TEAM ADRENALINE ROMANCE have walked
the entirety of the first half of the Cebu Highlands Trail before 2018 ended.
For the last four sets of weekends, Gian Carlo, Sheila Mei and their friend,
Apol, have crossed over “no man’s land” from Mount Manunggal, Balamban to
Caurasan, Carmen, leaving nothing but goodwill and the thawing away of distrust
that locals usually heaped on strangers.
After nailing Segment IV, they had consciously and purposely accumulated a total of 207.39 kilometers, a modest achievement but which, nevertheless, will increase, as their sights are now focused on the snaring of this great prize which only two people have so far achieved. The CHT is a difficult challenge and hard to wrestle. As 2019 entered, their plans of finishing the CHT are on due course.
At 05:00 of January 12, 2019, we all met at the Cebu South Bus Terminal. The bus left Cebu City at 05:30 for Dalaguete. We dropped off at the road corner at 07:45 where we found a restaurant. At 08:30, we rode on motorcycles-for-hire bound for the village of Mantalongon, Dalaguete. We arrived at 9:15 and set about buying the needs for our meals which we would consume along Segment V.
Segment V starts here in Mantalongon
and terminate at Upper Beceril, Boljoon. This is two days with Nug-as, Alcoy as
our resting place in between. Mantalongon has a huge public market where all
the vegetables grown from around here are sold which is then distributed to the
cities, towns and supermarkets. When we have bought enough vegetables and
spices, we start our journey to the south at 09:30.
We left the very busy vegetable market and followed an asphalt pavement that became concrete. This is the other side of Mantalongon that barely had a visit by tourists. Mantalongon is also famous for being the jump-off point to Osmeña Peak, Cebu’s highest point. In the old days we walked from the market to the campsite which took us three hours. Nowadays, the trailhead is just a fifteen minute walk.
The features you see around Osmeña Peak are everywhere even on this farm road, but much closer. Big baskets full of cabbages over the brim, some standing four feet high, are whisked from farms to the markets on motorcycles, a basket rigged on each side with ropes. It passes by you with the driver in full concentration on the road and his balance. Many such baskets wait for their turn beside the road.
We pass by the village of Langkas,
Dalaguete at 10:00 and we get to see the different crops grown on the many
farms. It came out of the earth on all forms: cabbage, vegetable pear, spring
onions, eggplant, bitter gourd, sponge gourd, string beans, mung beans, sweet
potato, turnips, spinach vines, lemon grass, ginger, squash, taro, turmeric,
breadfruit, lime, pepper, coconut hearts, bananas and their blossoms and many
more. Such bounties earned the high Mantalongon Valley as “Cebu’s Breadbasket”.
It was more of the same in the village of Nalhub, Dalaguete at 10:45 where we took a rest at a bakery to gulp down cold soda drinks to beat the humidity. After 15 minutes, we resumed our walk, oblivious of the motorcycles and baskets, full and empty, speeding by you on this narrow vegetable highway. At 12:00 we enjoyed noonbreak somewhere in the village of Catolohan, Dalaguete.
After an hour of rest, it was time to go. The narrow asphalt roads became a wide concreted highway. We are now entering the outskirts of the village of Nug-as, Alcoy, famous for its last stand of original forest cover. Along the way, we get to see some of this remaining forest, in pockets, as the land around it were trimmed to introduce farming. It is in Nug-as where people embrace tree farming.
By 14:00 we arrived at the village
center and did a courtesy call on their village council for a place to stay.
Our arrival, however, was already expected by virtue of my liaisons with the
Office of the Governor and the Cebu Police Provincial Office. Their
multi-purpose building was made available for our use. After a very savory
dinner, lights out came so early. Then it rained very hard!
We woke up to a very cold morning of January 14. The village and the whole landscape were swathed in fog. Even so, we have to keep the fire burning. On the stove, I meant. Under the comforts of a roof and a wall, cooking was seamless. After breakfast, we repacked our things inside our backpacks. We left Nug-as at 08:00 under a heavy downpour. The road was wet but it was wetter where there were puddles.
On this stretch of the road where there used to be a big coffee farm, the robusta shrubs were cut to make way for a fighting cock farm. What madness sometimes people inherit? Beyond the game cocks, the earth was turned inside out to the whims of another fake landscaping in progress. What got my ire is the building of a road into the last stand of the original forest of Cebu! I walked with a heavy heart for the government could do nothing with this madness!
It was a long walk to the next
village of Nangka, Boljoon which we reached at 09:15. The road narrowed into
another concrete pavement. Farms and forested hills clasped each other
perfectly to the joys of a passersby, seeing all these so close to the road. It
was just beautiful and a balm for the soul tormented by the sight he previously
saw and protested to the four winds.
The skies cleared for a while of raindrops as we approach the village of San Antonio, Boljoon at 10:45. Here we stopped at a community store to enjoy another round of cold soda drinks. It was at this time when a fellow hiker stopped by and introduced himself to us. He is Ronald Villanueva and he is the tourism officer of the Municipality of Boljoon. He invited us to visit Dayhag Waterfalls and he will be waiting for us.
Naturally, we disengaged abruptly from our rest and hastened our pace, hoping that we would arrive there before noon. The waterfalls would be found at the village of Upper Beceril, Boljoon, and it was very far from San Antonio. We could never close the distance with the way Mr. Villanueva was moving. He was running, but we could try in our own pace.
The road started to cant favorably
for us and we arrived at a road corner leading to Dayhag Waterfalls. We have
arrived at the terminus of Segment V. It is 11:30 and just a few minutes more
we would be at this local resort. I have never been here but I found it, aided
by signposts and a big welcome sign on its entrance. Entrance fee was waived
because it was closed on Sundays.
Mr. Villanueva welcomed us and assigned a gazebo for us and, immediately, Sheila Mei and Apol changed clothes for bathing. Gian Carlo too. I followed them after I had rested for about 20 minutes but they were on the other waterfalls. There were seven. I did not stay long in the water. There was a slight drizzle and I need to dry my undershorts. I did not carry a spare.
Mr. Villanueva surprised us with a free lunch courtesy of his office. It was black chicken (Local name: dongkoy) soup, grilled free-rein chicken, boiled bananas and unlimited milled corn. The food, except the soup, were splayed on banana leaves above a bamboo table. Meal was hand to mouth, literally, and it was deliciously cooked, especially the dongkoy.
This was a real surprise on all of us,
to be invited for a free meal and free use of this LGU-ran enterprise. But our
unexpected visit in Boljoon was an opportunity also for Mr. Villanueva to take
advantage of, upon knowing that Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei were genuine travel
bloggers; while I, for my part is some sort of blogger and could bring clients
here. It was, so to speak, a perfect exchange deal.
We said goodbye and many thank yous to Mr. Villanueva and his team for their hospitality. We found motorcycles-for-hire and we reached the highway at 15:30. Buses were full but we hopped onto one that was not full at 16:00. It would be a long way to Cebu City and the long day made us drowsy. It was perfect for the bus was airconditioned.
Team Adrenaline Romance in their high momentum of adventure on this southern jaunt have acquired another 22.35 kilometers after snatching another segment of the CHT. They now have a total mileage of 229.74 kilometers and they are hot on the heels of the last three segments which they vowed to finish before the end of 2019.
Gian Carlo and Sheila Mei wrote about their Segment V experience on the Adrenaline Romance Blog under two installments plus an extra on Dayhag Falls:
Cebu
Highlands Trail Segment V: Mantalongon, Dalaguete to Nug-as, Alcoy.
Cebu
Highlands Trail Segment V: Nug-as, Alcoy to Upper Beceril, Boljoon.
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