#2. Dagupan City river cruise

I decided to try the River Cruise offered free by the city government of Dagupan before finally going back to my hectic life of work and school and a  lot of what-nots. The jumpoff point for the cruise was just a few minutes' walk from our home. So after staying overnight in front of the computer, sleeping for some three hours and then doing needed chores whilst dealing with the resulting headache, Mom accompanied me to try it out around 4 pm. It didn't start as scheduled but still, there were plenty of people then. I learned that usually, the barges were for 25 people. Since we were many that time, they had to deploy the 75-seater barge. I grew up in this city, but I've never really spent a lot of time near the rivers nor the beaches. Well, I've more frequently gone to the beach. So this river cruise was something for me. 

It was a peaceful ride, but I think it would've been more interesting if there were some interesting things which a guide could tell us about. They were just playing early 90s ballads. The first time my mom tried out the river cruise, they had a tour guide. So she was able to point out to me today part of the old Philippine National Railways (PNR) tracks going to La Union, a province north of Pangasinan. My foray into the Mangrove Forest in Sabang, Palawan also came to mind. Since Palawan is dubbed the Philippines' "Last Frontier," there were some sights to anticipate whilst learning about mangroves and their different species, such as cobras and kingfishers. No such thing here in Dagupan. Well, the cruise is free. Hopefully, the ones in charge may come up with something that'll make the cruise more worthwhile. Even though it's a  pretty simple concept, it's still a leap forward. We haven't made many strides even though our city is the oldest in the province. After the Bangus Festival, I think this is the next good thing in tourism that the government has done, all under the auspices of Mayor Benjamin Lim (he was reelected so hopefully, he'll be able to do more good). 

The afternoon sun was pretty strong so that on camera, the greens of the mangrove trees and the blues from the sky which were also reflected on the water seemed so vivid. However, I didn't have much to go by in terms of composing a good shot. 

I asked my Dad what the name of the river was and he says, though he's not sure, that it's the Paronking river, which eventually connects with the Agno river. Anyhow, it's pretty wide. And here's what I captured as we made our way back to the dock in Dawel. On one side sits Silverio's restaurant, and on the other is San Marino Place, a subdivision which has some upper class American style house designs. Some are just adjacent to the river so they can have their own jetty port. How cool is that?

where we came from 

Below, the top part is the bridge connecting Arellano street to Bonuan. The barges don't venture across to the other side of the bridge where I believe fishponds abound. So that's what these two are probably on, earning their livelihood through the river. I don't know if those structures on the right have been there a long time or what they were for. These two seem to be living a very simple life. I wonder how it'd feel to do the same. It was close to 5 pm already when the barge made it's way back and yet the sun was still pretty strong, but it's not too obvious here.

banca by the bridge

Life's too short. We ought to appreciate the simple but beautiful things in life. Minna, have a beautiful 2012!