En route to the Lourdes Grotto, our friendly taxi driver told us about this place that is quite near to the Grotto. He said it contains the Guinness Book of World Records largest 10 commandments tablet. The place is formerly known as Dominican Hill.
We asked people selling items in the stalls if Dominican Hill was accessible by foot from the Lourdes Grotto. Negative. It is an uphill climb so we hailed a taxi. The driver wasn't aware of the tablet but when we mentioned Dominican Hill, he knew our destination.
It is the location of an abandoned seminary of the Dominican order which was turned into a hotel. The seminary was used as a haven for refugees during the second World War. It was heavily bombed by the Japanese army. A faith healer then converted it into the Diplomat Hotel. But when he died of a heart attack, the site was abandoned. It is said to be haunted.
According to a website, the tablets were erected to ward off the spirits of people who died during World War 2. As well as the terminally ill patients who visited the hotel to get cured by the faith healer but unfortunately succumbed.
We asked the driver if he was willing to wait for us as we would only be taking some pictures. But he was visibly scared as he said he was afraid of ghosts and reassured us that we could easily get a cab back.
I wasn't scared. I'm not easily spooked by ghosts or the paranormal. In fact I got more 'worried' about the downhill road. There were no cabs to flag down. The place was quite remote. I was already drenched in sweat and I got tired from walking down the hilly road. Good thing, the view was worth the descent.
We asked people selling items in the stalls if Dominican Hill was accessible by foot from the Lourdes Grotto. Negative. It is an uphill climb so we hailed a taxi. The driver wasn't aware of the tablet but when we mentioned Dominican Hill, he knew our destination.
It is the location of an abandoned seminary of the Dominican order which was turned into a hotel. The seminary was used as a haven for refugees during the second World War. It was heavily bombed by the Japanese army. A faith healer then converted it into the Diplomat Hotel. But when he died of a heart attack, the site was abandoned. It is said to be haunted.
According to a website, the tablets were erected to ward off the spirits of people who died during World War 2. As well as the terminally ill patients who visited the hotel to get cured by the faith healer but unfortunately succumbed.
We asked the driver if he was willing to wait for us as we would only be taking some pictures. But he was visibly scared as he said he was afraid of ghosts and reassured us that we could easily get a cab back.
I wasn't scared. I'm not easily spooked by ghosts or the paranormal. In fact I got more 'worried' about the downhill road. There were no cabs to flag down. The place was quite remote. I was already drenched in sweat and I got tired from walking down the hilly road. Good thing, the view was worth the descent.
2 comments:
never heard of this before. you looked like you had good weather for exploration.
yes indeed weather was quite pleasant although climbing those stairs made me sweat a bit. hehe
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