we are few inside so, let the lizards fall from the roof.
A day had passed, and it's fiesta day. At first we ate at the house of my mother's brother, then at my mother's sister.
We want to make the most of our visit here. We took a bathed again at the cold spring with my relatives.
My daughter doesn't know how to swim, because she was a 3 years old at the time. So she settled at the shallow water.
Before heading back to Ilihan, we take our last bath at our beloved Obong Spring. Have a little shot while chilling .
Few days at staying at Dalaguete, we have to head home. Some members of my family have Jobs and they were absent for days.
Upon on our way home I miss already my kins. I can't forget the memories we created while we were there. Honestly speaking, I was reluctant at first to come back there after my dropped out case in that town.But there is something I can't deny that I miss where my roots are. This place where my mother side residing. They are not like my father's kin, who always belittle us because of our status in life . In my mamas kin they are so welcoming wholeheartedly . If ever time will side me soon, I will settle there, I swear.
