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.