It was the first day of September 2022 when Ran first floated the idea of going to Quirino. I know of the province because of Philippine geography classes, but visiting it did not cross my mind. I had no idea back then as to what one may see in Quirino, and I knew nothing of the place except for the fact that it was named after the 6th president of the Philippines, Elpidio R. Quirino.

It took five months before Quirino became a reality. It was decided that we are going to have a long drive, leaving Malolos at around midnight such that we reach Quirino at around 08:00 AM. Yes, it was at least an eight-hour drive. It was a Wednesday when we decided that we will go to Quirino and that we will leave on the Friday that follows. Agad-agad. Without an actual itinerary, fine. That is what being in a renegade juncture is all about after all. So the plan was to search Google Maps for points of interest on the fly, then bahala na.

Isa lang ang inagapan ko: na may matutuluyan man lang kami para matulog. The drive won’t be a quick one, and just imagining the length of the journey exhausts me already.

For our road trip en route to Quirino, we decided to take the Pampanga–Nueva Ecija–Aurora route. We left Malolos at 11:30 PM, passing through NLEX and TPLEX. That was the easy part, as traversing through the internal roads proved challenging given the lack of streetlights.

At around 05:30 AM, we reached Dipaculao, Aurora. Little by little, the skies transformed into a very beautiful sight to behold. We were welcomed by one thing that Aurora is known for: the golden sunrise.

Aurora was not part of our itinerary save for being our gateway to Quirino. The timing of our arrival there, however, was perfect to capture its renowned sunrise. When we saw an open ground with direct access to the beach where we could stop the car, we wasted no time and alighted our vehicle.

There is no doubt that Aurora deserves its moniker of being the Land of the Golden Sunrise. The sunrise was captivating, and our timing was spot-on. There was just a window where the sun was actually golden in color and the skies are purplish, and we actually witnessed that while in transit.

When took our photos, the sun has already gone a bit higher. Maliwanag na. The golden sunrise lasted for about 15 minutes.

It would still be around two hours from Dipaculao to our first stop in Quirino, so when done with the picture taking, we started the uphill drive. It would be a road trip in the mountains.

It was foggy with occasional rain showers, which added to the exciting vibe. Ang ganda ng tanawin sa kabundukan papuntang Quirino!

Ran was missing a lot, that I am certain about.

The beauty of the Aurora sunrise and the mountains we rode through were amazing previews of the beauty that awaits us in Quirino. Little did I know that the real appreciation of nature’s beauty has not even started yet.