Myth, Antiquity and Beauty: Batong Puti Cliff Park

Stand Firm, Stand Strong! Hold the Ground. A white rock visible from afar the northeastern
Bohol great plains and the bristly waters of Canigao channel. A fortress that stand guard the
beautiful valley of Batuanan-a valley acclaimed by many tribe as gods’ haven. No one attempts
again to explore beyond the mountains of Cabatang and Napo as according to legends, a fiery
dragon named Bagasico guards the portal. Some attempted and bypass the guard, but never
return. Many believed that millions of years ago, a brave girl named Alicia has explored the
valley and has returned majestically describing the place as Shangri-La. She further remarked
that the valley is a paradise, particularly a Batuanan utopia-a permanently happy land. The
people who live there are almost immortal, living hundreds of years and very slowly aging in
appearance. The story is too good to be true-playing a mythical story of central China, the story
of Shangri-La, Hamili’s version of Lost Horizon . Shangri-La is a fictional place in the 1933 novel
Lost Horizon, it is a mystical and harmonious hidden valley of Kunlun Mountains of China, as
described by a Bristish author James Hilton. In modern China, Zhongdian County was renamed
Shangri-La in 2001 to attract tourists. Hamili magazine describes Alicia of the Valley as Shangri-
La resembles as the latter resembles the place.

Ancient Boholanos may have lived atop the cliff for natural protection from invaders, their
lookout can easily see enemies coming from eastern and northern seaboard and surrounding
mountains and rugged cliff could provide excellent barrier and discouraged heavy warfare to
pass through and conquer the center of their kingdom. Stone tools and shells may prove their
habituation in the area.

Being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the eastern end of the
Sierra Bullones Mountain Ranges, the Alicia of the Valley closely matches the description in the
novel. Moreover, due to its low lying altitude, the valley is less exposed to ultraviolet radiation,
which makes inhabitants dodge of aging quickly. The men never return since those explorers
already fall in love with the place due to happiness and long life it offers.

On the other hand, locals have its own story about the cliff.

Below the mountain ranges right at the edge of the valley of Pilar is the Bay of Ubay. The bay is
so deep that allows large ocean going vessels to pass through Visayas. A large steamship as big
as Titanic from the San Francisco Bay Area made its non-stop voyage to Singapore. It is
expected to arrive in the city-state late in the morning of Friday. It passes by Thursday night in
the Visayas Region in the Philippines. ‘We shall pass through this channel,’ shouted the captain.
‘Full speed ahead,’ he commanded. The night is clear, the moon shines brightly, stars twinkles
and winds breeze smoothly. The evening is perfect for a coffee and a chat.
Late in the evening, a rumbling was heard. ‘What is that?’ exclaimed a quartermaster. ‘It is
probably a local landslide,’ the apprentice answered. Second later, crow’s nest called up, ‘Pick
Up! Pick Up! Pick Up the phone! Come on, pick it up, a watchman, muttered in a hurry. ‘What’s
in there?,’ the captain answered. ‘Earthquake, earthquake, port side, land rises, we need to
bring the bow hard starboard side,’ bellow the nest. ‘Hard starboard, full dead slow,’ ordered
the skipper. In the morning, the gargantuan vessel laid rest, being stucked, sandwiched between
the edge of Pilar and the risen part of Canigao Channel. The ship now emerges as the Batong
Puti and a deep ravine right at its edge was formed as boundary between the ship and the rising
oceanic plate. The ravine later dried up then replace by a jungle of coconut trees. The seafarers
later on found their home in the ship turned-cliff. The older generation forbids younger ones to
climb above the cliff as they say it is a ship by the otherworldly known to them as engkanto’.

Science and technology super cedes superstitions as mobile phone head lights, flying drones
and illumination of tent replaces the once believed to be fairy lights. Those lights beforehand
however are those from fireflies which dot the cliffs bonsai forested plateau.

Just a 5 minute walk from a packet of motorcycle bay right at the foot of the cliff, the park
provides tourists and drop-and-go visitors an express visit to a panoramic view as breathtaking
as The Alicia Panoramic Park. Above, a chilly breeze soothes the travelers which a famous
facebook page Travel 29 describes it as the Sagada of Bohol. Getting your kettle and a cup for a
morning coffee while waiting the sun rises is stunning and uplifting. To entirely plunge and
maximize the visit, tourists shall camp there overnight and experience a frosty weather at night
similar to the Mountain Province spell (stargazing on the sideline) while anticipating the striking
daylight.

At day, visitors may enjoy exploring the mountainside where they can take pictures with pygmy
trees, checking out the unending vista of the Duero and Sierra Bullones row of mountains
covered with fogs, and indulge to caving in Baby Cave (where tourists see a breathing stalactites
and stalagmites, a unique and rare behavior of nature) and outlying smaller caves (be exposed
to natural foresters, the paniki or small bats). Upon descend; visitors may use titip for a little
vertical adventure.

Alicia is a potential park in the valley, it can be called, Alicia of the Valley Eco-Tourism
Adventure Park. To date, Alicia offers caving, hiking, trekking, mountain climbing and mountain
biking, if developed, a rock climbing and rappelling activity, a cable car or a ziplining or
suisliding escapade, bike ziplining, surf ziplining, glass cliffwalk, plunging is possible in Batong
Puti Cliffside Park. It would be great rides with the Alicia Panoramic Park as a background. On
the other hand, bouldering, rope challenges, and atv tour is good for The Alicia Panoramic Park.
Entrance Fee:
Adult : Php 30
Children: Php 20
Overnight: Add Php 10
For Information: You may contact Mr. Carlo Wajing, Barangay Chairman, Mahayag, Alicia, Bohol 09