first stop: oslob, cebu

our first day consisted of the flight from manila to cebu, dinner in the metro, then driving to argao, where we stayed for the night. we weren't quite satisfied with the digs, so the next morning, we packed our bags and loaded them into the trunk of the opel, vowing to look for satisfactory accommodations as we drive along.

we decided to go to the farthest point first: oslob. from argao, it took us about two hours to find the church, mainly because we couldn't spot in from the road. as it turns out, the inmaculada concepcion parish is tucked away in a nice corner of town, at the corner of aragones and eternidad streets. i couldn't wait to finally see a church made of corals!

the inmaculada concepcion parish was built in 1848, four years after the town of oslob was established. this massive structure was part of the four fortress churches in cebu which served as the various towns' line of defense in the event of muslim attacks. this is evident in the nearby watchtower ruins and the tall bell tower, which was really meant to be a four-storey structure. however, the construction had to be stopped because of an earthquake and a storm. imagine how the tower would have looked if the plans pushed through!

the church interior was not as impressive as its facade, nor its history. there were no paintings on the ceilings, just simple decor and plain colors. what i found quaint, though, was that they used a shell and inserted it into the wall by the door to serve as the container for holy water.

beside the church stand ruins of an old spanish cuartel. even with the broken walls, i found the structure highly interesting. it's mostly inhabited by local goats and a horse, though.

for divers and beach bums, sumilon island will be paradise. from the road, you will see a sign where you can take the short, ten-minute banca ride to nearby sumilon.

another "historical" and natural wonder is their centuries-old nigad tree. you can also ask around for mainit springs, which is believed to be mystical and possess healing powers.

you can take a look at more oslob photos here.