Most of my friends who've been to Cebu were all about Oslob and whale watching. Me, being the boring landlubber I am would not hear the end of it so in my own way found ourselves an activity le boyfriend could not resist. Our first "hike". I also find it charming that none of my officemates (who are much more travelled than I am) haven't been, not as much as heard of the place. I love it already.
+ Osmena's Peak +
The peak is situated in Dalaguete, a province 3 hours away from the city. Luckily most of the blogs I read about it speaks of only one bus to take and 2 max rides of habal-habal (motorcycle) depending on your preference. But in one of my research I found another way which would involve a convenient option. And because of that we ended up going around in circles for a good enough time before we managed to get it right. As we were on the trail that day Reagan and I were fooling around on this idea and here I am writing about it:
The Ultimate Time Consuming, Budget Depleting Guide to Dalaguete
1. Hail a cab to go to Carbon Market (as said by one of the blogs, figured this was faster)
2. Talk to the cab driver if there really are Dalaguete buses there and be convinced that there is none
3. Agree to be taken to a shuttle terminal that won't look like they do go there at all
4. Talk to one of the barkers and be convinced again that you got the wrong terminal
5. Take the jeep that would eventually take you to South Terminal
6. Not knowing where to drop off and realizing you passed it at the crossing, walk back to the pedestrian crossing.
7. Look for the bus going to "Bato" which differs each time you talk to a different conductor/driver.
8. FINALLY getting the bus right, but deliberately speaking Dalaguete as DA LA GE TE instead of how the locals call it DA LA GIT to let them know you don't speak their dialect.
9. Sit for 3 hours, sleep while you're at it and get off at the junction. It is the first stop after a string of resorts which looks like a market and had too many of a motorcycle parking at the left.
10. Speak of Osmena's Peak and be ushered to said parking lot of motors to anyone who is available and never asked how much they are pricing you.
11. Be convinced that you are not stepping foot at the market even at your request (sad face!)
12. Pay 500 for the round trip and be dropped off to a bulalohan you have no craving for.
Mantalongon Junction
So anyway, we managed to hike to a peak that's a bit far from where everyone else. We decided to go to one that had people on it already (to make sure that that is really hikeable) and lingered there for a while. It is really cold, the view is so pretty up here as well all that walking made it worth it. My lungs are totally digging this.
Most of the bloggers who have been there were all up for getting a guide "to help" the students who do it for you.What they don't say is how everyone is practically tolerating it, and that the peak is littered with them at every turn making you feel guilty of not giving them an allowance because you don't get them as a guide. They even have the same lines!! The fact that there is no need for one other than the promise that they know how to take photos of you at the best angles is not exactly what most tourists prefer, e.g. us. I get it, really but we want this time for ourselves. I don't want someone lingering over "our moment"especially for this one that's almost impossible to get lost, nor needing any help for. Not everyone's interested in getting a new FB profile photo at an angle I seriously doubt only their guides can offer. The thing is they have the peak for free, there are no maintenance involved (even the toilet is to pay for) and they are already charging us for entrance. Why not give that money to those kids first hand so they can play, instead of tolerating tourists who just want an artsy photo, right?**
When we came back to the Mantalongon Junction, we decided to walk some bit first. We ended up at a baywalk, which was at the area where the University of Dalaguete is as well. It looks like they're improving the area by now. Maybe in 2-3 years stops this area would be unrecognizable, filled with commercial spots since the area is quite barren. Hope they keep the water clean though!
**Before you go hating on me we did give a random kid some money just for the sake of it. But this is after we were done and we're already hiking down.
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