Travel and Places: Benilda, A Unique Way To Relax And Have Fun

Have you been to a place where woodcraft work meets the pool? None perhaps because they're far more unrelated but believe it or not, Benilda sports both, the place had a swimming pool for splashing fun and woodcrafts for the eyes to behold.

Benilda is located in Bancuro, Naujan, Misamis Oriental, roughly 250 km away from Manila. Its one of the most prominent place in Oriental Mindoro besides White Beach Puerto Galera and just a few meters away from infamous Simbahan Bato.

I'm not much of an art enthusiasts but I could say that I had enjoyed watching the wooden craftworks displayed all over the place. Well, maybe because it was something that I don't see customarily but really, I was mesmerize.

Aside from these, the place also had a mini park for the kids and the young at heart to enjoy, a hostel offering affordable room rates, Benilda is a must see place for everyone if you're visiting Oriental Mindoro.

Here are my best images taken my from luscious Nokia N8 smartphone.

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Travel and Places: The Fascinatingly Strange Simbahan Bato Of Bancuro, Najuan, Oriental Mindoro

Corals, giants, supernatural phenomenon, these were among the few elements surrounding the story behind one of Oriental Mindoro’s most prominent landmark.

Legend has it that centuries ago, the church which is made of properly aligned coral reefs, had been constructed overnight by a giant whose footprint was left in the church altar. Residents just woke up one morning and saw the church already erected with no noise heard, no construction materials found on the site, nothing at all.

It was also known later on that the same structure with the same giant footprint was found in the province of Masbate, miles away, fueling the legend more.

Well, whoever built the structure must have been well verse with ancient construction because it had lasted for several centuries. I was mesmerized primarily by its design and engineering, the thick and strong walls made up of coral reefs being filed up and stocked together by mud or something is one of a kind, I mean it would have been a lot easier to comprehend if they were stones carved and filed up together, but they were coral reefs. Also, the area was way far from the sea so getting all those corals transported to the site was pretty odd.

 Well, currently, the church had already been renovated to cater to tourists but you can still see the walls and its overall back draft. Its one of a kind engineering marvel.

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