Oh, Oh, Osmeña Peak and Obong Spring!

Last August, some (by "some", I mean two) of my highschool friends and I decided to go on a spontaneous trip to Osmeña Peak in Dalaguete with side trip to Obong Spring in Oslob, Cebu. It was a decision out of whim, really, since Annalie and Rowella had their day-offs that day while I (miraculously!) had a long weekend to myself.

We went to Osmeña Peak through public transportation. Yes, folks, you do not have to take a car with you to reach the place. Here are some instructions to go there:

1. From Cebu City, take a multicab bound to Park Mall (10-15 minutes)
2. From Park Mall, ride another multicab bound to Southbus Station (20-25 minutes)
3. Take the bus to Oslob or Bato via Dalaguete and tell the driver to drop you off at the junction (2.5-3 hours)
4. From the junction, take the habal-habal (big ass motorcycles for hire) until the Mantalongon Market (20 minutes).
5. You can start your way up to Osmeña Peak from Mantalongon Market.

*If you do not know which public transportation vehicles to take, it helps to ask from kind strangers (preferably guards or drivers for instructions). Most Cebuanos are honest and we can understand Cebuano, Tagalog, and English.

Funny thing about my hike mates for this day hike: it was their first time and they had little idea on what to expect. One looked as if she was headed to the mall and the other was off to jogging, or something like that. I, too, had little knowledge not to mention skill, with mountain climbing.

From L-R in photo: Me, Annalie, and Rowella

We hired a guide who was around 12 years old and half our size.

Meet Kenken. He the silent type but you can initiate small talk with him :)

We ate lunch first in a carenderia at the market. The clouds were gloomy that day, so our guide advised us to buy 12-peso "raincoats" to protect ourselves from the rain.

The 12-peso raincoat served the same purpose, so no qualms from me.

The first part of the hike was relatively easy since the dirt road was flat. An hour and a half later, we did a bit of assault climb when we reached the foot of the mountain towards the peak of Osmeña Peak. We talked to a habal-habal driver stationed at the foot of the mountain so that we had our ride upon descent from Opeak. We found out that it was a good decision on our part. More on that later.

The weather was initially fine that day, so it was perfect for hiking.

The people's means of livelihood was farming and selling root crops.

Annalie looked mighty fine and strong as she conquered Opeak.

I believe that Opeak will be a walk in the park for experienced mountain climbers. However, for newbies, it would help if one wore the right kind of footwear (don't wear slippers or sandals!), brought water for hydration, and climbed the mountain one sure step at a time. There's no need to rush, after all. It will probably take 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach the peak from the foot of the mountain.

Upon reaching the summit, we realized that the struggle to get there was all worth it. Up there, you would see land forms reminiscent of Bohol's famous chocolate hills. They were really lovely and we couldn't help but take lots of photos.

Selfie time at the summit!

It's the cliiimb! LOL

After taking the photos and resting for a while, we decided to go down. However, the weather took a sudden turn for the worse- it rained really hard. This posed an extra challenge for us since the soil going down got slippery. When we reached the foot of the mountain, we rode the habal-habal to reach the highway. Now the dangers: the road was winding, the slope was steep and the travel was downhill, it was raining, and there were four of us riding the habal-habal. I boldly asked the driver if there was a possibility of us dying and he said; "Ayaw lang mo ug kalit ug lihok kay matumba gyud ta kay basa ang dalan." (Just do not make any sudden movements because we might fall, the road is slippery and wet.) I interpreted his statement as "Do not breathe, lest you die," so I barely breathed on that entire travel.

Funny thing was, when we arrived at the highway, there wasn't a single drop of rain there. We looked like fish right out of the water, since we were soaking wet in dry land.

Afterwards, we spontaneously decided to ride a jeepney to go swimming at Obong Cold Spring in Oslob, Cebu. We didn't know the exact directions but we relied solely on the instructions of the local folks.

They weren't kidding when they said COLD spring.

We only had to pay for the monobloc chairs for 10 pesos each.

It was a fun and worthwhile trip with these girls. Spontaneity does have its risks, but the perks far outweigh them. I hope more batchmates could come next time but no pressure. Why don't we start with a batch reunion first, yeah? 

Until the next adventure,

Dena

Werqing it at the peak!