Pacz's

For Your SAFETY

1) The months of December, January, and February, are said to be windy that it’s just too dangerous for bancas to get to the landing spot. On those days bancas are not allowed to run.

Baguio City (summer capital of the Philippines) is also known as one of the industrialized cities in the Northern part of the Philippines. Because of its cold weather and attractive tourist spots, people visit this city to feel the breeze of the beautiful place, every summer. It is just 8.2 kilometers from east to west and 7.2 kilometers from north to south and with inexpensive public transportation available. Baguio City is the ‘City of Pines’ one of the easiest places to explore.

There are three main accessible roads going to the city namely Naguilian Highway, Marcos Highway and Kennon Road. The most famous route to the city is Kennon Road, however, it is dangerous to take that route during the rainy season because the road is prone to land slides. In this case, travelers who want to visit the city is advised to travel by air since the city has an airport which is named as Loakan Airport.

As of the reports, the city has 130 barangays, which include the Session Road area, the barangay that is very popular for bars, restaurants and other business establishments that attract tourists and travelers to the area. Aside from the Session Road area, Mines View Park, Camp John Hay and Burnham Park are the other tourist attractions in the area.

There are some tourist spots in city, where travelers can visit. It includes: the vacation house of every Philippine president, the strawberry farms of the city- an exciting and luring place to have a tour. The city is also renowned for its top universities and colleges such as University of the Philippines Baguio, University of Baguio and Saint Louis University. Above all, Baguio is popular for Philippine Military Academy that is based on one of its barangays.

How to get there:

The Banaue Rice Terraces were carved by indigenous Filipinos into the mountain of Ifugao 2000-6,000 years ago. It is considered as the eighth wonders of the world. The Rice Terraces were built through the use of bare hands and crude tools by our ancestors. This is where the natives plant their rice for survival. Today, it is still maintained and planted with rice and vegetables for consumption. The Rice Terraces are fed by an ancient irrigation system from the rainforests. It is the creation that shows how great, intelligent, and creative our ancestors for wonderful and amazing feature. It is said that if the steps are put end to end it would encircle half the world and is ten times longer than the Great Wall of China. In the year 1995, Banaue Rice Terraces was declared as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

How to get there:

From Manila take an air-conditioned bus from either Dangwa Bus or Auto Bus. The trip will pass through the Provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Bayombong, Solano, Bambang. It will usually take 9 hours to reach Baguio. The bus leaves at 10 PM daily and arrives at about 7AM. From Baguio, you can take a ride near the Rizal Park where stations are located, going straight to Banaue rice Terraces.

Tips:

• During peak seasons or holy week, you have to at least reserve ticket on week or 3 days before trip whenever possible.

• In Baguio buses, you need to check out the trip schedules because almost everyday, they are changing.

Pagsanjan Falls one of the most famous waterfalls in the Philippines known to its indigenous name, “Magdapio Falls”, which have developed into a major tourist attraction for the for the whole region. Pagsanjan becomes popular because of these falls. Pagsanhan town itself is situated at the convergence of two rivers, the Balanac and the Bumbungan.

How to get there:

From Laguna, about 2 hours driving to the south via the South Super Highway (SSH). Then, turn right at the end of the Calamba junction. Continue driving straight until you reach Bo. Pinagsanhan in Sta. Cruz, then find some available lodges where you can stay overnight.

In the morning, ride a bangka (canoe) up the rivers to the falls. The bangka is rowed by two bankeros (boatmen) against the terrifying current of the river and navigate carefully while evading huge rocks and monkey throwing objects on the way.

The best choice to visit the Falls is during the wet season (August and September) where you can experience the river in its highest level and the rapids therefore even more thrilling.

Tips:

• Bring plastic bag where you can place your camera and documents to protect them from being wet during your visit to Pagsanjan Falls.
• Huge crowds are expected during weekends, good idea is to stay overnight in the town of Pagsanjan and then visit the falls in the early morning where few people are on the river.
• It is wise to arrange tickets with your tourist agency, hotel or guesthouse beforehand to avoid overpricing demand of some boatmen in bangka.

Mt. Mayon also known as Mayon Volcano is a stratvolcano similar to Mt. Apo. It is known to be the most popular active volcano in the Philippines. Mt. Mayon is situated in the province of Albay in Bicol region. It forms the northern boundary of Legazpi City. The name Mt. Mayon is from the local folklore legendary heroine Daragang Magayon (Bicol) meaning “Lady Beautiful”.
Mt. Mayon is considered to be the world’s most perfectly formed volcano because of its almost symmetrical conical shape. Its’ current cone was formed through pyroclastic and lava flows from past eruptions. It is 8,223 feet high, and has indulged in several destructive eruptions. The most disruptive eruption was recorded in 1814 where many houses were destroyed and 2500 people were killed and wounded. This eruption buried the town of Cagsawa. During that time, Mt. Mayon was belching dark ash and eventually bombarding the town with tephra. Trees were burned; rivers were certainly damaged and 2,200 Albay locals perished in what is considered to be the most lethal eruption in Mayon’s history. Now, only the bell tower of the town’s church remained.
Mt. Mayon recorded forty-nine eruptions in the history and the first recorded major eruption was in 1616. In June 23,1897, Mt. Mayon erupted again, this was recorded as the longest uninterrupted eruption with lava flowing down to civilization. The village of Bacacay was buried 15 meters beneath the lava along with 100 people declared dead in Libon, Albay. They were burned by steam and falling debris or hot rocks. In the 1993 Mt Mayon eruption, Pyroclastic flows killed 77 people which were mainly farmers.
Because Mt. Mayon is the most active volcano in the Philippines, PHIVOLCS monitor it regularly. Three telemetric units are installed in the slope of the volcano. The units are responsible for sending information to seven seismometers in different settings around the volcano. The information are send to the Ligñon Hill observatory and to the PHIVOLCS central headquarters in UP Diliman campus. To monitor the volcano’s daily activity, PHIVOLCS deploys electronic distance meters (EDMs), precise leveling benchmarks, and portable fly spectrometers.
Because of the changing environment of the volcano, PHIVOLCS advises people to see the majestic volcano at the view point instead of climbing. Some of the skilled mountaineers who have already reached its crater said that climbing Mayon Volcano is tough and may require strong endurance, courage, and knowledge on volcanic topography. For those who are really interested, it is wise to consult PHIVOLCS for the recent volcanic activity of Mt. Mayon before climbing. Make sure to have a skilled guide for your safeness. It takes 2 days to climbing and descend from the volcano.

Mount Apo is an active volcano, situated in south central Mindanao, from Davao City 40 km (20 mi) west; Digos City-25 km southeast, and Kidapawan City-20 km (12 mi) west; it is the highest peak in the Philippines, with an altitude of 9,692 feet (2,954 meters). Part of the Cordillera Central, it is covered by a forest of tall, tropical hardwoods; two subsidiary peaks nearly match its height. Mount Apo National Park, established in 1936, has an area of 64,053 hectares; it is known as the home of the rare Philippine eagle and features numerous peaks and valleys, as well as Malasita Falls, Sibulao Lake, and the Kisinte Hot Springs. About 19 kilometers up its slopes is found Lake Venado. The mountain’s high peak appears to be white, due to a crust of sulfur that is released in the mountain’s emissions. Volcanic in nature, the mountain has 3 craters but is not known to have ever erupted. The mountain is a source of geothermal power, however, with at least two geothermal plants located on it. Mt. Apo is the tallest Philippine mountain. It measures 3,143.6 meters above sea level. Despite its height, the mountain is considered easy to climb and is popular with climbers.

Mt. Apo has five distinct forest formations. These include lowland, low montane, high montane, and summit or scrub forest. Mt. Apo is known as one of the most ecologically rich mountains in the region. And a wide variety of plants grow on the mountain. Hundreds of endemic species of plants, including rare and threatened species, have been found on the mountain. There are about 800 different types of endemic plants have been identified as growing on the mountain’s slopes in a segment between 300 to 1000 meters above sea level. Among these are the rare lauan and the endangered almaciga. There are 629 species of flowers and 42 endemics. There are 18 threatened species of flowers, which include the waling-waling orchid.

Mt. Apo forests are home to various species of endemic animals. There are almost 227 vertebrate species, which include amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, inhabit the mountain. Some as 118 species of butterflies have been recognized in the area. The mountain is also home to 272 species of birds, of which 111 (40%) are endemic to Mt. Apo and two endemic bird species are endangered, the Philippine eagle known to as the (monkey-eating eagle), and the abukay.

Route:

Transport to the mountain can be arranged from nearby Davao City, which is accessible by land, air, and sea transport. From Davao City take a taxi to Ecoland Bus Terminal; look for a Digos bound bus. While you are in Digos, take a tricycle to Kapatagan terminal, you can prefer to ride public van vehicle or the "Habal-habal" or motorcycle transport, if you want. Once you're in Kapatagan, get a ride going to Sitio Marawer, you can choose a motorcycle, passenger jeep or horseback could also be. From Marawer start hiking up to Mainit. On the first night, you can build you tent at Camp Goddy-goddy (former military base). On the second night, you can reach the peak and build a camp at the peak. On the 3rd day explore the several small peaks within the summit; the sky is usually clear at this time of the day. It takes about 2-3 hours walking down to Lake Venado from the peak where you can build your tent for the night.