Traveling: Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City, and Lanao del Norte Series Part 1:The Adventure Park on the mountain manicured with Pineapples at the base

My first view of the park

I have done the white water adventure in CDO twice, same goes with an overnighter tour in the beautiful island of Camigun so for me it is not thrilling anymore to indulge in those activities so in my latest trip to CDO I decided to go somewhere I have never been to before.The first thing that came to my mind are the zipline facility of Dahilayan Park in Bukidnon and the Maria Christina Falls in Iligan City.

The uneventful ride to Bukidnon

We arrived at the new Laguindinagan airport near CDO at at around 6 in the morning. All the while I thought the airport was just a renovated one but in the same location but I was surprised to find out that the fare to the city center has blown up to 199 pesos per person. The travel to town also took about an hour as far as I can recall the first two times I visited CDO the travel to the city center was just roughly 20 minutes. The driver informed me that the airport I landed on was a new one. It was only opened in June 2013. So that explains everything.

The shuttle service to Dahilayan Adventure Park

Dahilayan Adventure Park offers a shuttle service to Dahilayan from CDO and back every Saturday at a reasonable rate of 375PHP per person. This is a very good option if you are traveling alone or with just one or two more companions because hiring a van would cost something like 4000 to 5000 PHP for a day tour. Anyway, we arrived too early to spot the Shuttle at Coffeeworx Divisoria so we decided to fill our empty stomachs with sausages and eggs from the Filipino counterpart of McDonald which is an obese bee in orange overalls:p

Pineapple Plantations to your left and right. "Pineapple fields forever"

 8 A.M. came and off we boarded the bus.It took us around two hours of uneventful ride to reach Bukidnon. Bukidnon as I deduced is from the word Bukid which generally means field e.g. rice fields for the Filipino layman but I later found out that it actually means mountains. And sure thing Bukidnon is surrounded by mountains.The dominant color in this place is green and if Shrek would be here and spotted because of movement then I would be convinced that instead of being an ogre, in actuality he is a chameleon. Back to my story our bus entered a Del Monte Pineapple plantation full of well you guess it pineapple fields. I was singing non stop a parody of strawberry fields.Well you guessed it again." let me take you down where I'm going to Pineapple Fields lalala"

Ziplining in Dahilayan Adventure Park

Play like native American Indians in Dahilayan Forest Park

There's my Wigwam!

Dahilayan Adventure Park and Dahilayan Forest Park

We arrived at the park at around 10 A.M. By opening the door I realized the fact that we are already in the mountains. I can already hear Heidi singing her tunes and the bah bah of the sheep? nah! i was actually just day dreaming. I realized I am already in the mountains when I felt the cold breeze on my face. Dahilayan adventure park offers a 600 php all zip package which includes two short zip rides and an 800 M. one that is dubbed as the longest zipline in Asia. ( Unless disputed) They have newer attractions like a python roller zip and a dropzone which we opted out off.

A common sight in the park. This is pine tree wonderland :P

Dahilayan is so green!

Another green spot in Dahilayan

There are two relaxing koi ponds in the Forest park

The ziprides here were not that special for me anymore. Having tried the ziplines of the Seven lakes of Surigao and my favorite ziplines of Camp Sabros near Mount Apo of Davao. But I still suggest you try it to view the beautiful surroundings of Dahilayan in the bird's eyeview. Only trouble is the helmets they lend their guests smell like rotten fish. (Replace! Replace!)After our zip line rides we moved on to the resort adjacent to Dahilayan Adventure Park. It is called Dahilayan Forest Park. This sprawling compound gives you a playground complete with life size figures of animals and American Indians. They have a tiny tree top adventure facility which is like an obstacle course up on the small tress. I had fun feeding the kois in their ponds, basically tried out their 8 hole mini golf park, and wind down the slopes on a speedy luge ( If you have tried the luge of Sentosa, Singapore then this is nothing but it is still fun nonetheless.) 

The luge

Vintage cars

One final look

At noon, we were famished so we headed back to our first park and ordered food! There was nothing interesting to say about the food they serve at the adventure park. All I can say was I was hungry and I would devour anything served on the table. The exploration of the park was fun though so after many hours of snapping pictures. I found myself snoring in the bus. At 5 P.M. we were already on our way back to CDO.

Information:

Dahilayan Adventure Park

How to get there:

1. As of February 2013 Dahilayan Adventure Park offers a shuttle service to Dahilayan every Saturday which departs from Coffeeworx Divisoria (beside Xavier University) at 8 A.M. and departs from Dahilayan at 5 P.M. The fee is 375 PHP

2. Go to Agora bus terminal. take a bus or a van that goes to Camp Philips in Manolo Fortich Bukidnon. Once you get to Camp Philips ride on a habal-habal (motorbike with a driver so you will not drive the bike on your own) The fee is around 150-200 PHP

Activity Rates:

Ziplines (All three)- PHP600

Luge - two rounds at PHP600 with free entrance to both the park and mini-golf.

Telephone numbers: 

Zipzone Dahilayan – 0922-880-1319 

Blast from the Past!: Remembering Baguio (February 2010)

  

Since we are going to Baguio tomorrow (January 31, 2014) I would want to recall my last visit there. Here is a repost of my visit to the Summer Capital of the Philippines.

A.M. Central market then took a jeepney to la Trinidad for the strawberry farms. Pick strawberries at PHP 200 a kilo. We just took pictures and just bought a pre selected 80 pesos a kilo.

We took a  jeepney to Bell Church. The Bell Church is a Buddhist, Taoist, and  Christian temple according to Lonely Planet.It is a series of pagoda-roofed structures a little similar to the Taoist temple in Cebu. We had lunch  at the foot of the hill leading to Bell church . The store is “Nathalie’s Food Haus”  that serves delicious Filipino food at 35 pesos 

per set. Meaning 1 meat dish, 1 vegetable mix, a hefty serving of rice, and soup. Filling!

Then we headed to Mine’s View Park. We took a 
Magsaysay jeepney this time. Then walked to Mcdonald’s session road to take a jeepney to Mine’s View Park.  Not alot of  things have changed in Mine’s View Park  though. A shop at the entrance to mine’s view park  got burned and only incinireated statues remained there. The place is 
full of pasalubongs and potted plants.

I felt a little sad seeing St. Bernard’s earning a living for their masters. They were forced to pose before cameras for a fee. I believed they are so tired PETA attention please! Horses were also marketed for this though. Well the elderly 
igorots as well. I wore their traditional costume to pose before the camera for a fee. Knowing that the profit would go to  these wonderful Igorot women. We walked a bit to Good Shepherd Convent  to buy some of their famous Strawberry and ube jam guava jam, and my favorite snawballs! White milk and cashew delicacy. We took a jeepney 
back to magsaysay to go back to Dely’s inn the one beside Benguet Pine Tourist Innat Chanung street… We rested a bit for the night  activities….. At night we went to Abanao street for the Abanao  nights a series of night concerts featuring some popular rock bands.  San Miguel beer and Abanao Square, a mall on that street sponsored the  event. We had a pitcher of ice cold beer, barbecue, and innards. After some time the event got so boring so we went back to our accomodation.

Day 2

Grand street parade

I actually expected alot on the parade day but I was a little disappointed. There were not much variety and the flow was a little boring. The kids were very colorful and graceful. The culture of  the Cordilleras should be kept alive. We went to Baguio Museum to get a  glimpse of “Mountain Culture”. And as usual I was astonished. Other  people are bored with museums. Not in my case I love museums. The  repositories of culture. We headed to SM baguio just to take a look.  The mall does not need any airconditioning and the view from there is  fantastic. We had our late lunch at Jack’s Baguio Restaurant. Our  plate of chicken, pork, vegetables and rice is really filling. I  highly recommend Jack’s on Session Road. A scoop of ice cream from an  ice cream bar finished our meal. We took a jeepney at Central market  to Quezon Hills to visit Tam-Awan village, a park that has some native huts transported from different highland villages. The place is also dubbed as an artist haven.  This is evident in their galleries and  cafe.

Beside Tam-Awan village you can spot a native Ibaloi house that  is accompanied by a tiny photo gallery of native ibalois. They serve  freshly brewed mountain coffee that tasted so organic and healthy. Jen  the one who was our host there was very accomodating. Across the  street there was another art gallery worth visiting. Suddenly it got a bit dark and we saw mist in the air. Jen said ” the heaven went down to earth” wow! We headed back to smoggy ( not foggy  like Quezon hills) downtown to stroll in wright park. The dyed pink  horses are parading their”my little pony” charm and the 200+++ steps  to the mansion was inviting us to start the trek. The mansion is fascinatingly constructed on top of a hill the guards told us that if  we want to get near he have to get permits from malacanang in Manila.  Uh oh! The reflections of the pines in the lagoon is worth taking  pictures of if indeed it’s a sunny day! We wanted to party at night  but I was too tired. Time to hit the haystack.

Day 3

We went to session road one chilly morning to witness the float  parade. And I was overwhelmed. The parade was like a miniature version  of the Pasadena parade of roses which I was hooked on when I was a kid. The parade was short but it was fun….

We know it would be hard  to get a ride to the bus station so we opted to go early. The traffic was so bad and two hours was spent just hailing a taxi. We took our bus back to Manila.

All in all ” Panagbenga” was fun! So go there next year!

Traveling: My first trip in 2014. Treasures of Iloilo and Guimaras. Part 2: Beyond Iloilo: Nasadjan Falls, Igbaras

Nadsadjan Falls

Our second day started with us finding the jeepney terminal to Igbaras too soon. Too soon because the jeepney was almost full and we would not want to wait a long time for the next schedule so off we board the jeepney with the Igbaras sign right away even though we intended to have breakfast first. So off we go with our hungry selves to adventure land! The blogs that I've read mentioned that the travel time to Igbaras from Iloilo City will just roughly take 45 minutes so after 45 minutes of uneventful ride I became kind of worried, then in an hour's time I saw the town named Guimbal.

Passing by the town of Guimbal

 I know that this is the town before Igbaras so I was relieved.In this trip i've learned that  It is really true that you have to talk to locals when you travel. Treat them like your neighbors and for sure you will be rewarded. The woman beside me on the jeepney talked to me in Ilongo, a language that I am not very familiar with (I spoke in Filipino but shestill replied in Ilonggo). Good thing her actions and facial expressions made up for the lack of verbal communication. She told me we would be needing a motorbike to reach Passi which is the jump off point to Nadsajan falls.

Passi: The Jump Off Point to nadsadjan Falls. Look! There are many other attractions in this area. Too bad we had so little time.

The first things you will notice in this area are these large white rocks.

From Passi it's a five minute walk up a steep road and a 20 minute trek down to a valley that leads to the falls.  This lady went out of her way to look for a reliable motorbike driver for hire so our trip up to the falls would be super convenient. Ate Marjorie, that's her name, even brought us to a nice spot to have breakfast. After our speedy meal we found ourselves riding with the motorbike drivers to our feature destination and in 15 minutes we were already on the Nadsadjan Falls jump off point. Our motorbike drivers also served us our tour guide so it is a good deal all in all. We walked through streams, forests, and a rocky field until we heard the sound of roaring water.

The view is spectacular around the area specially when a sneak peak of the falls appeared before us. From afar the falls look like it is slanted and leaning to the left because what is exposed is a view of the side of falls instead of the front. There is an environmental challege that some of the locals are worried about because a hydroelectric powerplant is going to be constructed here and it is already evident in the dominance of trucks and cranes around the area. There is even one on top of the brown mountain. Brown because the trees were already removed and denudation is  already evident.

We were running out of time know so we sat on our motorbikes again  let our guides speed up our vehicles to a hanging bridge where more than ten people died in an accident.We stopped here, reflected and offered some prayer, and crossed the not so stable hanging bridge. More than ten people died here when a truck loaded with passengers tried to cross the flooded river but its engine stopped in the middle of the flood so you know what happens next right?

Anyway, We headed back to Igbaras town, transferred to a tricycle that took us to Miagao church. Our buts got sore after 15 minutes of riding to the beautiful UNESCO Heritage site.After taking pictures, a jeepney conveyed us to Mohon where we took a tricycle to Breakthrough Restaurant in Oton. I finally had my oysters before we headed back to Iloilo city to get our bags and head back to the airport.

Treasures of Iloilo and Guimaras (Part 2)

Traveling: My first trip in 2014. Treasures of Iloilo and Guimaras. Part 1: Guimaras at day and Iloilo at night

Nathan of Traveling and in Between with fellow travelers Gracey and Romel in the Ruins of Guisi Lighthouse

Flashback:

The last time I set foot on Guimaras and Iloilo was in June 2009.That was 4 years ago so I needed to review what happened during that time. That trip was 3 days all in all so we were able to sleep for a night in Guimaras and another night in Iloilo. I remember that the highlight of the tour was island hopping by outrigger boat. We visited several islands, a floating fisheries research center, and a turtle sanctuary (I know I lifted one giant turtle then and oh boy I've never felt so guilty in my life.) We stayed at a mountain resort because most of the resorts then were fully booked. Good thing the mountain resort was remarkable so we had so much fun up in the breezy resort (Valle Verde Mountain Resort) the only downside was we could not enjoy the beach because it was so far from our chosen overnight abode. We also checked out the Trappist monastery, the Mango plantation, the(eternally) closed and under renovation museum, and of course tasted their sweet mangoes.

So let me now recall what we did in Iloilo. Oh well, we ate the sumptuous Batchoy (Ba Chui) which is a kind of gourmet noodle soup with slivers of liver and crisped pork skin, explored streets of rotting buildings full of colonial character, and photographed historic churches of the different towns in and near the city.

By browsing pictures I took during my first visit there, I was reminded that we have not really and thoroughly explored the city and the nearby island so this new trip highlighted the fact that there is truly something more in Iloilo and Guimaras.

The itinerary and budget I made that worked! Although with some tweaks here and there.

This Time Around...

Since this new trip is just a weekender one,I have to be meticulous in choosing the spots that I would like to see in my checklist. I came up with an itinerary that included the 18th century Guisi lighthouse of Guimaras and Nadsadjan Falls of Igbaras Iloilo.

We are all three in the group, and one companion is flying-in a day earlier. Gracey, that's my friend, flew from Manila to Iloilo Friday afternoon to make herself well-rested in the heart of the city before the action packed schedule commence the next day. We arrived at One Lourdes Dormitel at 6 in the morning the next day to leave our bags and pick up Gracey. ( Review of One Lourdes Dormitory on the next post amigo!) We took a jeepney (more on Iloilo Jeepneys later) that goes to Ortiz wharf, then took a passenger outrigger boat to Jordan ( pronounced as Hordan) and immediately look for someone who can tour us around the island using a tricycle. So off we boarded Kuya Sauro's super tricycle on a speedy trip of the places we have not been to in Guimaras. Kuya Sauro took us to the smallest Plaza which he said is not a valid claim anymore because (also according to him) the record was broken by another town somewhere. ( If you know which plaza gained the title please comment :))

This used to be the Smallest Plaza in the Philippines. I wonder where you can find the new record holder?

Next stop was a small eatery where we had our breakfast, then the Trappist Monastery, only because we needed to get our hands on snacks prepared by the monks ( More on Trappist monks later.). I bought Mango otap (crispy and crumbly biscuits), guava jelly, and mango biscocho (toasted bread).

The Trappist Monastery of Guimaras. The monks here surely make sinful deserts.

The next one was a secluded waterfall called Sadsad. Sadsad is a Filipino word which is roughly translated as cascade or to crash and that definitely explains not just how the waterfall looks like but also the method of reaching it. It is a steep climb but not to the extreme.

The surprise which is "Sadsad falls"

Next on our list was the historic Guisi Lighthouse which delighted us non-stop. It is already in ruins but there is this sense of mystery and wonder when you see it. Nearby is a nice white beach with a remarkable view.

The mighty but worn out (what a contrast!) Guisi Lighthouse

With a view of a beach in Guisi

Our Guisi trip ended with coconut water gulping... Refreshing!

This quenched our thirst. Yum!

We're done with Guisi but we are still far from ending this trip. Afte our brief respite we boarded our super tricycle again to Raymen beach resort in Alubihod beach. This is where we had our lunch of Fish sinigang (fish sour soup), fried calamari rings, and Chopsuey. We wanted to see the gigantic groupers of Guimaras so we rented a boat that would take us to SEAFDEC or Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center located offshore. Yes, it is a floating research facility. The 15 minute boat ride back to the shore was scary. The waves were turbulent and the boat felt unsafe. We could finally breathe easily when the boat touched the shore (Whew!).  At 4 o'clock in the afternoon we were already at Pit-Stop restaurant where wehad our first taste of the unique Mango Pizza. It was followed by a brief stop at a Mango store where Gracey bought 5 kilos of delicious green mangoes. and boy that was heavy. We were already at the port come 5:30PM and back to our Iloilo accomadion at 6pm. We rested a bit and at 7:00 PM we were already out on the street hailing a jeepney to Iloilo's prime party place ccallled "Smallville. We strolled around the compound while deciding where to have dinner. After a brief of thinking we decided to have our fill at Afrique's. Afrique’s is a well-lit Italian restaurant with a cozy ambiance. We had Carbonara, Spahetti Italiana with meatballs, and a big slab of baby back ribs barbecue. After dinner we headed to MO2 to listen to a show band perform. We were there al fresco and the temperature is chilly at 12 degrees. At 10:30 We were already back to our room and ready to snore.

(To be continued...)

snapshots:

In Guisi. I could have swam but it was cold.... brrrr....

Guisi Beach

Another view of the beach in Guisi

Guisi Lighthouse with the ruins

You can find seas of Cogon grass in many spots in Guimaras