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| monument of sultan kudarat |
After spending hours roaming around Marawi City I headed to the transport terminal and waited for the van bound to Cotabato City. While waiting for some passengers I took some photos within the vicinity. I can’t understand their language so I just spend time editing my pictures while observing some locals. Contrary to what my friends says nothing to fear in Marawi but you needs enough courage to be on that place. It’s just like ordinary places in the Philippines.
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| old cotabato city hall |
We left Marawi at around noon. The highway that connects Marawi to Cotabato passes by the remote towns that belong to Maguindanao province. It just likes a ghost town where we seldom see vehicles passes that route.
We arrived at Cotabato City at around 2 pm. I ate a late lunch in a nearby eatery then afterwards I walk towards the plaza scouting for a cheaper accommodation. After I settle my accommodation at Hotel Filipino I took a quick shower then headed to the grand mosque. From the plaza I hop a jeepney bound to Awang then get off at the husky bus terminal. At the junctions I take habal habal to the grand mosque.
The Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid or the grand mosque of Cotabato is the largest mosque in the Philippines. The construction of the mosque in Barangay Kalanganan was funded by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam as a gift to the emerging Muslim population in the southern Philippines.
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| cotabato city hall |
From the grand mosque i drop by the People’s Palace or the Cotabato city hall. Kids were playing soccer on the fields. I took some photos then one of the kids with disability approaches me and gamely smiles at me.
I head back to the hotel and roamed around the plaza. There is a dance competition in the park. Food stalls were also on the street that sells grilled chicken, sea foods and pastel I bought some and ate it on my room. After eating my dinner I stayed at the hotel’s veranda and observing the night life of Cotabato City. I took a rest and prepare myself for my next destination the Asik-Asik falls in Alamada North Cotabato the following day.
This is part of the 2nd leg of my solo backpacking in Mindanao.
