Bergen - just like BalanacanA visiting Norwegian friend from Bergen has likened it to his hometown of snaking fjords. Balanacan harbor in Mogpog is Marinduque’s major entry point, one of the country’s finest and probably the most picturesque of all natural harbors. In its vicinity called Mataas na Bundok lies a marker, now a national landmark and eco-tourism site, that defined the origin of Luzon Datum of 1911, known as Datum Station Balanacan.
Now this is Balanacan. Photo courtesy of GblontokAs the Mother of all Surveys in the country, all surveys had to be corrected and based only on the position of this station, and that makes it the geodetic center of the Philippines.
A new resort, Palms by the Beach, has opened in Balanacan that offers a spectacular view of the cove. Wednesdays and Fridays here means dancing with a live band till 11 p.m.
This view awaits visitors to Palms by the Beach
Going extreme at the old Capayang mine siteSports enthusiasts may bike to Tarug Caves and Municipal Forest Park that offers raw rock climbing and spelunking episodes. Those fit to make it to the top will be rewarded with a 360 degree glimpses of the towns of Mogpog, Sta. Cruz, and Boac. More extreme sports enthusiasts have also frequented an abandoned mine site in Capayang that offers real extreme conditions where a lot of technical drops, turns, climbs, mud pits and rock beds for the adrenalin 'junkies' exist.
The town boasts of its claim as the birthplace of the “Moryonan”, popularized as “Moriones”, that old form of Holy Week penitence involving the wearing of masks in the guise of Roman soldiers or how the penitents imagined the centurions to look like. The practice has given Marinduque its unique identity in terms of folk culture.
The joy of life and thanksgiving are celebrated through the “Kangga Festival” in the month of May with carabao-drawn carts filled with the farmers’ harvests to give thanks to the patron saint, San Isidro Labrador.
