corregidor: island of valor, peace, and international understanding
my travel buddy, yoni, and i hied off to corregidor island last sunday. this trip was supposed to be last september, two weeks after our white water rafting adventure in cagayan de oro city. however, circumstances beyond our control got in the way and we just had to cancel our plans.
last week, yoni brought up the idea of going to corregidor again. i jumped right in!!!
from laguna to baguio to cagayan de oro to corregidor to wherever
to be honest, we didn't know how to get to corregidor. we did know, however, that we really wanted to see that historic island fondly referred to as "the rock". as they say, if there's a will, there's a way. we surely had the will... and we found the way!
on board m/v suncruiser ii
open-sided bus for the corregidor tour
where's our next destination?
guns, guns, and more guns... big guns
fort mills headquarters, flagpole from a spanish warship,
gen. douglas macarthur park, lorcha dock, "gone with the wind" cine corregidor,
and filipino heroes memorial
pacific war memorial
exploring an old spanish lighthouse
in 1945, there was a japanese military cemetery in this area...
then, people conveniently forgot. it was rediscovered 40 years after
and was developed into a memorial park
the aftermath of a great war
"if we follow the sunset, will it ever end?"
malinta tunnel at night: a ghost-hunting adventure?
the malinta tunnel of corregidor served as the underground headquarters of the united states armed forces - far east (USAFFE) during the second world war. dug through solid rock and reinforced with bethlehem steel and japanese cement (japanese cement, mind you!), it took 10 years to build. many men (and women) of war stayed in this bombproof shelter, storage and hospital area.
the malinta tunnel light and sound show is a 30-minute walk back in time written and directed by lamberto avellana, a national artist, and narrated by frankie evangelista. it makes use of special lighting and sound effects (hence the name) to tell the the story of malinta tunnel and corregidor. life-like sculptures by another national artist, napoleon abueva, are installed in the tunnel's laterals alongside war relics. salvaged war footages are part of the show, too.
this day-tour experience will allow visitors to tread on the main tunnel only. to go into the laterals and explore the sub-laterals, one has to do the night tour.
many world war 2 soldiers and workers died in this tunnel...
our guide, kuya edward, told us that psychics who've visited the place have seen "their" presence in the tunnel. although kuya edward has not seen any of "them" yet, he had experienced being spooked after a tourist took his picture in front of the tunnel's still intact air vent. in the picture, a "nurse" of the world war appeared directly in front of kuya edward.
can you see the human bone?
had yoni and i not opted for the overnight package, we would have missed seeing the relics inside the tunnel so up close. we would have missed going through the tunnel's laterals and sub-laterals, too. this tunnel alone has got so much history and it's quite a work of good engineering.
so early in the morning...
the japanese tunnel
a smaller tunnel than the american-commissioned malinta tunnel
the mile-long barracks of corregidor once housed world war 2 american soldiers
there are many bomb shells all over the island...
these are just some of those that we've seen
where we were housed overnight | look, there's an eagle! it's real!
no, we didn't come prepared
postcard perfect: hug a tree... take pictures... be happy!!!
a collage of our favorite photos
need i say more?
want this adventure to be yours, too? hie off to corregidor and take the (sunday-monday) overnight package. it's gonna be worth your money! this adventure exceeded my expectations. i could say that i got more than what i really paid for.
huling hirit? the title of this post is the special request of my travel buddy. since i'm gonna be moving on, we might not be travel buddies anymore. hmmm... who knows?
ako, laagan? taka lang.
