The Bukidnon-Davao Highway’s elevation is the silver lining for its now buzzing tourism activities. The highway, passing through Marilog District of Davao City, traverses barangay Buda, where many resorts have been established. Being more popular now than ever, BuDa has been attracting travelers from surrounding provinces, even from outside Mindanao. Consequently, tourists’ attractions in the area have been on the rise, giving locals deserved income but also giving way to price surges.
The view on the Pick of Buda
Shortly before midnight, they, a group of officemates and their significant others, commenced their road trip to BuDa from General Santos City. They were talking and laughing as soon as they took their designated seats. Shortly afterward, sleep took over and the van continued its drive in silence.
At about after 04:00 AM the van hit a small pothole in the road waking almost all of its passengers. After confusions and groans settled in, they realized that they were already in Buda. Thick fogs enveloped the road ahead. They had been driving on slippery roads and nearly zero visibility. It was creepy – and dangerous.
Skylab
As soon as they stepped out of the van, they knew that they had underestimated the coldness of BuDa. After too much shivering and gnashing of teeth, their body began to adapt to the freezing roadside milieu.
In order to reach their first destination, they needed to take a motorcycle ride. But it was not a usual ride. Some motorcycles had katig – two wooden planks on each side where a passenger on each side would balance each other out. Nobody knew if there were other options, but everybody knew it would be fun to ride those, albeit more dangerous.
Hills View Mountain Villa
The villa was the farthest in the series of resorts along the rough road. The ride was more treacherous than anyone had imagined. The rocks were wet from the rain the day before. Potholes had accumulated rainwater. The motorcycle driver though was more confident and basically knew what he was doing.
View on the Top
Sunrise spotted
CC : Mark Atong Journal
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