Stories Covering " [Suyo] "
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Stories of town explorations.
I considered this an off-beat journey (per my 2010 perspective) using a scooter; and together with my brother, we explored the untold and less known places (again, 2010 perspective).

• The perspectives in this travel story were written based on my scooter long-ride with my brother in 2010. The points-of-view I've shared here were influenced by variables applicable in 2010 like: being a new travel blogger, having limited travel experiences, being cliché (as a newbie blogger), and others. Suyo is the first town I explored in my #TownExplorer blog project.

• This is not the first river I've seen, but it's the first river I blogged with a dedicated article.

🇵🇭 SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
CHICO RIVER, SUYO, ILOCOS SUR

The mountainview kept my eyes wide open. I just couldn't miss anything. Surprises came plenty. I was very new to traveling and riding. There were endless first-times. In addition to these surprises, I saw a river that seemed like a survivor—trying to produce more water in the middle of a rainless season. The river is called Chico River (not the one in Kalinga, this is different). The river unleashed an eternal spring of beauty, but seemingly struggling to water its exposed and thirsty riverbeds.

However, that happened to be my observation as a first-time visitor of this river. I learned that this river never ran dry. It has plenty of water all year round. I just thought that the exposed riverbeds could have meant something ecologically serious. I was wrong.

In the original blog post I wrote for this river, I said: "Well, it did not negatively bother me. Being my first time to see this, my brain's memory vault has no images stored to compare with. Meaning, I saw it as it is without any reservations; and the exposed whitish riverbed just happened to be a fascinating feature, including the clear and the emerald green water."

SUYO: CHICO RIVER
🇵🇭 SUYO • I POSED AT THE EDGE OF THE ROAD, WHICH I SUBJECTIVELY THOUGHT TO BE THE BEST GROUND-LEVEL VANTAGE POINT.
SUYO: CHICO RIVER
🇵🇭 SUYO • THEY REDIRECTED SOME WATER FOR ECONOMIC PURPOSES LIKE AGRICULTURE.
Chico River, Suyo, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos, Luzon Island, Luzon Archipelago, (Philippines), Southeast Asia, Asia, World, Rivers and Creeks » 16.980193, 120.507784
🇵🇭 SUYO • I NOTICED THESE WILD FLOWERS GROWING AT THE ROADSIDE NEAR THE RIVER.
SUYO: CHICO RIVER
🇵🇭 SUYO • THIS IS MY FAVORITE PHOTO FOR THIS INITIAL ENCOUNTER WITH THE RIVER.
The emerald green waters of the river (I feel sorry that the low-quality camera I used couldn't justify the color) flows in between the mysterious-looking green mountains. It brought me close to nature, really. The area is—in the same way—surrounded by mountains with very few houses, concrete structures, and almost no vehicles at all.

I noticed some small houses situated near the river, which I think were made as a shelter for farmers who manage the fertile farmlands and some aqua industries near the river.

I also learned that even though I didn't see this river with a huge volume flow in my first encounter, there is a low occurrence of extreme drought; and river swelling chances are high.

Suyo is in fact a very big town (based on Ilocos Sur perspective) with a scarce population. I'd say that the natural wonders here are less altered yet.

Also noted in my original article: "The color of the riverbed blends in harmony with the green lush mountains that flex healthy vegetation.

SUYO: CHICO RIVER
🇵🇭 SUYO • I LOST THE ORIGINAL FILE OF THS PHOTO, AND I HAVE REUPLOADED IT MANY TIMES. THE LAST VERSION OF THIS PHOTO WAS UPLOADED AS OF THIS REWRITING (2024-04-11). THAT EXPLAINS WHY IT'S PIXELATED.
SUYO: CHICO RIVER
🇵🇭 SUYO • WITH MY BROTHER: MY PARTNER IN THIS TANDEM RIDE.
I considered this an off-beat journey (per my 2010 perspective) using a scooter; and together with my brother, we explored the untold and less known places (again, 2010 perspective). Our ultra-active scooter landed in the town of Suyo, Ilocos Sur. •

— END OF STORY —


• LATEST STORIES COVERING 'SUYO' •

SEE ALL IN A SEPARATE WINDOW
▼ ILOCOS SUR ▼ RIVERS ▼ NATURAL WONDERS

 ►  More 'Ilocos Sur' Blogs




MORE STORIES COVERING 'ILOCOS SUR' | SEE OLDER STORIES

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 ►  More 'Natural Wonders' Blogs




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MORE TOWNS OR LOCATIONS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO EXPLORE:
V S D A B P B B SF C

UPDATE HISTORY FOR THIS BLOG POST
2024-April-11: This post was rewritten, and I added additional insights based on my perspective after 14 years. Lay-out version 2023.12 applied. Photo lay-out version 2024.1 applied.
2011-November-04: Original version of this post published.

NAGUSTUAM DIAY NABASAM/NAKITAM? MABALIN MO MET I-LIKE.
Stories of town explorations.
The gigantic rock was a grand welcome for us—showing a symbolic projection that the town would remain strong amidst both the natural and man-made threats that may come.

• As we looked down below the bridge, we saw some individuals fishing; and I couldn't decipher where these people came from. Looking around, there were no houses.

• At times, the construction of development projects may destroy and alter the natural beauty of a place; but in Suyo, I thought that the scenery was enhanced!

🇵🇭 SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
SUYO, ILOCOS SUR

In a mountain town where scarcity of human population is evident, there hides an abundance of surprises. Because of relative remoteness, there were things hidden behind the mysteries and stories of the residents. However, residents of towns like this may still need to go beyond the usual and casual way of life in the mountains with several little clusters of communities. I landed in the town of Suyo; and gladly, I was thrilled to see (in 2010) that this mountain town seemed to gain more connections to the more commercially-developed towns.

 ►  Suyo Infra Talks: Bridges and Roads

Unexpectedly, I thought that this place would be very challenging for us to explore because it is located in the highlands of Ilocos Sur. As someone living in Vigan, our disconnected life here seemed like we follow an isolationist civilization that we don't even have an idea of what's happening beyond the city borders—although people beyond our borders come to Vigan for various reasons. This stereotype may have been one of the reasons why I had this perception that there were no good road networks or infrastructure in this part of our province.

Surprisingly, I came to know that I underestimated the town; and to personally encounter the good road at that time felt unbelievable. The road appeared better compared to the lowlands. The only challenge here is the consistency of maintaining the road quality in a harsh environment (landslide, steep mountain slope).

I also encountered a lot of bridges along the way—spanning several river segments that physically separated the town from the other more commercially-developed towns. Through these pieces of infrastructure, the gap between development and underdevelopment has since bridged.

CAYAPA BRIDGE, SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • THIS IS CAYAPA BRIDGE, ONE OF THE BRIDGES BUILT ALONG THE SUYO-CERVANTES ROAD.
These bridges in the town of Suyo executed one of the first few steps in opening opportunities to the town by trading their rambutan products, coffee, ube, and other local products.

An instant feeling of solitude (although I was with my brother) dove to the depths of my soul as I captured that moment to grasp the very fresh and chilly air that's absent in my city.

At times, the construction of development projects may destroy and alter the natural beauty of a place; but in Suyo, I thought that the scenery was enhanced! Well, that's just me. Thanks to the roads and the bridges that helped bring in people to enjoy the charm of Suyo town.

The well-paved mountain roads curved and carved on the slopes of the mountains gave me unique experiences. Without it, I may have not reached Suyo with ease. In the past years, it's safe to say that the town was sleepy; and no one would dare go there for leisure purposes. Travel hindrances back then include the lack of bridges and good roads to cross the wild rivers and rapids.

Now, the story is different. Leisure traveling became more inviting because bridges were built to close the gap between doubt and trust. We can now trust the bridges and roads as means to mobilize us safely in the town.

 ►  From River Stones to Gigantic Mountain Rocks

From afar, the stones in the river may look so small; but on a nearer scale, some stones are as large as a bus!

Those huge rocks in the river seemed to cause partial obstruction of the river flow. Speaking of rocks, these river rocks have their queen. As we reached another bridge called the Urzadan bridge, I got mixed emotions to see a huge mountain rock that looked intimidating for a first-time encounter. The gigantic rock faced us straightly as we crossed the curved part of the road!

Urzadan Bridge, Suyo, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos, Luzon Island, Luzon Archipelago, (Philippines), Southeast Asia, Asia, World, Bridges » 16.9832992,120.523083
🇵🇭 SUYO • URZADAN BRIDGE, ONE OF THE BRIDGES ALONG THE SUYO-CERVANTES ROAD.
URZADAN BRIDGE, SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • URZADAN BRIDGE AND THE MONOLITH AT THE BACKGROUND
RIVER IN SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • THE RIVER ROCKS ARE HUGE! CAN YOU SPOT THE RIVER FISHERMAN?
RIVER IN SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • THIS IS THE RIVER THAT FLOWS BELOW THE URZADAN BRIDGE.
RIVER IN SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • THIS RIVER, AS SEEN IN URZADAN, MEETS THE CHICO RIVER IN BRGY KIMPUSA.
I said that I had mixed emotions because the beauty I saw also evoked fear in me, like the thought of a landslide.

We paused our journey with my brother for a while to enjoy the view! The Urzadan bridge met the huge mountain rock in the end.

As our scooter got closer to that gigantic rock, the majesty and grandeur of the rock projected an authority that it's the queen of all the rocks below—bowing down to her royalty.

The gigantic rock was a grand welcome for us—showing a symbolic projection that the town would remain strong amidst both the natural and man-made threats that may come.

RIVER IN SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • THIS IS THE ONLY VEHICLE WE SAW WITHIN THE COURSE OF OUR STOP ON THE URZADAN BRIDGE.
RIVER IN SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • PHOTOGRAPHING THE EDGE OF THE HUGE MOUNTAIN ROCK.
We spent a long time at the Urzadan bridge, and we only saw one vehicle that passed the bridge aside from us. It felt like I was in a national park that was exclusively made for me and my brother.

As we looked down below the bridge, we saw some individuals fishing; and I couldn't decipher where these people came from. Looking around, there were no houses (note: as of 2024, there are already tourist resorts nearby, and a store was built at the end of the bridge). •

— END OF STORY —


• LATEST STORIES COVERING 'SUYO' •

SEE ALL IN A SEPARATE WINDOW
▼ ILOCOS SUR ▼ BRIDGES ▼ INFRASTRUCTURE

 ►  More 'Ilocos Sur' Blogs




MORE STORIES COVERING 'ILOCOS SUR' | SEE OLDER STORIES

 ►  More 'Bridges' Blogs




MORE STORIES COVERING RIVERS | SEE OLDER STORIES

 ►  More 'Infrastructure' Blogs



MORE STORIES COVERING "INFRASTRUCTURE" | SEE OLDER STORIES

MORE TOWNS OR LOCATIONS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO EXPLORE:
B SF C D V B P N C T

UPDATE HISTORY FOR THIS BLOG POST
2024-April-15: This post was rewritten. Lay-out version 2023.12 applied. Photo lay-out version 2024.1 applied.
2011-September-22: Original version of this post published.
NAGUSTUAM DIAY NABASAM/NAKITAM? MABALIN MO MET I-LIKE.
Stories of town explorations.
When I originally wrote this piece in 2011, I thought that this town deserved to be known for its tropical mountain beauty. I even considered it as "world class," and I thought that it was a great thing that the view was, and is, free and very accessible. This point-of-view formed during my early days of "escaping" home with a limited insight of the world.

• The level of romanticization I regarded to these waterfalls were high, because that was from the perspective of someone who would see a roadside waterfall for the first time in his life.

• ...he was not yet aware that—fast forward to 2023—he would fight the demons of his childhood as he tried to break free from trauma and emotional co-dependency.

🇵🇭 SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
WATERFALLS IN SUYO, ILOCOS SUR

This encounter with the waterfalls of Suyo happened in 2010, and I'm now here from the future rewriting this story in my perspective as a grown-old adult of 2024. In 2010, me and my brother traversed the Tagudin-Cervantes-Sabangan Road which I regarded as the "great zigzag highway with cliffs everywhere." My very young self believed that this road would help you forget all your fears and worries. It really did happen to me at that time, though. I romanticized this mountain highway in Suyo—an upland municipality in Ilocos Sur—as something that would surely relax and soothe my soul.

Those were the sweet words I used to immediately describe the scooter-riding memories I had with my brother in Suyo, where I saw for the very first time a series of waterfalls dropping beside the road carved on steep mountain slopes.

In the original version of this blog post in 2011, I wrote that Suyo's way to relax visitors is by showing its numerous waterfalls along the way. The level of romanticization I regarded to these waterfalls were high, because that was from the perspective of someone who would see a roadside waterfall for the first time in his life. I was very young in high spirits. I just escaped the bondage of my teenhood, and the latent effects of childhood traumas were not yet manifesting. I was still in the later process of developing my individuality, and this Suyo visit was something I considered as my first major rebellion as an "independent" individuating young adult—breaking free from the strict rules set by my worrying parents, judgmental society, and religious dogmas.

In 2011, I wrote my observation this way:

The good thing here is, you don't need to hike just to see the source of the water; because along the highway, the waterfalls are readily available as a welcome cool offering to counter the heat of the summer season.

WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • ME AND MY BROTHER ESCAPED OUR HOUSE AND WENT SCOOTER-RIDING TO AN UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY THAT UNWITTINGLY BECAME THE KEY THAT OPENED THE DOOR TO AN UNLIMITED SELF-DISCOVERY.
My original write-up were also crafted this way:

Of course, you can't help but be amazed by these stunning waterfalls. As you travel on this highway in Suyo (part of the Tagudin-Cervantes-Sabangan road) that leads you to either Mountain Province or Benguet, the waterfalls got much better and became even more beautiful.

Every traveler has the reason to stop over these winding and long mountain highway because the views it offers are worth seeing!


Revisiting this blog and rewriting it exposed me back to the old emotions that became my inspiration to write those words in 2011. All emotions were happy, exciting, positive, and optimistic. When my old and happy young self was writing those words in 2011, he was not yet aware that—fast forward to 2023—he would fight the past demons haunting him to the present—trying to break free from childhood trauma, school-based verbal abuse, family pressure, and emotional co-dependency. No one is to be blamed, though. My mother was also forced to become a parent when her father (my grandfather) died too soon. My mom was the eldest child, and she was parentified as a teen who took care of her 7 younger siblings in the absence of a father figure.

My mom also had her childhood traumas from those unfortunate circumstances, and this is the cycle that I am trying to cut now in my generation. I'm trying my best to heal, so that I could also help my mom, my papang (in case he may need one), and my brothers to heal thereafter.

WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • THE YOUNGER EDMAR WAS ELATED TO SEE A ROADSIDE WATERFALL FOR THE FIRST TIME
WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • ONE OF THE WATERFALLS ME AND MY BROTHER ENCOUNTERED IN THIS JOYRIDE.
WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • MY LOOK HERE WAS NOT PROBLEMATIC. IT GENUINELY RADIATED WHAT I WAS FEELING AT THAT MOMENT.
WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • MY LEVEL OF APPRECIATION IN 2011 WAS SKY HIGH. I TOOK SO MANY PHOTOS OF THIS SMALL WATERFALL BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY BEAUTIFUL
WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • MY BROTHER EDISON: MY ORIGINAL TRAVEL BUDDY.
WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • OF COURSE, I ALSO NEED MY OWN PHOTO HERE.
I continued my old article this way:

This town really deserves to be known, because its tropical beauty is world class. The great thing is, the views are free and very accesible. All you need to do is to bring yourself here.

What are you waiting for, folks? There's a reason to visit Suyo today!


The words I said in the preceeding paragraphs exuded optimism.

WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • MY BEST CHILDHOOD MEMORIES HAPPENED IN THE PRESENCE OF MY BROTHER.
WATERFALLS OF SUYO, ILOCOS SUR
🇵🇭 SUYO • WITH MY BROTHER EDISON: I COULDN'T VERBALIZE IT WITH HIM, BUT GOD KNOWS HOW I LOVE MY BROTHER SO MUCH.
Pardon me for re-writing this travel blog post by making it too personal. Writing is my therapy ever since, and the thought that there may be people reading this piece also gives me a therapeutic impression that someone is non-judgmentally listening to me. You may also read the original article I wrote in 2011 below.

 ►  Original version of this article (written in 2011)



Plying that great zigzag highway with cliffs everywhere, you would tend to forget all your fears and worries; because this mountain highway in Suyo—an upland municipality in Ilocos Sur—would surely relax and soothe your soul.

Its way to relax you is by showing the numerous waterfalls it could offer you.

The good thing here is, you need not to hike to see the source of the water; because along the highway, the waterfalls are gifts and offering that give you a cool welcome amidst the hot summer season.

Of course, you couldn't help but be amazed by these stunning waterfalls. As you travel on this highway in Suyo (a part of the Tagudin-Cervantes-Sabangan Highway a.k.a. mountain trail) that would lead you to either Mountain Province and Benguet, the waterfalls got much better and more beautiful.

Every traveler has the reason to stop over these winding and long mountain highway because its view offerings are worth seeing for.

This town really deserves to be known because its tropical beauty is world class; and the great thing is, the views are free and very accesible. All you need to do is bring yourself here.

What are you waiting, folks? There's a reason to visit Suyo today!

— END OF STORY —


LATEST STORIES COVERING 'SUYO' • SEE ALL IN A SEPARATE WINDOW
▼ ILOCOS SUR ▼ WATERFALLS ▼ NATURAL WONDERS

 ►  More 'Ilocos Sur' Blogs



MORE STORIES COVERING 'ILOCOS SUR' | SEE OLDER STORIES

 ►  More 'Waterfalls' Blogs


MORE STORIES COVERING WATERFALLS | SEE OLDER STORIES

 ►  More 'NATURAL WONDERS' Blogs


MORE STORIES COVERING "NATURAL WONDERS" | SEE OLDER STORIES

MORE TOWNS OR LOCATIONS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO EXPLORE:
V S M SC M C SM B SJ SD

UPDATE HISTORY FOR THIS BLOG POST
• 2024-April-07: Lay-out version 2023.12 applied. Photos reuploaded with the watermark version 2024.1. Article rewritten in my 2024 perspective.
• 2011-May-11: This post was published.
NAGUSTUAM DIAY NABASAM/NAKITAM? MABALIN MO MET I-LIKE.