Where In The World Is Datag? (Part 1)

Datag -- if you've ever wanted to get far away from the crowds, than this is the place.  I'm sure there are more remote places in the world than Datag, but on the island of Bohol this is probably about as remote as you can get.  We were going to visit a small church there and meet with the some of the parents and children.

It doesn't look bad here, but this is the "road" we
traveled on to reach Datag. It becomes much steeper.

We left Carmen early Saturday morning.  I had been warned that the road to Datag was rough.  My host family from Ubay was trying very hard to discourage me from going due not only to road conditions, but also  because the area around Datag has been home to some unsavory people.  My travel companions, one whom  has been a member of the police auxiliary and also police chaplain, assured me that there was no danger.  So, we started out.  Two motorcycles with five travelers.  There was myself and Pastor David on one and Pastor Junel, Novelinda and Sanny on the second.  Please understand - I weigh more than Novie and Sanny combined, so the second motorcycle was far better off than the one I was on.  The first hour was uneventful, but finally we reached the place where the ride started to become difficult.  We passed a walking trail that headed off into the jungle.  David explained that it was used by the people in that area as a shortcut when traveling on foot.  I noted that it was probably a  nice path on a bright sunny day, but if the weather turned wet or once nightfall came, it would not be a very good trail to travel on.

Pastor David waiting near the trail at the first shelter for
his wife Sanny and her sister Novelinda.

David and I ended up ahead of the others by five minutes or so.  The incline was such that I had to get off and walk.  David went ahead and I caught up with him at the next level section of the trail (I'd never call it a road).  We waited for the others.  We waited a little more.  Finally David headed back down to see what was keeping them.  And there I was, standing in the middle of I-don't-know-where all alone and realizing that this was a rather uncomfortable setting.  I checked my cellphone -- I had one "bar" -- more than I'd expected to have.  About ten minutes later David returned.  The other motorcycle had a flat tire.  Junel was pushing it back to the nearest "vulcanization" shop while Novie and Sanny were taking the shortcut on foot.  So David and I started back up the path to where there was a shelter for the walking trail.  Several times during the trip to meet the others I had to get off because the incline was too great for the motorcycle to handle.  Finally we reached the first shelter.  We waited.  And we waited.  My cellphone chimed -- it was Novie -- they were already at the second shelter.  It had taken us so long to get up the path with the motorcycle, they had actually gotten ahead of us.

We continued our little game of walking and riding, and eventually we caught up to them.  I've posted those photos of the Filipino family with four or five people riding on a motorcycle.  Well that was now our situation.  While the road was "level", we loaded all four of us onto the bike - David driving, then me, then Novie -- Sanny sat side saddle on the gas tank.  For me, this was truly a unique experience. For the others, this was just another typical trip to Datag.  David had made this trip two times a week for over a year when he was doing an outreach program in the remote village.  Sanny and Novie also traveled there repeatedly during that same year.

The church at Datag.  It's only a little longer than its width.

So we continued on our journey. Walking and riding, walking and riding.  We reached the edge of Datag and were greeted by a shout from up on top of a hill.  You've seen those bamboo military-looking outposts on the old war movies and such.  That's where the shout came from.  I saw the men.  It looked like they had guns.  Yes, they did have guns.  Oh . . . interesting . . . is all I could think of to say.  It turns out that it actually was a military outpost.  David knew several of the men, and after a brief conversation we continued on down the road.  Once inside the village, the road turned to real concrete and it almost seemed like any other small town in the Philippines.  After several hours, we'd finally arrived in Datag.  I'm not sure of the actual driving distance, but I don't think it was more than 8 or 9 kilometers.  A short distance down the road we pulled up at the entry to the church and parked our one motorcycle along the edge of the road.  From the doorway of the church I could see curious children peering out at us.  Lots of children.  I'm not sure how the building was holding them all as it was just a tiny building.  They were ready for us.  

 Was I ready for them?