Exploring Philippines 71 - Marinduque (Post 6 - Gasan and Buenavista)

After watching the Morion parade that Thursday morning, we set to explore the two neighboring towns of Boac namely Gasan and Buenavista.  Gasan also observes the Moriones festival and we were excited to find out how the Morions of Gasan differ from that of Boac.  In Buenavista, we were to visit the famous Bellaroca resort.

Our first stop was at Gasan. It was already past 10 in the morning when we arrived there.  Unluckily, there was not even a single Morion along the streets of Gasan that time. Instead, we were brought to the former pier of Gasan and enjoyed  our spare time in the hanging bridge.

Since there was no activity in the town of Gasan, our hosts decided to bring us to the next town of Buenavista.  Along the way, we stopped at an overlooking place where we had a glimpse of Bellaroca resort from afar.   Bellaroca is a white Santorini-architecture inspired resort and spa and is located  at an island in the town of Buenavista.  I have no idea about Bellaroca resort before and my colleagues informed me that it is such an expensive Greek looking resort with an overnight accommodation of 20 thousand pesos. Wow!

When we arrived at the docking station where visitors are transported to the island, it was good that we were allowed to take some pictures without much restrictions.  From a distance, the resort stood still and inviting. But then, only the affluent have the privilege to enjoy what it offers.  For ordinary citizens like us, all we can do was to take some snap shots of this resort.

According to the local news correspondent Mr. Pete Magturo, there are issues that surround the resort.  Such issues like the payment of tax and the livelihood of airport porters.  The matters are sensitive and up to now, they are still lobbying to address these issues.

Anyway, after our short stay on that port, we had our lunch at the town proper of Buenavista.  We happened to see some Morions on the street who were on their native costume.  They were heading towards the town of Gasan to participate in a Morion activity that afternoon.

Upon our return to the town proper of Gasan, we passed by at the municipal building.  We were given enough time to roam around and take as much pictures as we could.  We saw different gigantic Morion statues stationed within the premises of the municipal grounds.  That time, there were already several Morion participants who were preparing early for a festivity that afternoon.  As usual, we had so much fun hoping from one statue to another and asking for some pictures to Morions who paraded their native costumes with so much pride.