Malasag Eco Village - Cagayan de Oro

I’ll be traveling for about a week to visit my sister in Cebu and my bestfriend Mer and grandparents in Cagayan de Oro. I’m excited to visit both places but I’m anxious to see my grandparents too. The last time I visited them was when Peter and I did the Visayas-Mindanao trip  summer of 2005. For three weeks, we hopped from CEBU (Part I, Part II, Part III) to DUMAGUETE to BOHOL toSURIGAO to CAMIGUIN   to BUKIDNON and lastly, to CAGAYAN DE ORO. I know, it was so long ago. And looking back, I realize that I never got to blog about  the last part of that particular trip.  

Anyway, the last time I was there, I was blonde. Yup, you read that right. I was blonde. I was so blonde and so dark that the moment Peter and I went to Limket Kai Mall to do some shopping, taxi drivers were calling us in English asking if we want a ride. They thought we were foreigners! Hahahaha!  You can read my blog post on SURIGAO and you’ll know why I dyed my hair blonde. Hehehe.

I was with my husband Peter and my parents at that time. We stayed for only a few days, just enough to visit our farm in Bukidnon and to  check out Malasag Eco Park.

Exploring Malasag Eco Park

Bukidnon - Little Baguio of the South

Pineapple…the ultimate symbol of Bukidnon

If you’re already somewhere in Northern Mindanao, like Cagayan de Oro for instance, perhaps you might want to go up the mountains and visit Bukidnon. It is a mere  25-minute ride from the city, a bit longer if you are commuting and depending  on city traffic, of course. Just like Baguio, the air is  refreshing and the view of the sea below is just simply breathtaking, similar to the view ofPuerto Galera as we went up Tamaraw Falls before.

My grandparents’ old farm house is still there and it’s been refurbished!

   Another farm house was built right across the old one in 2005.

Katibawasan Falls, Camiguin, The Island of Fire (Part II)

The time we spent at Camiguin’s famous sandbar, White Island, was really amazing. But come midday, we all had to go back to our resort for  a quick lunch before we finally visited all the other notable tourist spots in the area…

Enjoying the natural scenery…

 

Taking a refreshing dip and relishing the greenery all around us…

Camiguin, The Island of Fire (Part I)

 The famous serpentine White Island with Camiguin’s Mt. Hibok-Hibok (its only active volcano) in the background

To officially welcome summer, I’d like to do a feature on Camiguin, a quaint little island north of Mindanao, which I’m very fond of. The very  first time I’ve been there was when I was six years old.  My grandmother and I used to visit the place when she was still serving as the Dep.Ed. Superintendent of the region. It didn’t really change that much over the years. The air is still fresh, the people are still as friendly and the sites are still as breathtaking as I remember them to be. 

L: Riding a bus from CDO to Balingoan Port; R: Arrival at Benoni Port in Camiguin

The island is said to be born of fire because of its seven (seven!) volcanoes. Had I not seen hardened  lava rocks all over the island, I would not have believed it to be so. How freakishly awesome, right?

Malimono Beach Surigao del Norte (Vis-Min Tour)

The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. I’ve already posted the first, second, and third legs of our trip (Cebu ,Dumaguete, and Bohol). Now, let’s check out Surigao Part II. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

~~~oOo~~~

Enjoying Malimono Beach with My Family…

The next day, our relatives brought us to Malimono Beach which was way farther than Mabua. We passed by cliffs that gave us such  a beautiful view of the sea below. It was just quite scary coz the roads weren’t paved just yet. Finally, we arrived and the first thing I noticed was the beach (of course!). This time, there were many pebbles much smaller than those in Anilao. The second thing I noticed was the quality of the water. It looked quite fuzzy. When I snorkeled, I realized why. Just like in Coron’s Twin Lagoon, the water there was a mixture of hot and cold. So I couldn’t get a good view of the fishes underwater due to this varying temperatures. I think it was the sea that was warm while the water coming from an estuary was the one that was cold. And when they mix, they gave us this fuzzy eerie look. Oh well, we just enjoyed our little picnic there until it was time to go.

Mabua Beach Surigao del Norte (Vis-Min Tour)

The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. I’ve already posted the first, second, and third legs of our trip (Cebu ,Dumaguete, and Bohol). Now, let’s check out Surigao Part I. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

~~~oOo~~~

 
We met up with my Dad while waiting for our boat ride.

So from Alona, we took the same tricycle that brought us to Danao on our first day in Bohol and was then taking us back to the pier where we boarded the Supercat going to Cebu to first meet with my parents before boarding Superferry that will bring us to Surigao. Upon arrival, we were met by my uncle who brought us to the rest house my Lola Acion (who came all the way from London) built for her family. Obviously, she’s (and my aunts from UK) the one with the money in the family. We stayed with them for five days and boy… what a little (mis)adventure we had!

 

 I was feeling a bit excited when we first arrived on the land of my forefathers…

Could I pass for a haciendera or just a simple farm girl? What do you think???

Bohol Tour - Balicasag Island

The next series of travelogues that I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation, touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago. This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. I've already posted the first and second legs of our trip (Cebu and Dumaguete). Now, let's check out Bohol PART IV. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

~~~oOo~~~

On the last day of our Bohol adventure tour, Peter and I woke up as early as 6am in order to catch the 7am boat which we rented for island hopping that morning. The half day P900 boat ride brought us to two islands: Balicasag and Virgin. Crossing the semi-wavy waters of Panglao on that cloudy morning was quite refreshing. I was a bit worried though that if the sun won't shine soon, Peter & I might not be able to enjoy this island hopping trip. Thank God, the sun did show its face upon our arrival on the first island, Balicasag, and boy, what spectacular sights we saw!

Alona Kew in Bohol - VisMin Tour 3rd Leg

The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. I’ve already posted the first and second legs of our trip (Cebu andDumaguete). Now, let’s check out Bohol PART III. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

 ~~~oOo~~~

 

Arrival at Alona Kew… waiting for the reception staff to process our payment 

This is theview that greets us everytime we go out of our cottage…
 

In the afternoon, after our trip to the different tourist spots in Bohol, we transfered to a bigger resort along Alona in Panglao — Alona Kew White Beach Resort. Our contact person there was a man named Noli (09205566597) who took care of us the whole time we were there. Even their front desk staff was very kind and accommodating (038-50290).

 

 Noli showed us the rest of the resort… This is our “love nest”… We later on moved our beds together.

We stayed there for three days and 2 nights before moving on to another destination.  Alona Kew is stationed right along Alona Beach where a lot of other resorts are stretched out. What’s good about this resort is that you get to have a homey feel to it. They have a lot of cottages available of varying sizes, depending on the number of people who will be staying per soom. In the middle of the resort, they have a huge swimming pool where you can swim and frolick, even at night, if you don’t want to stay by the beach. They also have a restaurant where you can order delectable  Pinoy food  at reasonable prices. And if you try to explore the streets at the back of the resort, there are convenience stores lined up that sells groceries, beach products and what-nots. You’ll never run out of stuff for your various needs.

   

This is the view of Alona Kew Restaurant from the back which is just beside numerous grocery shops…..         

Bohol Tourist Spots - VisMin Tour 3rd Leg

The next series of travelogues that  I will be sharing with you consist of three weeks worth of vacation,  touring parts of Visayas and Mindanao two summers ago.  This was the time when both of us were able to scrimp the P40,000 we saved up for this adventure and learned the art of backpacking by experience. I’ve already posted the first and second legs of our trip (Cebu and Dumaguete). Now, let’s check out Bohol PART II. Come, join us on our journey and explore the beauty of our country. Maybe next time, we can do a backpack tour of Asia and Europe as well. *crossing our fingers now*

~~~oOo~~~

Early the next morning, the tricycle driver who drove us to Calypso was also the one who picked us from the resort and drove us to all the beautiful sites around Bohol. Yes, the drive was quite slow but we were in no hurry anyway and we only paid him P1000 for it. Furthermore, Bohol was so clean then and the air was so fresh. We might as well enjoy it, right? Anyway, these were the places we visited:

Blood Compact Site

    

 

 

Old Baclayon Church and Museum

They didn’t allow us to bring our cameras inside the musem. When we got in, it was no wonder. There really weren’t anything spectacular inside… just a bunch of old stuff like vintage priest clothes, linens and other garments, statues of saints, etc.