MEMORIES OF MAINIT, SURIGAO DEL NORTE

MAINIT WELLNESS RESORT 

 HOT SPRING

My friends and I planned this escapade weeks ago and was postponed due to some circumstances. Time has finally arrived for us to witness another God’s superb creation. So why choose the place Mainit? The very first reason why we have chosen this place was the “budget”. Mainit is just an hour away from Surigao City having a fare of 49php for an ordinary bus from Surigao City terminal to Magpayang bus stop.So fewer expenses will surely follow. Second, Mainit is popularly known for its therapeutic hot spring, thus it convinced our sole callus to wander the place.

habal habal motor

It seems like the weather forbade us from having enjoyment. It’s raining. But rain or shine the adventure must go on. 

When we arrived in Magpayang, we hurriedly bought foods at the Magpayang public market. To my silliness, I bought egg because I heard that there is a certain part of the hot spring where the temperature is really hot and has the capacity to boil egg. 
  

From Magpayang triangle, we ride habal2x (single motor) going to Mapaso hot spring. The fare is 50/head. We chose that habal2x because it can accommodate 4 passengers. Since the weather was not that good, my roommates (Joy and Alma) requested the driver to take it slow. I even cracked a joke to the driver “make it 80kph”. But since I am getting used to riding habal2x in some of my several nature trip, I wasn’t that scared. 

The inclement condition puts us in danger; the undeveloped road became wet and soft.  On our halfway to the hot spring, the habal2x lost its steering control and we all toppled in the middle of the road. Just a piece of advice, do not go to Mapaso hot spring if it is raining unless if you have other mode of transportation like SUV or any four-wheeled vehicle. That's what I got in an accident.

At the entrance, we paid 25php/head then we rent a cottage worth 250php. That’s the cheapest cottage inside the resort, nevertheless it’s good. We swiftly changed our clothes there for us to sense the hotness of the spring. 

While my colleagues enjoyed the pool, I went back to the entrance booth and asked some information on where I could boil my egg. Alas, the in-charge told me that I could no longer cook my egg since the hotness in a certain part of the spring fluctuated. According to her, boiling of eggs was done many many years ago. I went back of the cottage and just took some pictures to the place.

In a few minutes, we ate our lunch and we altogether went to the pool. Sadly, I could not entirely immerse myself in the hot spring because of my fresh open wound. Joy and Alma had to hold my back and head as I lay my half body to the pool while I’m keeping my right leg from getting in touch with the warm water. Geeehh…lukewarm water is really good. It could’ve been better if I was able to jump into it. Poor me! I envied them seeing that they stayed in the pool for way too long.

 

Even if we didn’t have water proof camera, we still found a way to take pictures of the place. Around 1pm after taking several snaps we texted the driver to pick us up and suggested to transport us to other venue, the Songkoy cold spring.

SONGKOY COLD SPRING

Songkoy cold spring is located in Brgy. San Pablo, Tubod, Surigao del Norte, just 30 minutes away from Mapaso Hot Spring. From national highway, it is only 15minutes to travel via habal2x. The road is better having approximately 15% rough pavement compared to Mapaso hot spring.

When we reach the cold spring, I, with no hesitation asked my roommate “where is the cold spring?” not knowing that I am already in the cold spring. Cold spring is located just a few steps from the road. I was thinking that it was an irrigation dam. hahah! There were few cottages there. But we just used the one and only table beside the spring.

Then I slowly go down to the water to feel if it will hurt me (since I have an open wound). After a long wait, I can now submerge into the water! Whew! I did floating. I usually do it whenever I’m in a beach or pool. For me, the water did not chill me…however, the water chilled Alma to the bones. She even shivered due to its coldness. hahahah

We just stayed there for an hour because the rain started to fall heavily. It would be difficult for us to travel if we still wish to stay. By the way, we did not find comfort room or wash room there for us to change clothes. As a result, we traveled with our wet clothes on. Glad that we found a waiting shed as we took our trip, we asked the driver to stop, then we changed our clothes there using a piece of towel covering us as we took our clothes off. Girl scout! Lastly, we paid the habal2x driver 150 each for the entire trip. 

CABADBARAN WITH LOVE :-)

CABADBARAN CITY- Who says that this newly proclaimed city of Agusan del Norte has nothing to boast? This little city might not be as progressive as Cagayan de Oro or Butuan City, but mind you, this city is on the road to the so called “improvement”. We may not have lots of bars to hit on during “fly nights”, we may not have malls for holiday shopping, not even 3-star hotels to accommodate foreign visitors, nevertheless, this city does not settle to “below adequacy” ratings. 

As time flies, scenic view also changes.This is our new Luneta Park with its attention-grabbing dancing fountain.This is indeed a total transformation from good to a better sight. Another sign of progress. :-)

A well-built hanging bridge that connects 2 barangays, specifically Brgy.6 and Brgy. Kauswagan.

J

Mount Pongkay is also known as Prayer Mountain. Many locals visit this mountain during holy week. Stations of the Cross are also performed here during that season. The picture was taken at the peak of Mt.Pongkay where a giant "Holy Cross" and undeveloped chapel are located.

Gazebo resort, a famous resort in our place located in Brgy. 9. Many people from neighboring cities celebrated their outdoor conventions in the said resort.  

There are 4 swimming pools here and one of it was constructed for children. The resort is huge enough to accommodate many visitors. Cottages are even cheaper ranges from P250.00-P2000.00.

 

TO BE CONTINUED.... 

MABUA PEBBLE BEACH

Getting unhappy and uncontented with the widespread grayish sandy beaches? Want to explore some sort of rarity? Mabua offers you the best of the best pebble beach in the country. Mabua Pebble Beach is located in Brgy.Mabua, just 20minutes away from the city proper of Surigao. 

One boring day, a friend of mine invited me for another beach-party. When I asked him where, he answered Mabua since he’s curious with how this beach look like in near. He  saw these pebbles when he was on plane several times.

I never heard anything about pebble beach so I googled it out. Booms… it caught my attention in a split second. I thought Mabua is a white sand since it is really a well-known place here for beach picnics and other social gatherings. I just learned that pebble is synonymous with stone! Shame on me! Hahahah… Out of curiosity, I escaped from my job for few hours to personally see this so called “pebble beach”. 

The picture below is a closer snapshot of the giant rock situated along the shoreline. Please take a look to the picture above, it was actually the giant rock behind the boat with a blue roof.

Huge rocks are not new to me for I have been to many beautiful places with huge rocks. What truly amazed me in the said area are the pebbles. This is my first time to see white pebbles. Pebble beach to be exact! Whoa! 

Forgive me, this is the only picture I have with the closer look of the pebbles. As you can see, pebbles are of similar sizes. And just like the sandy beaches, I can walk with bare foot.

Since it was an unplanned hang-out, I was not able to bring my swimwear. And with that, I turned out to be their camera woman. 

After sea-sightseeing in the rocky shore, we hiked with all our nerves to this mountain to have a short glimpse of the wider vista of the beach as what google suggested. 

Now, we reach the peak of the mountain. I failed to count on how many steps we have taken. But for sure it’s not less than 200 steps. The funniest thing about that trip was that I wore 3 inches high heels. So I was obliged to ramble with bare foot. Carry on! :-)