Summer, Marinduque and Moriones Festival

***

Hey! Summer is already around the corner! And I've got here a mini tour on our province, and you'll see why my summer destination always leads home. 😜

***

Whenever you heard the word summer, it probably means one thing to you, very hot season, and all you think about is sea/beach.

Meanwhile, it reminds me of my province Marinduque, moriones, holy week and festivals.

It is the time where everyone takes a leave from their work and spend days with their love ones. As for a very hardworking individual like me, it is the time where I can spend vacation and visit my hometown and a get together with my parents after months of being away from home.

In the Philippines, summer is also the time of the holy week. Every province has different culture on how they celebrate it in memory of the sacrifices of Yaweh.

On our province Marinduque, during holy week, people reenact the events written on the bible such as senakulo and via crusis. People gathered to marched together with saints into the church.

To give you a glimpse on how it was done, here are some videos from youtube!

Growing up, I always saw these morions parading anywhere during holy week. I think upto 6 years old I am still afraid of them because they look like a monster. 😆 And I always run whenever they parade and passed by on the roadside along our house. They wore big scary mascaras.

But that already changed when my cousin joined the moriones parade because of the prize money. He brought his mascara at home and right there I realized that they are real people wearing fake faces. 😆 And the mascaras are just a tool for the event. We even have a song regarding to that mascara.

I am not actually a fan of the reenactment of these events. But people has been doing it for years, and you cannot simply say end it to them. Its the tradition and beliefs that they have grown to witness. And this is also why some of the people from foreign city visits our province.

While other people love to watched events like these some spends time on road trips to visits different towns and churches.

If you will look at the map, you can literally round about the whole Marinduque using your motorcycle or bike and spend at each famous churches at each town for ONE whole DAY. And yes the highway road is mostly along the sea. 😀 So it is really satisfying to used bike to explore and feel the breeze of air coming from the roadside trees. And it is really amazing to listen to the seawaves when it splashes to the shore.

Here is a sample video I saw in youtube although the trip is only for three towns.

Marinduque is sorrounded by the salt water. So yeah there are a lot of beautiful beaches. There are also pools but people from our province don't like pools that much. 😆 I don't think we have many pools also.

So once the parade and all that were done, people ganged up and go to the nearest beach. But recently the famous beach that people from other cities visits just to see it, is the Maniwaya Island.

Here is a very quick sneak peak of the Maniwaya Island. Although its just three rides away from home I haven't visited it yet. 🙈 They say the sandbar is really amazing.

Others also like to visits Natangko Island. Its very serene here on the area because there are only few people who goes here.

Meanwhile some visits Mongpong island. If you like rock formations this Island is best for you.

In order to go to the three beaches above, you need to ride for a boat for a few minutes. But if you don't like boating there is also poctoy beach readily accessible it is known for its amazing white sand. I've been here, but it was just a quick glimpse. The sea looks really great and sand is really white.

Also if you are not a sea kind of people and you like it more trees, mountains, river and adventures. There are also caves and falls but not that big unlike on other places. The water is super clean on the falls and you can even drink. 😆 But not advisable.

If you like mountain climbing Marinduque has also those Mountains. 😆 But I haven't toured that much so I'm giving you another youtube video.

Here is Mount Malindig.

If you want to go to the center of the Philippines go to luzon datum. And see this amazing view from the top. I heard it is really tiring walking up but if you are a mountaineer it is just easy for you.

So yeah thats my small tour on our province, and btw what are your plans this summer? Are you swimming, hiking? Or doing caves and falls?

Me? Aw I can't wait to have my summer vacation. Which mostly I'd spend sleeping on my bed on our province. Haha. I'd probably missed going on these places again when I visit home. Unless some of my friends decided to gather and take advantage of these beautiful places we can see for a cheap price.

If you want to tour around our province. I will be happy to ligaw you around. Haha xD

Anyway, shill me your favorite place or your hometown. Maybe on parallel universe I'd come and visit. Haha.

Thank you for reading and have a marvelous summer y'all.