panaw bai

in Cebu recently, my 5^th visit i think, but first time to get out of the metropolis and experience the outdoors. but where to go? hmm, always wanted to climb Osmena peak so why not? :-)

but first, quick stop to Carcar, dubbed as “Vigan of Cebu”

but different to the heritage town of the North, American-influence ancestral houses surround the main plaza and the elegant Catholic church

didn’t brought my mountaineering gears because of some work-related stuff – laptop, campaign materials, etc tsk. so decided to spend the night in the small, beautiful coastal town Dalaguete. few accommodation options in the area but since always traveling on a budget, costs is always a major consideration. stayed in Ocean Bay Resort, located in the town’ poblacion, and spend the afternoon relaxing in the beach and watching a rainbow in the horizon.

next day, beautiful sunrise. hired a habal-habal up to Mantalongon, an upland barangay of Dalaguete. dubbed as the “Summer Capital of Cebu” because of it’s cool weather, this barangay is also the vegetable basket of the province.

Sunday is market day! enjoyed interacting with locals and watching the market activity. love the unique designed baskets.

basket full of squash!!! i doubt if i can carry that

next stop.... Osmena peak. named after one of the prominent political families in the province, the peak at 1,040 meters is the highest point of Cebu

360 degrees view at the peak (too bad a great fog envelops the area during our visit. curse of maiden climb, again? hehehe). still, very very happy to have a glimpse of the famed “Chocolate Hills” of Mantalongon

the view created by the surrounding peaks of Mantalongon mountain range is as awesome as the famous tourist destination of the nearby province of Bohol. very very nice...

before leaving the place, some spelunking activities. visited Kulabyaw Cave

explored this cave for almost 30 minutes. lots of balinsasayaw (swallows) inside

and Kampakas, a very short gorge marked by a grotto

ended the day with the dip in the Obong Natural Spring, a brackish natural pool shaded by a huge dalakit tree. the name of the town came from the word dalakit, a ficus tree or balete in Tagalog.

can't leave the place so stayed another night in Dalaguete and forced ourselves to wake up very early and hop a bus to Cebu City :-) birthday greetings to my friend Sonia who joined me on this trip.

Osmena Peak

12.04.11

going to Osmena peak? from Cebu City, take the South Cebu aircon bus to Dalaguete. from there, you can hire a habal-habal to Mantalongon market. a cheaper way is to take the smaller, unaircon bus near the Carbon Market to Mantalongon. from Mantalongon market, you can walk or hire a habal-habal to the jump-off of Osmena Peak. from the jump-off, a 30-minutes easy hike to the peak.

daranak falls

located in the uplands of Tanay, Rizal, this waterfall has been featured countless of times in Pinoy movies, soap operas and even TV commercials. its accessibility made it a favorite destination of barkadas, families and local tourists especially during summer.

going to Daranak Falls? proceed to Tanay town proper. from there, hire a tricycle to Daranak Falls. arrange also with the driver your return trip. also a fee of P20/head at the entrance.

*everyweek, I will feature a snapshot of an amazing place from my "baul". cheers!*

Up, up to “Mickey Mouse”

was in Baguio City for work, and since have an extra free day, i brought along Ani and finally visited one of the city’s famous landmarks – “Mickey Mouse”.

coined from Walt Disney’s famous character, Baguio City’s “Mickey Mouse” is actually an old two-disc-shaped radiotransmitters used for communications by the US Army decades ago. located in Mt. Cabuyao, the highest point of the city at 2,060+ meters, locals also refer to this site as “radar”. the said discs can be seen as far as La Union.

aside from the disc, various transmitters and telecommunications antennas are installed in the area.

since Mt Cabuyao and the nearby Mt Sto Tomas are already populated, there are public utility jeeps going to the said sites. if you have your bike (or vehicle), from the city proper proceed to Marcos Highway (formerly Palispis Hway) and then turn left to Green Valley. got lost along the way hehehe but after reviewing my map, asking directions, finally was able to reach GV.

then more than 5 kilometers uphill to Mt. Cabuyao. 95% of the road though is already concrete.

enjoy the relaxing, cool breeze and the magnificent view of Cordilleras. be mesmerized and identify the peaks of some of CAR’s famous mountains - Mt Ugo, Mt Panotoan and Mt Pulag.

a birds-eye view of the congested Baguio City (a city whose population is already 3x its carrying capacity).

lots of birds along the way. passed by small terraces intended for vegetable and strawberries. too bad its not strawberry season, tsk

still a very happy day. solo bike ride in the cordilleras can really relieve your stress :)

sorry for the photos. don’t have a camera so just relied sa powers ng aking mobile phone.

Mt Cabuyao, Benguet

11.29.11