03-Mar-2015 -- This is the third out of 5 reports, describing confluence visits in the Philippines. The story begins at 14°N 121°E and continues from 11°N 124°E.
In the morning of confluence day, we strolled through Tacloban City, which is 20 km north of this confluence point. The destruction of last year's hurricane are still visible within the city. But reconstruction and renovation are ongoing such that Tacloban will soon be a flourishing city again.
Around lunch time we took off from Tacloban City with our rental car, heading southwards on the Pan Philippine Highway. At a remaining distance of 4.5 km from our goal (at the village Dulag 5 km south of Tolosa) we turned into a gravel road and followed it up to a distance of 800 m. According to the digital maps and aerial photos, this was the closest point on a road.
Interestingly, a local farmer was able to show us a path towards the confluence point, although he didn't get a full understanding of our destination. The path crossed some private gardens, but obviously this was the way everybody heading in that direction would take. After crossing an open unused field, we reached an area with irrigated rice fields. The GPS device guided us to a small patch of about 10 by 10 meters. But since the confluence point is right in the middle of it, it was not possible to come closer than 5 m to the exact zero location without stepping into the crops. But 5 m distance was surely sufficient for the confluence project. The confluence is quite beautiful with high coconut trees framing the rice paddies.
After half an hour, we were back to our car. We left Leyte Island by crossing the huge bridge into Samar Island. We spent the night in Catbalogan, because this location would be our base to attempt the unvisited confluence 12°N 125°E.
CP Visit Details:
- Distance to a road: 4500 m
- Distance to a track: 800 m
- Distance to a footpath: 5 m
- Time to reach the confluence from car parking: 15 minutes
- Time at the confluence: 1:30 PM
- Measured height: 20 m
- Minimal distance according to GPS: 5 m
- Position accuracy: 3 m
- Topography: flat
- Vegetation: rice, coconut-trees, grass.
- Weather: sunny, 28° C (felt temperature)
- Given Name: The Coconut Rice Confluence
The story continues at 12°N 125°E. More pictures about our trip can be found here.