BACONG is a headdress of rolled mat of dried leaves to balance a round earthen jar filed with water carried by pre-hispanic residents here when fetching water. It is also a name to a river that has remained largely the source of livelihood by the communities of Bacong, Lujo’g Bacong, Simoa and Buabog. For locals, Bacong refers to a huge python that coils itself like a bakong on the riverside after it has taken a meal. Thus the name. Python? Yes. But it is an age-old tale more forgotten than remembered. Now, Bacong River is opened for eco-tourism activity, but local paddlers who guide the tour say bakong should keep tourism and environment in a balance.

Thus, the largely untouched river trekked by paddle boats show an untouched environment for tourism. Untouched , chances are you can spy on a wild animal: an iguana, monitor lizard, palm civet cat, Malay civet cat, wild chicken and yes, tarsiers aside from a good number of wild pigeons. Here, you stalk these river denizens here and after a while, you could sense some eyes stalking at you. At the Bacong River paddle tour, your goal to mince on the delicious serving of a pristine river environment could get you hooked. Here is a community of people who still think that catching the higante’ng banhawon brings bad luck, noise below the old burial sites summon bad spirits and abusing the river resources resurrect the kogtong.

Now into immersing tourists into their simple world, the Bacong River tour can get you hooked. Here’s why. As your boat further glides upstream and its bows lap on the edges of time, you’d be ushered in to a different world, a pinch of life left alone by time. In fact, many swear they never realized such a sphere still exists; 15 minutes away from the city buzz. Here is a slice of time, encapsulized in a neat package of a little more than an hour long paddling experience. Many come here for the tranquility and peace. But getting boosted with a generous serving of pristine environment is a premium. Or so they thought. Until they are deep into the river and the feeling of being watched starts. Ow, creepy. Then you hone your senses and the game is on. It’s a game of who would be startled first.

A paddler guides an excited tourist to the sights. Here, a lost generation of river denizens feel the same, though mildly amazed at the unfamiliar distraction in their otherwise full day of sun. Here, the sound of the oar dipping into the water and water dripping off it is hypnotic, the lullaby of waving nipa fronds easily puts you in a trance. You breathe in the air and the marshland becomes a whole new world. Here, nipa could well be a tree of life as well. Able bodied males from villages above brave the muck to cut these mature fronds, strip the leaves from its fronds and bale them in huge bundles while another paddle boat picks it up for the nearest nipa weaving station. From there, women fold the leaves in a bamboo stick and weave them into shingles, for some house’s roof. A hundred pieces of that sells for P180 and the average weaver can do 150 pieces per day. They said there is nipa wine, but an easier and more affordable tuba is just a few pesos away. Up there, you could hear the mystery descend like the late morning fog and sidle beside you as your boat slices the sacred waters below the mysterious cliff called Lunas. The paddler guide has suddenly turned silent as the boat glides effortlessly with the tide. You do not speak, this is below the burial grounds. Lunas, as historical records would show was a pre-Hispanic burial site. Explorations have proven this as true. Shards of broken clay, Chinese blue porcelain, bits of hematite stones and broken bones lay scattered under an-an, taypo and bansilay bushes way up.

After a while, he calls, “here is that tree where a known fisher from Bacong saw a huge python neatly coiled at its trunk, the guide points out. Perhaps, that may be a tale people spin to discourage unnecessary exploration of the sacred cliffs,” he said. Bacong comes from the native word bako-ong, a rounded potholder spun out of dried banana leaves which locals use to keep their water filled jars from rolling as they ascend form the springs along the river. Bacong is also used to liken to a coil of a python enjoying the shades along the river bank during hot days. Huh? In the past, that is. Then, a sudden splash in the water shatters the tense silence. Then a bobbling head of a mudskipper emerges from its new perch, a cut nipa frond emerging a few inches from the rising tide. “Tambasakan,” somebody calls out from another boat. There’s a folk song for that…and the paddler guide breaks into a lilting tempo of Si Felimon…

Somewhere, a cool cooing slowly builds into a hypnotic tempo. Bacong River is still home to wild pigeons: manatad, tokmo, limocon, punay or the harder to find bawod. The cooing would stop as the paddleboat glides with the coming tides. But it picke when we have covered a safe distance. As the boat turns a bend, the paddler steers clear of the stones visible under the water. Bato; three huge rocks emerge just under the clear waters. Bato is a natural fish sanctuary, old people said these stones need to be respected. That way, the fish can have safe place to spawn. Further, a lone iguana, its sail metallic green in bright sunlight, dives into the water breaking into the waves our paddle boat left at its wakes. The iguana, also called the Jesus Christ Lizard because it can walk on the water, perches on some safe bastion watching our boat as it glides by Pangi, Bajong, Dungguan ni Anong, Cogtong, Dungguan ni Waning and further to Uhan passing by Dagohong. A few inches from the water, comfortably nestled in a young nipa frond is a nipa-nipa, another kind of crab which climbs to dry during high tides. It is edible, as with the maniit, kasag, suga-suga, alimango and the banhawon; the giant green crab. Most make out their homes in the muddy reaches of the tides.

The smaller ones simply slide into the crevices of thousands of nipa in this mangrove forests. There are clams here: punaw, imbaw, bawjan, tagnipis, bebe, tuway and the famed tamislat which people here cook for a relishing tinunoan or simply sautéed in onions as with the imbaw and punaw. There’s also the balinggukay, balinsungay, sihi, mananggot, dawo-dawo and another weird names for such a treat like shell soup in ginger and spring onions. Upstream, the boat glides further into thick canopies of overgrown shade trees, a solitary angilan could provide the heavenly scents in summer or the nipa flower picks where the angelic scent leaves. Bacong also provides a full rundown of a basket craftsman’s raw materials. There’s sig-id, nito, huwag, uway, salimpokot, tikog, romblon, buli and other nameless twines in all desired sizes. This river has given life to a fully thriving community of fishers, weavers and gleaners all twined in a bakong of respect to balance development through tourism and environment. Bacong River tour can be arranged from the Abatan Main Village Center, Salvador Cortes, Bohol form 8:00-5:00 PM. (Rey Anthony Chiu)