Moment 122 - San Juanico Bridge

San Juanico Bridge is the longest bridge in the Philippines and is one of the famous landmarks in the country.  This bridge is one of the legacies of the Marcos regime which connects the provinces of Samar and Leyte.

During my visit to Leyte last October 2012, I had the opportunity to pass by at this bridge when we went to Samar for some beach fun.  I asked the company I had that time if it is possible to walk on the bridge from end to end.  Both bases of the bridge located in Leyte and in Samar are guarded by military men and check points are placed on both sides.  My companions said that passing through the bridge by walking is not allowed and one will be escorted by the military men either back to the base of the bridge or would require the person to have his ride on that part of the bridge.  In my own view, I can definitely cross the bridge and I love to if only it is possible to cross this one by walking.

There are certain areas in the bridge where people can take pictures and local drivers know the drill.  For visitors, they can freely ask the military guards on duty about the permitted areas for picture taking.

From the base of the bridge in Leyte area, picture taking is prohibited within the slope of the bridge.  The moment we reached the horizontal platform and after the signage “welcome to Samar”, our driver parked the car and told us that we can do our thing.  We all got out of the car and with excitement, we had our pictures taken. 

 

We saw some people taking pictures in the bridge.  Normally, for the safety of everyone, it is better to stay at the side of the bridge and take as many pictures as you can.  Aside from taking pictures at the side of the bridge, as usual I go for my signature move.  I had my pictures taken in the middle part of the bridge.  Of course, we had to determine first if there were no approaching vehicles before we did this thing.  

Since the downward slope of the bridge was rarely captured when we had our pictures taken on our way to Samar, during our return trip to Leyte, we had another set of pictures taken.  This time around, the lower part of the bridge had been captured.  And as usual, we had to patiently wait for the bridge to get cleared before sitting on the middle and enjoy a few seconds of frenzy shots.