Tuesday, September 02, 2008 Itogon's 'hot secret' not out in the open By Gloria Tuazon
POBLACION, Itogon, Benguet -- Itogon is more popularly-known as the "gold haven" in the region, with the mineral-rich land and mountains oozing colors of crystal white to yellows to rich terra cottas and gold, rising from ordinary and semi-arid landscape.
Driving through the now completely paved roads to the area, visitors get a glimpse of the ruins of the once prosperous mine sites of Benguet Corporation which closed shop a few years back when the rich ores were depleted and gone to muck.
Lakes of granite-gray tilling still spread over some views. From afar they tell tales of hidden mine stories. Of the land that once yielded dreams of gold to stories of the people who worked and mined the lands to extract these riches.
There on a spread is the mine site of Virac, sprawled like a remembrance of its glory days, on a flatland surrounded by mountains. Smooth river rocks scattered on all sides like the paved Barcelona roads. From the road above you can view it all.
I turned away with memories of my Dad working the same situation back when I wasn't even an entity yet. The drive ahead was a smooth interlude of pine trees, bushes and vegetations reminiscent of an arid Halsema Highway one hot summer during a near drought condition.
And then we reached a bend almost at the base of a mountain where the river flows in a loud roar. The river was brown today, and I remembered a storm had just cleared and had washed the soil and sediments from the uplands to converge here.
There in a glance was a surprising collection of cars and people and I wondered where they all came from. And I thought this place just opened early last year.
By word of mouth people learned of this place carved in a niche and hidden from civilization. A resort of small to medium pools, the waters heated naturally by the hot springs oozing out of the earth. Huts and convenience stores littered the place so visitors have an abundance of places to run to for their needs.
Families come here to unwind, soak in the hot waters and relax the blues away -- a nice change from the usual hot springs on the other side of Benguet. And they say you can switch around, when one tires of Asin Hot Springs in Tuba, they come here and when they tire of Itogon, they go back to Tuba.
Hiking the stretch of the river running alongside the pools, one gets a glimpse of a manmade cave, which somehow today serves as a spa. From the mouth of the cave you can see the smoke spewing out especially in the early mornings when it meets the damp, cold breath of dawn.
Stretching the muscles like seasoned mountaineers and rock climbers, one gets to the cave and enjoys the warm mist to bring out the tons of toxins out of the skin.
With all these in mind I made it a point to remember to vacation here in the future.
