Asa ka before ECQ?

Every one of us has a story before and even during ECQ, it may be funny, difficult, or maybe sad. Well, whatever story you had before ECQ, good luck as soon as possible everything 😃😂 joke lang. Surely you don't want to put an end to that story especially if it's about adventure. I know you've been craving mountain, beach, fresh air, and fog that touches your skin.

It's been more than 30 days since Cebu province and other places are under Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ). As laagan, wanderer, adventurer, or whatever alias you call to yourself, one thing we both miss is our adventures like hiking, camping, beaching, and our laag buddies yes? 

How's your days during ECQ? Kutob nalang throwback no? Well, I feel you mate😃😂, as much as we would love to go to adventure but better to stay indoor for our safety and to everyone. 

Here, close your eyes, imagine your seating right in front of your tent somewhere in your favorite campsite, feel the breeze of the fresh air that touches your skin, listen to nothing but the song sang by the birds, hear not the noise pollution but the screaming cows, carabaos, goats and other animals that we commonly encounter in the mountain. Isn't it amazing? Peace of mind yea?

So, back on the question, "Asa ka before ECQ?" Before this pandemic spread?

A month before ECQ has been implemented, we were able to have our major climb in Mt. Pulag in Benguet. We're so thankful and lucky kay wala jud tawn na cancel and we are all safe ra. 

During the first or second week of March a few days before enhance community quarantine (ECQ) has been announced, we had this sabot to make camping somewhere out there with friends during our hike sa Mt. Pulag. Since most of them haven't got to Lake Bensis in Toledo yet, we have all agreed to spend a night in Lake Bensis. Basically, hapit jud ni ma cancel on the day mismo sa laag due to unexpected circumstances but maayo nalang kay wala ra jud na cancel. 

Few days right before ECQ has been implemented, we had our camping in Lake Bensis with Renson, Hards, Jolina, Jore, Brad, Elli, and friends. We had so much fun especially during the "S game", promise maka gamay gyud samot ug IQ ang S game 😃😂. 

Conquering Mt. Pulag as the Philippines 3rd Highest Peak via Akiki – Ambangeng Trail

Let's start with, how we celebrate our Valentines day? 

This is our kind of Valentines Day

Mount Pulag is Luzon’s highest peak at 2,926 metres above sea level. The borders between the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao, and Nueva Vizcaya meet at the mountain's peak. The peak of the mountain is located in the Municipality of Kabayan Province of Benguet. It is the third highest mountain in the Philippines, next to Mt. Apo and Mt. Dulang-dulang.

About Mt. Pulag

Mount Pulag is famous for its "sea of clouds" and the view of the Milky Way Galaxy at dawn, which has attracted many tourists who wish to see the "other-worldly" scenery. The entire mountain is believed to be the home to the tinmongao spirits and is the sacred resting ground of the souls of the Ibaloi people and other ethnic peoples in the area.

It is the natural habitat of the endemic Dwarf Bamboo, As the highest mountain in Luzon, Mount Pulag attracts a lot of mountain climbers. Highlights of the climb include the montane forests and the grassland summit with its "sea of clouds" phenomenon. There are four major trails up the summit: the Ambangeg, Akiki, and Tawangan trails from Benguet and the Ambaguio trail from Nueva Vizcaya. These trails are managed by the Mount Pulag National Park, under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Among of these trails, Akiki trail is the most difficult one for its assualt trail from Eddet camp site to Akiki camp site until the summit of Mt. Pulag.

MT. MAGO: FIRST CAMPING OF YEAR 2020

Its been a very long time since I stopped in blogging, murag almost 1 year naman siguru. Why I stop? Gikapoy lang. Lol! Anyways, last week (second week of January), we've been looking for a place to hide and to stay overnight through camping. Supposedly, adto unta mi sa Lake Bensis sa Toledo with Lost Lokal peeps, however, we realized na naa diay sad event sa Bensis on the same day. So, we have decided nga sa Mt. Mago nalang gyud mi mag camping.

Camping Experience

Tugnaw, Kamang, and Night trekking

Technically, nahimong night trek kay around 4pm naman me na abot sa Carmen tapos namalit pag pang dinner and foods for our breakfast. As soon we or I arrived in Carmen, there I met my new friends, sir Eli and Maam Ching friends of Lost Lokal peeps (Renson and Hardilene).

CUERNOS DE NEGROS: CONQUERING THE HEARTRENDING TRAIL IN MT. TALINIS

Ganahan kag sakit? Adto tas Negros, sa Mt. Talinis mag hike. 

I'm sure you already know where Mt. Talinis is, yes? If not, Mt. Talinis is located in Negros Oriental. Mount Talinis, also known as the Cuernos de Negros, is a complex volcano in the Philippine province of Negros Oriental. At about 1,903 meters above sea level, it is the second-highest mountain on Negros Island after Mount Kanlaon. The volcano is located 9 km southwest of the municipality of Valencia; and 20 km from Dumaguete City, the capital of the province.

It's almost a year before na blog naku ni nga hike, technically this is the second major climb  I had with some of my Team sa Laag Bisaya. I have nothing much to say about this hike, aside sa super kapoy ug sakit sa lawas. 

A SEAMLESS NIGHT TREK TO MT. KALBASAAN

It's been 3 months since I went away from Cebu City. I missed a lot of things here, missed my friends, mountain adventures with them and so on and so forth. I also missed visiting my family in Bohol, basically, again I missed a lot of things here in the Visayas. 

Yes, I had a tough and good experience in Baguio during my time there. I learned how to survive on my own, live on my own, do things on my own and decide for things on my own. Technically, one reason why I went there alone is I wanna prove in myself that I can live independently. 

After 3 months in Baguio City, I finally went back to Cebu City. Just last 26th of September  I flew back here alone, naka kamiss din yung bisaya dialect yung marinig sa tainga natin everyday pero hindi ko na miss yung traffic at init sa Cebu. Lol! A day after my flight here, I went to Bohol to visit my mama, of course, family first then after 2 days I went back to Cebu to do my first trek after 3 months of being away. 

Conquering Eastern Visayas' Highest and Treacherous Peak : Mt. Aminduen/Alto Peak

Every mountaineers dream is to experience major climb in different places and in different mountains. No matter how high the peak is and how tough the trail is, kay laagan man lage, go lang ng go. Visayas may not have the title for having the highest peak in the Philippines but it is well known for its spectacular peaks. 

Cebu has Osmeña Peak which is the highest peak in Cebu Province, but climbing is very hmmmm. It’s for you to find out.

The Peak

Alto Peak or commonly known as Mt. Aminduen is located in Brgy. Cabintan, Ormoc City which is 1.5 hrs away from the city proper. Mt. Aminduen is known to be the highest peak in Eastern Visayas at 1332 MASL (meter above sea level).

Trails to Alto Peak

There were actually two trails going to Alto Peak, one was via the abandoned road (as per guide/tourism) and the other one was via Lake Janagdan traverse to junction then to Alto peak. The first trail is not that difficult or adventurous, it may be just your regular trail when

Alegria's Spectacular Gems for Summer: Camp at Mt. Lanaya, Trek to Kalo-Kalo Peak, and Swim to Cambais Falls

Summer is Here! Trek+Camp+Swim was the second major event we had. The first one was the Pre-Hearts Day held in the City of Naga. The same as the previous event , it was done successfully and peacefully. On behalf of Laag Bisaya Team, I would like to say thank you to those who attended and contributed to the success of the event. Thank you so much for your cooperation and following the simple bukid rules.

Basically, the event should have 52 joiners and 13 organizers. Unfortunately, there were more than 20 laagans who did not made it due to some circumstances. But if the attendance were complete, surely we could have had a hard time in going to Alegria since most of the buses going there can only accommodate 40-50 passengers.

Mt. Lanaya's Ocular: Alegria's friendly and Grassy Scenery Campsite

SECURITY is our number one priority in every event we've hosted. No matter how near or far the event place is or no matter how easy the trail is, we always do ocular. We do ocular to double check how safe the place is, to check the proper place where we can set up our camping tents, to assigned a designated cooking place and to check how difficult the trail is. Aside from this, we also need to see the captain or person in charge to ask an approval for formality and to provide our intent as to why we do this activity in their place. 
 

Trail going to Lanaya's Campsite

So, just last Sunday, the 7th, we had our ocular activity in both campsite and in the Kalo-Kalo peak. We leave Cebu at exactly 250 am via series bus and we arrived in Brgy. Legazpi, Alegria at 630 in the morning. Inig abot gyud dayon sa Brgy. Legazpi, there's a place where we need to register and pay the guide and entrance fee. During our ocular, we had to pay P150.00 each (P100.00 for the guide and P50.00 for the entrance. We tried

City of Naga: Mt. Kabuwan - Mt. Naupa : Pre-Hearts Day Trek + Camp

What a great day to take a break! So the amazing Laag Bisaya team decided to take a break in the mountains.

Wait ✋

What?!

Yes, you read it right. To the mountains we go!

And have a break from the busy streets, noisy and polluted city life and of course from the work stress. So what and who are you waiting for?

C'mon let's get this adventure started! Thanks weather for cooperating! 😂 and before I forget (just like what he did, CHAROT! 😂😂) This also serves as an advance celebration for Valentines Day, so as you can see it is entitled as PRE-HEARTS DAY TREK + CAMP. TAH! Manglakaw na ta! 😂😎

So to start, let's have a ride. A special one (as special as you) from Cebu South Bus Terminal going to the jump-off area Skina Apid Cantabaco Toledo City. So guys plite lang tag sakto noh, lisod muhatag ug tibuok nya di masuklian murag feelings nimo para niya. BOOM! CHAROT LANG!

A day of chilling with awesome mates in the company

Most of the people around do love beaching, especially during summer. Chilling in a crystal clear and blue water with white fine sand is everyone's dream.  It may be not easy to go outside of the City especially if you are working person but as what others said: "Kung gusto may paraan, Kung ayaw may dahilan". Despite of my hectic schedule, I do manage to have a little break just to balance my lifestyle. Lol. Few days before this event, I was imagining myself, setting up a tent, laying in the sand my with my wave music album in Spotify is played and a cold beer on my side. That imagination came to reality when I and my classmates (Angel, Vince, and Denise) went to Lambog Beach in Badian.

About Badian

Badian is located in the western part of Cebu province. It is 106 kilometers away from Cebu City via Cebu S Rd/Natalio B. Bacalso S National Hwy and Santander - Barili - Toledo Rd. There are heaps of tourist attraction in Badian that you may want to visit. Kawasan Falls is the most popular tourist destination in the municipality of Badian, it is one of the most visited and crowded for its magnificent and amazing waterfalls. Aside from Kawasan Falls, there is also other tourist attraction that you may want to add to your list, like the Lambog beach, Kansanto spring and much more. Trekking to Kandungao peak from Badian is also possible, but it may be a kind of costly trip since you have to have a ride a single motorbike going to a small village where the jump off is located. 

About our Laag

We went to Badian right after my Saturday shift via Ceres bus. Despite of very hot day, I have no choice but to ride an unairconditioned bus because my mates are afraid of having seasick in the middle of our travel. We safely arrived in Badian around 12 nn which is lunch time, so from Badian national road, we have to ride a tricycle going to Lambog beach. There's nothing to worry about the foods, accommodations and taking shower because you really have a super easy access in the place. There is no need to bring foods for there is small sari-sari store in the place wherein you can but food or eat. If you are microphone lover then you can have a sing along with your favorite track. The people there are really helpful and approachable.

A friendly hike and camping in Mt. Kabuwan, Naga City

Adventure is like love. We already knew the risk and possible outcome but we didn't mind it and we just go for it anyway. Adventure can be memorable through struggles, through happiness or both. They say, 90% of trekking is struggles and 10% is happiness. This is somehow true or maybe depends on the trail.

Setting of Facebook event

Before the said event, I made a facebook event via my facebook page @laagbisaya. That was the very first time making/organizing a Facebook event. Most of the time, I go laag just a day before the actual date but this time it's different. I intentionally made this event to meet new friends and I am so glad that there were heaps of person who got interested and join in the event. I had 12 acquaintance along the trial, some of them are hardcore in terms of hiking but mostly are first timers.

A new friend (Win) and hardcore in terms of hiking

Dalaguete: The Epic Mis-Routed Laag with so much Ninja Moves

Hello. Summer is about to end so soon and I'm so thankful if it will end na 'cause its not easy to struggle everyday with the damn hot sun. Escaping from the city is everyone's desire nowadays due to high/hot temperature. We had this pretty amazing and epic trip in Dalaguete Cebu when unexpected things happened. Actually, we didn't plan for this trip and no preparation at all unlike with the other Laags.  It was our lunch time when Felimae and Jessa (my workmates) decided to go to Dalaguete. The next day, right after our shift's Friday the 5th of May we went to Southern part of Cebu. It was really my intention to go somewhere far from the City because I was so stressed after my midterm exams. You know being full time student and full time employee is not that easy. I really  need to have a life style balance the reason why I went out far from the city often times to relieve my stress. Other person can just relieve their stress just by eating something, go window shopping or etc but I'm not that kind of person unfortunately.

Municipality of Dalaguete

I don't know if you guys already heard about Dalaguete Beach Park in Dalaguete Cebu. This article is basically something about Dalaguete Beach Park and our epic ninja moves. The municipality of Dalaguete is located 84 kilometers away from Cebu City proper and the travelling time will take more or less 3 hours via sunrays or ceries bus. Guys, when you hear about Dalaguete, first thing that will come out into your mind is Osmenia Peak, I am pretty sure to that. Other stunning peak that is located in Dalaguete is Kandungao Peak. It was a few miles away from Osmenia Peak. I actually wrote a short story aboutour laag in Kandungao peak, you may check it here. 

Dalaguete Beach Park

In this Laag we didn't went to Osmenia Peak or any mountains in Dalaguete, we went to Dalaguete Beach Park and as per agreement we will go to Coal Mountain Resort the next morning. We spent our night in Dalaguete Beach Park, of course brought our sleeping gears (tent, pillows and etc). Before we went to the beach to set up our tent and to sleep, we stayed in Bart's Resto grill just a walking distance from the beach, to eat our dinner and we also had a budgeted drink. Lol! And of course we had so much fun in everyone's favorite part, the videoke. lol! We stayed there and had fun until 12 midnight and sooner went to Beach Park to set up our tent but the fun didn't end there because Rhona brought one bottle of RH. hahaha. We had a little drink in the beach and I took a walk in the shore. Sooner, the guys fell asleep and I am the one standing. I swum/wade in the sea around 1 am alone, its a little bit creepy knowing that someone died in the place because he/she was drowned.

Chasing sun rise

The place is really good for camping because you can definitely see the sun rise early morning. We are not the only group who wanders the place since there were also a few groups who stayed and spent their night in the beach. I don't exactly know what is the scenario during day time or during normal operation time since we left the place before 6 am. 

Tabogon : Featuring Archt. Raagas's Rest House

G’day mate! How was your summer so far? Mine is so stressful due to a hectic schedule, char Lol. But seriously I was busy with my studies and at the same time for my work. I wanna share something about what I’ve experienced in Tabogon in the Northern part of Cebu. As we all know, living in the city during the summer season is not easy, especially when you’re stuck in the middle of the traffic, it is very stressful and can cause frustration to people around. Stressful in a way that we are experiencing a very hot season and that is why we need to hang out sometime or “kung may time”, go to a place to relax or to cool yourself down. I am pretty sure that I’m not the only one who is craving for a place to relax with magnificent cold water such as cold spring or a water falls or even sea water. But for me, beaching is not a good idea because of the very hot temperature. But of course, it will depend on your preference.

Municipality of Tabogon

Tabogon is one of the municipality under 4th district in Cebu province. It is more likely 90 kilometers away from Cebu City proper and the travel period will take more or less 3 hours depends on the traffic. One spot that I know in Tabogon is their enchanted Guiwanon Cold Spring. It is located in a few distance from Tabogon proper. Guiwanon Spring is almost the same with Ubong Spring in Dalaguete (Southern part of Cebu). The spring is connected directly to the sea and of course, the water is kinda salty and most especially the attractive and enchanted Balete tree.

Balete Tree

Balete tree (also known as Balite or Baliti) are several species of the trees in the Philippines from the genus Ficus that are broadly referred to as balete in the local language. There are heaps of freaky story about balite trees but for me, all of them are just fairy tale and was made by old folks. Guiwanon Cold Spring is 4 feet in depth when low tide and has estimated the depth of 7 feet when high tide. We went there early in the morning because we’re expecting that no guest yet during early morning but unfortunately we are wrong, absolutely wrong! A weekend trip is not an ideal time when visiting the place because there are heaps of tourists from other or different places.

Apo Island: A Total Package for Perfect Unplanned Getaway

Traveling is a perfect a way of collecting memories, having an awesome experience, having new friends and for others, its a way of moving on from one thing to another.
There were some instances wherein our organized travel will be ruin, for instances, an unexpected weather. As we all know, not all the time that the weather can be our friend, sometimes the weather is our secret enemy.

My friends (Zaza, Ness, and Judy)will supposedly go to Camiguin Island to explore its majestic spots, however, due to bad weather condition, they have no choice but to change the plan.  It was cold morning when my friends Ness and Zaza called and asked to go with them to Dumaguete. With no plan and almost empty pocket, I go with them and just enjoy the travel. 

At 2:00 pm the same day we ride series bus direct to Dumaguete City. We stayed in El Oriente resort for 1000.00 Php per night, standard room

It was a rainy night when we arrived in Dumaguete City so I can't exactly describe the place. From bus terminal we ride a tricycle to El Oriente where we stayed overnight. Supposedly, we will go stay at Vintage Inn, however, they are fully booked that time. 

Before lights off, we did some research about tourist spots nearby, then we found an article about Apo Island.  We did a quick research about it next day morning, we went to the place.

Basically, we travel few miles away from Dumaguete proper. The travel from Dumaguete proper to Dauin takes more or less 30-45 minutes via jeepney for 20.00 Php.