There is something universally appealing about sunsets and sunrises. Or, should I say, universally moving? Perhaps, more than the splash of colors on the horizon, or the spectacular display of a slow and gradual ascent or descent, it evokes thoughts of beginnings and endings: the sunset marks the end of the day and the beginning of the oncoming night, whilst sunrise is a way to bid farewell to the night and welcome a new day. This is one cycle that is anything BUT vicious.
Most town tours of Coron will put a visit to Mt. Tapyas as one of the first things anyone should do. At least, that’s what we did when I first visited this beautiful corner of Palawan. This time around, we decided to put it for later, and not just one time, either. We agreed to climb all 742 steps on the afternoon to watch the sun set, and go back early the next day to catch the sunrise. So that’s exactly what we did on the last evening and last morning, respectively, of our Coron getaway.
Mt. Tapyas is easy enough to get to. In fact, you could forego paying for a tour and just go there yourself. Ride a tricycle or walk if it’s within walking distance from where you are staying.
After our Tour B, we took a tricycle from the pier and paid Php10.00 per person. The tricycle then took us up San Agustin Street to the bottom of the stairs leading up to the top of Mt. Tapyas. The place we stayed at, Kimberly Swiss Hotel, was around 5 minutes walk away from the San Agustin Street, and around 10 minutes to the stairs, so we just went on foot the next morning. Here are some snaps.
Even all the way from the pier, and Lualhati Park, you can immediately spot the top of Mt. Tapyas. Hard to miss it, really, since there’s the large CORON a la HOLLYWOOD sign on top of it, and the huge steel cross. Here’s my friend Janice checking out the view at the top, and looking back at the blue blue sea and the even bluer sky.
It’s hard not to take photos while you’re going up. Sure, it can be tiring, but that’s another excuse to stop for a while and take photos as you near the top.
And once you arrive at the top, at the viewdeck, it’s just rewarding to look around. I, for one, lay down momentarily on one of the benches and dozed off for a few minutes. Ah~ Bliss~
The view was great. There’s the Sleeping Giant… (which we spun a tale of, and it’s something involving the Sleeping Beauty in Kalinga. Haha!) Of course, from here, you can also spot the reclaimed area, with the boats docked on the pier (far left), and Lualhati Park (far right). See the wide building with the green roof near the Pier? That’s the Public Market, which was temporarily set up while the old Public Market was being renovated.
We weren’t the only ones to go up Mt. Tapyas to catch the setting of the sun. One by one, other visitors (and even locals) started huffing up.
We walked around and the golden hour was setting in, throwing its rays lovingly over the mountain.
Then we picked our respective spots, waiting for the sun to set in the West. Indeed, it was a sight to behold. The passing moments almost had a reverent quality to it as we just sat there quietly.
Early the next morning, we set off from the hotel at 5am, then arrived at the top of Mt. Tapyas at a little past 5:30am. There, we waited. Again, there were also others who were of the same mind. Some locals – the young ones, mostly – seem to make it their early morning workout to run up to the top of the mountain. WOW. Like…. WOW.
The wait wasn’t that long.
The sunrise was obscured by some peaks, so we had to run back down a bit on the steps to get a better glimpse of it as it came up. Needless to say, we weren’t disappointed.
There are only a handful of things that I can stare at for hours and never tire of. Some of them, off the top my head, are Ohno Satoshi, Ohno Satoshi’s hands, reflection of the sky on calm and clear waters… and sunsets and sunrises. Not a lot, right?
Leave a Reply