Lakewood is my hometown's neighbor with an approximate distance of 15 kilometers from my town's center of economic activity traversing towering mountain ranges and long and winding rock-dirt covered roads which is more identical to a dried up river bed. However, despite the proximity, I was not able to behold the towns mystic beauty, not until I'm nineteen.
A close relative decided to celebrate her birthday in a resort situated in the coast of the serene and quaint Lake Wood - The Alindahaw Lakeview Resort. The facility is owned wholly by the powerful Cerilles clan of Zamboanga del Sur. My attendance to the said celebration is not just devoted to give tribute to the birthday celebrant, but also to personally witness the so-called ZamSur's hidden paradise.
The resort offers lots of enjoyable trek to adventurers including a boat ride in the lake's surface. However, as I was about to give my decision on taking a ride, my vocal expression was overtaken by a suggestion of a local which send shivers to my spine and hold me aback. The lake's mysticism was affirmed by local's folktales about it.
They related that, the lake attracts divers all over the country to explore its underneath and finally divulge to the the scientific world what's about this body of water. However, it seems the lake has its own mind and prevents the realization of these things. Many divers, can't anymore manage to resurface and are just found floating two or three days after, lifeless. Many attributes this occurrences to the unusual depth of the lake. They call the yearly loss of lives in the lakes vicinity as BUHIS. In history, accordingly, not a single year had passed without claiming some two or three lives, mostly stranger to the place.
Locals who tried to measure the depth of the lake tied a stone at the end of a 300-meter string but the stone failed to reach the bottom as the string reached its maximum. Some legends would say, that there's a hole at the bottom of the lake that connects it to another dimension. I wonder if its true. I wonder if there's someone who was able to swam to reach the bottom and told to the local community regarding such. One local claimed, that once a year a giant boat traverse the Sibougey River sailing upstream and terminates at the lake submerging itself in the lake's bottom. This boat are told to be carrying tons of golds, silver and treasure of all sorts.
Adding to the place's mysticism is the SLEEPING LADY MOUNTAIN along the western front of the lake. From afar and during dawn and dusk when it converts into a silhouette, you can see it as a lady with her hair spread at the tip and in a sleeping position. This was told to be a fairy who use to be the lake's guardian against evil forces which are imposing dominion over the lake. Due to an extravagant and excessive use of dark power, the fairy was defeated by the evil forces. They cursed the lake, send heavy rains and blocked the lake's spillway. The water level rose drowning a sizable number of the population. The fairy was crushed and buried into mounds of clay. The area of which he was buried rose into a figure of a woman which is now called as the SLEEPING LADY MOUNTAIN.
This are lovely folktales that maybe at some point are believable but can also be easily dismissed as ordinary city folk can claim to be just a product of the wild and creative imagination of man.
Whatever is the truth behind these stories,I am still fascinated by the the place's tranquility, serenity and picturesque panorama. And for sure, i'll keep coming back to the place with a new zeal of exploring new things.
A close relative decided to celebrate her birthday in a resort situated in the coast of the serene and quaint Lake Wood - The Alindahaw Lakeview Resort. The facility is owned wholly by the powerful Cerilles clan of Zamboanga del Sur. My attendance to the said celebration is not just devoted to give tribute to the birthday celebrant, but also to personally witness the so-called ZamSur's hidden paradise.
The resort offers lots of enjoyable trek to adventurers including a boat ride in the lake's surface. However, as I was about to give my decision on taking a ride, my vocal expression was overtaken by a suggestion of a local which send shivers to my spine and hold me aback. The lake's mysticism was affirmed by local's folktales about it.
They related that, the lake attracts divers all over the country to explore its underneath and finally divulge to the the scientific world what's about this body of water. However, it seems the lake has its own mind and prevents the realization of these things. Many divers, can't anymore manage to resurface and are just found floating two or three days after, lifeless. Many attributes this occurrences to the unusual depth of the lake. They call the yearly loss of lives in the lakes vicinity as BUHIS. In history, accordingly, not a single year had passed without claiming some two or three lives, mostly stranger to the place.
Locals who tried to measure the depth of the lake tied a stone at the end of a 300-meter string but the stone failed to reach the bottom as the string reached its maximum. Some legends would say, that there's a hole at the bottom of the lake that connects it to another dimension. I wonder if its true. I wonder if there's someone who was able to swam to reach the bottom and told to the local community regarding such. One local claimed, that once a year a giant boat traverse the Sibougey River sailing upstream and terminates at the lake submerging itself in the lake's bottom. This boat are told to be carrying tons of golds, silver and treasure of all sorts.
Adding to the place's mysticism is the SLEEPING LADY MOUNTAIN along the western front of the lake. From afar and during dawn and dusk when it converts into a silhouette, you can see it as a lady with her hair spread at the tip and in a sleeping position. This was told to be a fairy who use to be the lake's guardian against evil forces which are imposing dominion over the lake. Due to an extravagant and excessive use of dark power, the fairy was defeated by the evil forces. They cursed the lake, send heavy rains and blocked the lake's spillway. The water level rose drowning a sizable number of the population. The fairy was crushed and buried into mounds of clay. The area of which he was buried rose into a figure of a woman which is now called as the SLEEPING LADY MOUNTAIN.
This are lovely folktales that maybe at some point are believable but can also be easily dismissed as ordinary city folk can claim to be just a product of the wild and creative imagination of man.
Whatever is the truth behind these stories,I am still fascinated by the the place's tranquility, serenity and picturesque panorama. And for sure, i'll keep coming back to the place with a new zeal of exploring new things.
is it safe to go there? :-) im making a list of must go to places to zambo... excited to photoblog about these secret zambo places hehehe
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