(This is part of my Nueva Ecija townhopping last June 12, 2013)
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| The newly built Nueva Ecija Provincial Capitol |
From Cabanatuan, my next destination was Nueva Ecija's official capital: Palayan City. Palayan has been the province's capital from 1965, when it was decided that a new government center be built in an otherwise virgin and sparsely populated area. The area between Cabanatuan and Bongabon was chosen and it was here where the planned city was built according to an urban design which allows for continuous development without much problem when it comes to space.
The very first place I visited is the newly completed Nueva Ecija Provincial Capitol. The building was huge and mirrors American architecture, with some resemblance to Bulacan and Pampanga provincial capitols. At the front of the capitol is a spacious park while at both sides are wide expanse of land.
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| Nueva Ecija Provincial Hall |
Across the road can be found the Palayan City Public Market which at that time was not open.
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| Palayan City Public Market |
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| Road between the Nueva Ecija Provincial Capitol and Palayan City Public Market |
Not knowing where I should go next, I went to a nearby carinderia and asked the people there where is Palayan City Hall. They told me that I should just follow the road going to Bongabon and I will find it at the left side. One of the customers told me that I should just take a tricycle and offered me his service. I found out later that the city hall was just walking distance and I felt I was duped into paying Php 15.00 for a very short ride. Another thing, jeepneys pass by the city hall so if I don't want to walk, I could have just taken the jeepney and paid only Php 8.00.
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| Palayan City Hall was painted color blue that it perfectly blend with the color of the sky above. |
After taking shots of Palayan City Hall, I was in the road again, ready to go back to Cabanatuan. But upon realizing that the jeepneys passing by the road in front of the city hall actually goes straight to Bongabon, I checked my offline map and found out that there is a way leading to Northern Nueva Ecija, specifically San Jose City, via Bongabon and Rizal that I have no need to go back to Cabanatuan to go there. Right there and then I decided to change my itinerary and took the Bongabon route, adding more to my list of towns to visit.
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| On the way to Bongabon |
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| Along the road. Palayan City. |
On the road going to Bongabon, you may notice that Palayan City lives up to its name: Palayan. There are many wide expanse of land on both sides of the road, both tilled and untilled. The different colors of the plots of crops and rice fields makes your eyes relaxed and the scent of unharvested palay brings relaxing scents to the nose. The overall picture of Palayan City (as I viewed it along the road) brings to fore an image of a peaceful and simple life all of us wanted.
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To know more about my Nueva Ecija Tour, you may visit the following (some to be posted later):
Too bad you only had a very limited time to explore it. Palayan City has improved so much. When I was a child, there was really nothing to see there. The only remarkable landmark then was the Boy Scout Camp. Since the provincial capitol was transferred from Cabanatuan to Palayan, many provincial buildings were built including the Sierra Madre Suites, Nueva Ecija Convention Center,Nueva Ecija Sports Complex,etc.
ReplyDeleteWow sir! I would love to go visit Palayan City again if that's the case. The truth is, wala talaga akong alam na pupuntahan sa Palayan nung bumisita ako. Only the capitol and city hall ang nasa itinerary ko... at simbahan pala kaya lang hindi ko rin nakita...
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