A TRIP TO BATAAN

Now the first thing everyone needs to know about Bataan is how to pronounce the name. We in America always say "Bah-tan".  Just so you know, it is pronounced Bah-tah-an.
Now that we have finished the language lesson, let me tell you about our great visit in Bataan. I love to get out of Manila and travel in the Provinces. Less smog. Fewer cars. Beautiful green. We had some down time around New Years and we joined up with the Morellos for this  trip.

There are of course rice fields everywhere. They are all in various stages of harvest. This farmer is preparing the field for planting. They flood the field not to water the rice but to keep down the weeds.

Here is the farmer's Caraboa. They say the Philippines was built on the back of a Caraboa. Note the rice field behind him. The rice seed is first planted in a nursery and later placed in the fields in bundles. The individual stocks will get separated and then replanted. Labor intensive. There are rice fields everywhere but they do not produce enough for their needs.

In the end the rice ends up on the side of the road to dry before they thrash out the grain.

We went to Mount Samat where a monument commemorates the great battles fought in this area. It did not prevent an invasion by the Japanese but so slowed them down as to create difficulties to their timeline.

Mount Samat is a historic mountain in the town of Pilár,Located near its summit is the Mount Samat National Shrine, a national shrinededicated to the fallen Filipino and American fallen during World War II.

At the start of World War II in 1942 after suffering heavy losses against the Imperial Japanese Army all over Luzon, the Filipino and American soldiers retreated to Bataan Peninsula to regroup for a last valiant but futile stand. After four months of fighting, the 78,000 exhausted, sick and starving soldiers under Major General Edward P. King surrendered to the Japanese on April 9, 1942 known as the fall of Bataan. It is the single largest surrender of U.S. soldiers in history and Mariveles, a town in the Bataan province, was their last stronghold after which, together with the Philippine soldiers, they were led on to the 80-mile march to Capas, Tarlac known as the Bataan Death March.

The Mount Samat National Shrine shrine was erected as a fitting memorial to the heroic struggle and sacrifices of those soldiers who fought and died in that historic bastion of freedom. Wklipedia

Bruce and I walked to the top of the Mount. It is a very steep path but the hard part was that the path was sort of falling off the side of the hill

You can take an elevator up the the arm of the cross. I don't do those sort of things well, so I did not go. The smog and moisture in the air make it difficult to see that far anyway.

Don't know this little family but I liked the view.

These are the markers along the road that indicate every mile of the death march.

We had lunch at "Bob's Bunker" and yes, there is a restaurant behind that door. Very WWII army decorations. Food wasn't bad. I had a hamburger with blue cheese on top.