Dahilayan: Be One with the Clouds

Mindanao, will continue to amaze me.  Besides the white sand beaches, exotic flora and fauna, and the wild adventures that you can explore and enjoy in this southern island, there are still places that could still take your breath away. 

Who would have thought that you could be one with the clouds?  This is what we have discovered in Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich Bukidnon.

 

Before, we went home for our 2012 vacation, the venue for the family bonding was a big head ache.  We argued every proposed country, island and even the venue.  I’ve heard of this place in Bukidnon that is gaining popularity for adventure seekers.  Not that we are thrill addicts, but who knows what I’ll find.  Luckily I did find something – Dahilayan Garden Resort.  The price unlike the other candidate for our venue is way cheaper by 50% and we get to cook our own food or order if we don’t feel like doing anything.

I emailed the resort and received a response immediately.  Negotiations for the booking date and payment terms were done.  The thing about the resort, they are closed on Mondays.  The date we chose falls on a Monday till Wednesday (check out day) since Wednesday is already booked. I pleaded (convincingly) to make exemptions.  And again, I was lucky and they give, we could check in on Monday.

 

The road trip:  Since the resort is located in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, a municipality one hour drive away from the city of Cagayan de Oro, we have to leave the house as early as 7 a.m. to be able to reach the place around noon.  The check in time is 1:00 pm.  We set off around 7:00 am but grumbling tummies are hard to ignore, we have to make pit stops along the way to refuel our guts.  Unfortunately, the weather as well as the road was not cooperative.  Sporadic raining worsen the status of the road.  So we have to drive slowly.  When we reached Manolo Fortich we were already ecstatic that was around 4:30 pm. Imagine the time we have travelled since 7:00 am.  There were no signs or billboards that point to the direction of the resort. 

We stopped at a gasoline station and asked for direction.  Turned out, Dahilayan is a suburb very far from the town proper.  We took the left turn right next to a Petrol Station and drove straight.  After 15 minutes of drive, we passed a small community then what followed was an endless stretch of pineapple plantation.  But we drove forward.  Then we saw it.  Not the resort, but the road sign that Dahilayan Resort is 15km more.  We sort of got excited already.  At last we are near the resort.  Once we got out of the plantation we drove through another community/barangay and we were informed that another 10 km before the resort.  So we drove on.  We passed this trail where it appears like it is going to nowhere.  It was pretty scary.  I was beginning to get scared.  We are very far from the urbanized area already.  Anyway, after a few more kilometers, we finally reached the gate of the resort.  It was huge.  And when we saw the house we are renting, all those negative thoughts I have during the entire drive vanished.  A little bit.

 

We spend two glorious days in Dahilayan and both days rained especially on the second day.  So we didn’t get the chance to explore the place.  But we are perfectly cocooned in our little rest house.  The view and the weather were perfect. 

If another chance to go back there, I think and I guess the rest of my family will just have to say “pass.”