Lake Agco Resort

December 2008 :

Our neighbor does a yearly repair/upgrade of their house. That year was no different. Her husband comes home from the US for holidays. Good news for them. :) Terrible for us. The noise of the workers , the banging of their hammer and (due to the busy-ness of the place), their dog won't stop barking. We couldn't rest. At all...

 I think most of us don't realize how difficult that is for others, specially when you have migraine. :)

So that's the reason why John and I decided to leave our house. We packed our bags and drove the starex towards Kidapawan.

Me being me, I researched online about the place. Sad to say though, there isn't much news about it. Or about its resorts, for that matter. What I found was Lake Agco Resort. It's supposedly at the foot of Mt. Apo and can be reached by any vehicle. Meaning, no walking for me. Yay! 

So off we went to Kidapawan. You'd think it's scary since you know, Mindanao is not safe. According to the news, that is. :) But then again, not everything you see on tv or read in the news is true. The reason why I stopped reading or watching one is that "there is no good news".  Parang nakakasawa na ano?  Puro bad news na lang... Hay naku!

So let's go back to our trip. This is what happens when you wake up at 4 in the morning. Your thoughts are flying everywhere. LOL

I always love road trips. But this one is different. We had no maps. And we're not familiar with Kidapawan. We just relied on the goodness of our "kababayans".

Kidapawan is just a 3 hour drive from Davao City. If you're driving fast, you can do it in 2 hours. But with me around, you can't do that. John calls me "lola" because I prefer a slow drive. That way, I can take pictures and enjoy the scenery.

The view from Davao to Digos is beautiful. If you see the sugarcane plantation with the mountains as a backdrop, you will understand what I'm talking about. 

And then the rubber farm in Makilala, with the trees so tall and the cool temperature , it makes travelling more enjoyable.

Finally we saw the big "Welcome To Kidapawan" sign. And this is where the fun begins. I mentioned earlier that we had no maps right? So we started asking for directions.

The first person we talked to said, turn right beside the church. And follow that road. Then ask again when you see more people. Uh-huh?! What exactly does that mean, I thought. After we said thank you, we followed his direction.

We were driving in an unfamiliar (but with a beautiful view), road. It felt eerie at first because the place was so quiet and there were no people. Or so I thought.  And then here comes the crowd. Well, when you're in the Philippines, you'd see people everywhere even if you're in the middle of the forest. :) What was I thinking!

I realized too that the man actually gave us the right direction! haha

Ok, so we asked again. The boy pointed us towards the mountain, using his lips. We were glad that we're on the right track. :) After several kilometers of rough and rocky road, (sounded like an ice cream huh?! haha...) , we still have no idea where we are.

So we asked again, the man said 3 more kilometers. I thought, finally! Well we passed by 3 kms more and this resort was still nowhere to be found.

And then somebody made sense, Manang said that we have to go up to Mt. Apo. Because that's where Lake Agco is. John and I looked at each other. It's like "can our junk-ex (John's name for our starex) make it?" . I said, we're here already so the least we can do is try... hehehe.. We've been trying for more than an hour, you know...

I am so glad we continued with our trip because the view was breath taking. I cannot show you the pictures though because it was part of those I lost. It felt like I lost a part of my life when our hard drive crashed. A lot of beautiful memories, gone forever.. :(  Thank God, I am not that old yet. I can still remember some of the details. That's why I'm making a chronicle of our travels now incase I get amnesia someday. he he..

So up we went. The air became thinner. The forest was covered with thick fog. I was so amazed with the nipa houses I saw on the hills. I wondered what's their mode of transportation going to the main road? Or do the locals just walk? If so, that's like hours of walking.. Tsk.. tsk.. Or do they have horses?

I'm sure they do.. Maybe? I don't know..

After a very long drive, we finally reached the resort. Since it's christmas season, the place was packed with people frolicking in the swimming pool. The place has several cottages and a small "carenderia type" store where you can order food. After reading their menu, we ordered fried chicken. It's so common you can never go wrong with that right? hehe.. When I'm hungry, I dont experiment. :)

This is the only photo I can share with you. I borrowed it from the ones I submitted through ImagesPhilippines. I am so glad that they kept it.

                                     Thank you Images Philippines for keeping my picture.

Lake Agco, the water source of the Mountain Resort, is a steaming blue lake where the hot and cold water converge. This is at the foot of Mt. Apo after all, so it is natural to have a hotspring. :)  

After lunch, John and I decided to go back. That time, they had no comfortable cottages for overnight stays yet. Maybe this time they've made new developments already? Holler if you know so I make an update! :)

We wanted to get away from the noise for several days but I guess it wasn't meant to be. The trip, tiring it may be, was a blast! It was our first time to be near Mt.Apo, the tallest mountain in the Philippines. That alone was an experience to remember. Not to mention the adventure to the unknown. :) And the fun of asking people for directions.. Ahh.. it was all worth it!

Ours was a classic, "it's not the destination that matters, but the trip going there"...

                                                            Lea C. Walker

                                                    leawalker.blogspot.com 

                                                  www.davaoproperties.com