Thursday, December 06, 2007

Faro De Cabo Bojeador is Haunted!!!

The rumors were true after all. Cape Bojeador Lighthouse in Burgos, Ilocos Norte is freaking haunted!

I ignored tales about the old Spanish lighthouse. It was on a TV documentary (I think it was ABS-CBN’s Nginig, I’m not so sure) when I first learned about the famous Faro. They were doing a Halloween special featuring the scariest places in the Philippines. I thought it was all a hoax since it has been a yearly presentation and that my guess was they were running out of Halloween stories. Man, was I dead wrong! Let me share my story…

I was coming from the Bangui Windmills when I decided to stop by the Burgos Lighthouse. Actually, I already removed the lighthouse visit from my Ilocos Norte itinerary because the guy from the hotel told me it is inaccessible without an automobile. It all changed when the preacher I met at Bangui told me it was only a kilometer away from the main road. Later, I discovered it was a kilometer of uphill hike.

Before I boarded off the bus, I had the following conversation with the people in the bus:

Me: “Pakibaba ho ako sa may papuntang lighthouse.” (Please drop me off the road to the lighthouse.)

Konduktor, a bit surprised: “Ikaw lang?” (You’re alone?)

Lady at the backseat: “Bakit ikaw lang? Malayo ang lalakarin mo papunta sa itaas.” (Why alone? It’s a long climb to the top.)

Me: “Kaya ho!” (I’ll be fine!)

Irritated over the lady’s obvious eavesdropping, I hurriedly went off the bus. I was surprised to see all the passengers looking at me with the same look of concern like that of the lady eavesdropper. They were all seemingly worried and uncomfortable.

Elderly Lady: “Balong, mag-iingat ka sa itaas. Mag-iingat ka…” (Son, be cautious at the top. Be very cautious…)

Before I had the chance to react, the bus sped off.

I was very clueless about what the passengers were trying to say for I knew all along that I’ll be fine since there’s a caretaker above the hill. It was too late when I found out.

I started my hike towards the lighthouse. The forest was largely wild making the journey a little hotter than usual. I was all sweaty because of the steep climb. In spite of my condition, I started to have goose bumps. I think that was a sign that forest elves were spying on me while I was ascending.

I arrived at the concrete stairs connecting the lighthouse to the road. The place was scenic. I took my 1st picture of the lighthouse midway through the stairs. Before I reach the entrance, I heard voices of children getting scolded by an elder. Upon hearing the voices, I was somehow relieved of my anxiety knowing that the caretaker was around. I called for the caretaker but he didn’t answer. My guess is that they were about to have their siesta. So as not to bother them, I decided to enter the courtyard and took my 2nd photo there. This courtyard view of the lighthouse has always been featured in many articles and magazines.

I entered the corridor leading to the entrance of the main tower. After I took my 3rd photo, I discovered that the door to the tower was locked. I walked back to the corridor to call on the caretaker. When I was about to knock, I was surprised to see that all four old wooden doors at the corridor were locked. I asked myself “Where the hell is that caretaker staying?

I stood at the terrace to see the two buildings at the side of courtyard. I then discovered that those were actually storage rooms.

“If those were storage rooms, where did those voices come from?”

I gazed towards the lighthouse’s old gate and saw a huge chain vaulted over it. I realized there was nobody in the place except for me. I then felt a gush of cold wind blow over my left ear. Seconds later I was having goose bumps all over my body. I’m serious! Down to the last hair!

“Damn it! I’m all fucked up!!!”

Just as I was freaking out, I started to hear voices again. This time, the voices were right on my ear. I was hearing them all simultaneously. I can’t understand what they were saying. It was like those whispers being heard on Lost. The children’s voices were filled with pain. They were as if blaming me for something. The elder’s voice was purely madness!

I wasted no time in getting my butt out of there. As I was rushing to get down, I tripped on my tripod and there flew my digital camera. When I was picking the camera, there went the voices again. I hurriedly grabbed my damaged camera and ran like crazy, screaming “Sorry po, sorry po! Hindi na mauulit!”(I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It won’t happen again!) all the way to the bottom of the hill.

Picturesque isn’t it? Don’t let its beauty fool you.


Actually, it freaks me out to write this article because I have to imagine myself experiencing the whole misfortune once again. I just don’t think I’ll be returning to this place anytime soon, more so without a group.

I never thought there will come a time that my digital camera will get damaged, not to mention by supernatural beings. It saddens me to think that it got scratched on my very first travel to document lighthouses here in the Philippines. I hope not all lighthouses in the Philippines are haunted. I really do hope so.

25 comments:

Abaniko said...

Nakakapangilabot naman ang kwento mo. I never knew the lighthouse is haunted but when we went up, I had a strange feeling about the place. Eerie. Marami na kami noon ha. How much more kung mag-isa lang. Sana pumunta ka ng gabi. :D

Gail Mallo said...

wow that's scary. gusto ko in ma-experience. kung wala lang ako sakit sa puso why not!

=/

Didi said...

Freaky! Very freaky! I would have just died! Hahaha... :)

Looking forward to more posts!! :)

BTW - your digicam - would it happen to be an SLR? If yes - well, that's definitely a big ouchie!!

Yam Manuel said...

@ abaniko- Actually, ang plano is to catch the sunset doon sa lighthouse. Sinabihan kasi ako na 1out of 20 chances lang na makakasakay ako ng bus doon kapag lumipas na ang 5PM. Mahirap na.. Baka hindi lang ganun ang nangyari sa akin kung sakali, hahaha...

@ gail- Naku gail, be careful on what you wish for... hehe...

@ candishhh- More posts of ghost experiences? Yikes, huwag naman sana hahaha.. Amateur pa lang kaya Digital Ixus ang ginamit ko. Isusumpa ko talaga ang lugar na iyon kung SLR yung nadale nila! ;)

mschumey07 said...

You found out the hard way. There are lots of haunted places in Ilocos, from dark roads to bridges. Try Cebu next time and I'm sure you'll bump into a ghost.

Yam Manuel said...

@ mschumey07- Most old bridges in Ilocos Norte were already renovated.
Most churches there have belfries. Those are haunted too!

SeƱor Enrique said...

Wow! And you were just by yourself. Harrowing, indeed.

By the way, Manolo Noche of UST's Architecture Dept. is very much into documenting our country's lighthouses. You may want to someday connect with him.

Merry Christmas!

Yam Manuel said...

@ senor enrique- I got Mr. Noche's book featuring lighthouses as a birthday present.

Cheers!

lagal[og] said...

bai, thanks for dropping by my blog. and yes, i can vouch for what you wrote - cape bojeador is haunted. don't know but chanced upon other lighthouses that are haunted like the one in mahatao, batanes. maybe it's because they're desolate most of the time. i would've loved to visit cape bojeador at night and do night photography :-)

Yam Manuel said...

@ lagal[og]- Bai, that's wicked! I can't imagine myself shooting there at night! haha...

You have a very nice blog! Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

guys im putting up a cafe alon the highway down the lighthouse about 500mtrs from the entrance drop by nalang kayo and enjoy the scenes its cape bojeador cafe and resto thanks hope to see you.
Karl

Anonymous said...

Yam, I also went there, but not alone, hehehe, I'm with my officemates during our Travel Agency's Familiarization Tour (FAMTOUR) last September, 2006. You're right, the place is so eerie and the wind is extraordinarily cold, it will surely gives you goosebumps. We also want to go up the tower but all the doors are locked. Anyway, so as not to waste our efforts in going there, we had done a lot of picture takings, all were good shots but when we were printing them, almost all of them are blurred, just a few of them are worthy of printing and uploading to the computer. Also, one of our officemates who was ok before we went there, got sick right before we left the place, I don't know if that was just coincidental.

A said...

Hi. I'm Ana, a program researcher from QTV11's Misteryo. We are going to feature Cape Bojeador. We would like to ask if we could invite you for an interview regarding your experience there? Can I also have your contact number so I could discuss further the details of the interview? You can reach me thru my email: ana.rodrigo26@gmail.com or thru my mobile 09275145731. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

wag ka matakot sa cape bojeador lighthouse dahil mga kaluluwa nan dun ay hindi masasama mababait sila kung wala ka 3rd eye at voice lang na ririnig mo hindi mo ma iiwasan na matakot ka dahil sa mga boses lng na ririnig mo. naka punta na ako sa cape bojeador pag pasok mo sa gate meron na awra na malakas pero pag diretcho mo sa may hagdanan meron babae nag wawalis dun at meron din pareho dun at meron pa mga iba. ako sa inyo wag kayo matakot dahil mga spirit dun ay mababait

Lois Lynne said...

Yam, I saw a ghost of a man in the locked room when I was there last November. at first I thought it was just the caretaker. He was walking inside. I was curious because there must be a museum inside (because I love history) but when I tried to open the door, I realized it was locked and they said that it was never opened. When I realized what happened, I immediately told my mom who was also with me that time. Ipinawalang-bahala ko na lang kasi baka mayamaya, guniguni lang pala. Ayaw ko din masyadong mag-dwell sa mga nakikita ko though it happened a lot. When I saw the episode on Misteryo, tumaas ang balahibo ko. ;/ so may something pala sa lighthouse na yun...

butterfly said...

i saw saw in TFC featuring this Faro. i hit the net and there you are. now, i can follow you. i wish i could go there too...feel the ghost...yay!

Unknown said...

wicked experience.....hmmmm... nacurious 2loy akong makita rin in person ang place....pero siyempe dapat grupo kami.......hehehe....but seriously, thank you .... it's good too na you share your experience/s and giving advice/s sa mga future travelers ng iba't-ibang lugar tulad nito.... more power !!!

Ada Dizon Angeles said...

Yam, what were the voices saying? Lone travel + lighthouses = scary. But I'd love to see your documentation of your lighthouse adventures. Have you read the short story "The Foghorn" by Ray Bradbury? I think you'll love it.

Yam Manuel said...

@ Ada --- I didn't understand what I heard... it was like the whispers in the show Lost.

This summer it will be lighthouse #6.

You can come if you're free. :)

Anonymous said...

we went there but we didn't experience anything at all..:) (or we just didn't heard the voices since it's really very windy that time)

Inah said...

We went there also last weekend. Dude, I saw the woman there. I swear!
Yung plano ko na sa Vigan mag-ghost hunting, nauwi sa Cape Bojeador. Hahaha. But then, no regrets! Sanay naman na ako sa ghosts. :D

Anonymous said...

Inah.. I also saw a woman there or so we thought. We didn't know it was there but a face appeared on 2 photographs... It was last 2008

Anonymous said...

This was our last stop bago kami bumalik ng Laoag city, it was around 5pm when we reached te place. Magnificent structure indeed, kaya lang closed na siya kasi kaya gumawa kami ng way para makapasok. Dun sa may likod nag climb kami, while taking photos of my friend, bigla kong nakita ang shadow ng isang lalaki facing the old house so i was quite shocked, ok na sana, while riding the bus going home, that same guy was there. Mas detailed nga lang this time kasi nakikita ko na ung damit niya. Hindi siya vintage looking guy, around 5'4-5'6 ang taas. Though ung face di ko talaga maaninag. We are quite worried

Christian | LAKAD Pilipinas said...

hair raising experience. i haven't actually experienced anything supernatural there, pero creepy talaga ang feeling

Anonymous said...

I'd like to go there but maybe not after this blog... if you're into light houses try Bolinao Lighthouse the view of the vast ocean from there is fantastic. The lighthouse itself was locked though when we went there.Nothing creepy about this place, but when there I tried to imagine the people who used to stay in what seemed like an office structure beside it in the 60's...