The province of Sorsogon lies at the southeastern tip of Luzon. Surrounded by Albay in the north, the waters of the Pacific in the east, San Bernardino Strait and Samar Sea in the south, and by Ticao and Burias passes in the west. Its name came from the Bicol word "Solsogon" meaning "to trace the river going upstream".
The major industry in Sorsogon is farming since it has fertile soil brought about by the year-round rainfall.
It produces the best hemp in the Bicol region, which supports abaca-based industries. Sinamay cloth weaving and abaca fiber slippers are just some of its products. Other crops widely grown in the province are coconut, coffee and rice. Fishing is the next major industry due to the threshold of the Pacific Ocean, while the hills and mountains of Sorsogon have untapped deposits of sulphur, limestone, coal, pumice and white clay.
The province is gifted with various attractions, starting with the natural wonder of Bulusan Mountain Lake, perched in the crater of a still active volcano. Dubbed as “The Switzerland of the Orient” by foreign visitors, who compare its beauty to the famous mountain lakes of Central Europe.
Numerous spring beaches also surround the island. Rizal Beach is a perfect place for boating, swimming and beach combing and the beach of Tulong-Gapo in Bacon is a good place for divers because of its triangular position in the sea. The springs of Masacrot, San Benon, Bulus and Mapaso offer the coolest and cleanest water, which some believed to have curative effects on them. Another popular attraction known in the insular is the famous whale shark or Butanding, a massive but gentle denizen of the deep waters of Donsol.
The Sorsogueños celebrate an epic called Ibalon, the old name of Bicol and the earliest settlement visited by the Spaniards. The tale speaks of a time when great men called Lipod from a mythic place called Botavara settled in Ibalon. The land was then led by a warrior hero named Handiong who taught his people all of the necessities of Bicolano culture. Handiong introduced the laws, the culture of rice, the plow, bolo, weaving, pottery, writing and the making of boat to his people in Ibalon. The incredible epic gives evidence of a long period of settlement of Sorsogon and the rest of Bicol.
Sorsogon is accessible by plane, train or bus from Manila. PAL flies daily to Legaspi City and Sorsogon town is just 59 kilometers away from the airport. To go through the province, buses pass the route of Maharlika Highway all the way to Matnog and are crafted across to Allen in Northern Samar.
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