"Coffee Shop" Hopping at Cebu City Mountains

Have you ever been to a place a dozen times that you don't mind going back over and over again?

If you are from Cebu City and you are fond of hiking and trekking, you may have heard of the place that I'm going to share since it is just within the city and is best for day hikes.

Since Typhoon Odette devastated the city, the usual trail hikes in the City such as Spartan Trail have been greatly affected. This makes it more challenging, leading other hikers to discover new routes. The new routes are actually connected to each other. You can opt to enter via Guadalupe, or via Kalunasan, Banawa, or even from Budlaan. The difference is in the distance, the difficulty, and the experience. Me and my hiking buddies opted for a route that started from Banawa and exits at Tisa. If you check the map, the two places I mentioned are just around a 5 to 10-minute ride, however, we took the long and tedious path.

THE BANAWA-TISA COFFEE SHOP HOPPING ROUTE

It was a day under the fiery heat of the sun. We decided to do a "Coffee Shop" hopping on the Cebu City mountains. "Coffee shop" because there are literally shops that are named after famous coffee shops. These shops are actually famous to hikers and mountain bikers because they tend to be crowded especially on Sundays. It is a 5.55 km trail that features open trails, steep ascending trails, and steep descending trails. For sure you will sweat all the stress out within you.

RENDEZVOUS

My friends and I met at the Paseo Arcenas in Banawa. To get here, you may ride any jeepney or e-bus that has a route to Labangon such as 12L. We usually start our hike early because the trails are often open and the fiery heat of the sun may tire us easily. I think it was around 7 AM when we started.

All of us were pumped up to start the adventure so why prolong the agony, let's go!!

FIRST LEG: BANAWA

The first part of the hike will take you to the houses in Barangay Banawa. There are a lot of houses and people actually from small houses to even luxurious houses. After a few minutes, you still start ascending like a surprise. HAHA! Then you will reach the part at the end of the community area, which offers a beautiful view of the city. At this point, the trail is open so you will definitely need a hat or even an umbrella.

FIRST COFFEE SHOP: KOFI BEN

Yes, you've read it right. We reached our first coffee shop of the day, Kofi Ben. And I think you know where the name is derived from HAHAHA! So we took a few refreshments and snacks because as of the time we hiked there, Kofi Ben is the only store that has electricity so they for sure have ice-cold soda.

And I'm sorry to disappoint you but it's not actually a coffee shop where you can find some espresso. But you can still buy an instant coffee though.

After a few minutes of relaxing, we went ahead to the next leg.

SECOND LEG: UP AND UP

After the chill time in Kofi Ben, we will now start going to a steeeep ascent. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the trail is so steep that it feels like your knees and chin could touch, especially in the heat of the sun. Imagine that?? HAHA! Some may already feel like giving up but we're still not yet halfway!

SECOND COFFEE SHOP: STARBUKS

After that steep ascent, we arrived at the top of the mountain where we can find our second coffee shop for the day, "Starbuks". This I think is the most famous among all the other coffee shops on the mountain because most of the hikers and bikers visit here. And even locals know this place more than the others. This shop features a beautiful overlooking view of the city, and they have multiple cottages that you can chill with.

Again, I'm sorry to disappoint you but they're not selling espresso coffee here. LOL

Since the place was crowded, we decided to proceed.

THIRD LEG: CHILL HIKE

Since Starbuks is located at the top of the mountain, we started to descend to our next destination which is just a chill hike. This is in exchange for the excruciating hike going to Starbuks. This is the time when you can talk and be a Marites with your friends. After a few minutes, we arrived at our third and last coffee shop of the day.

THIRD COFFEE SHOP: BOSS KAPE

Perhaps my favorite coffee shop among the three, Boss Kape has located a side of the mountain. It features a beautiful overlooking view of the city and has multiple cottages where you can sit down, chill and freshen up. We usually spend more time here than in the other spots. You can buy soda, water, snacks, and of course take a selfie!

LAST LEG: CHILLEST HIKE.... and Surprise LOL

After chilling at Boss Kape, of course, you feel light and freshened up. We then proceeded to the last leg, although this is quite longer than the previous legs, there are no coffee shops in this leg anymore.

This leg is chill because it's just mostly flat and not so open. Mostly, we accelerate our hiking speed here because of its easiness. You just need to be covered all throughout because of the tall Cogon Grasses that may cut your skin.

After the chill hike, there comes a surprise. According to the popular expression, what goes up must come down. Remember the steep ascend earlier? We will take almost the same descent now. HAHAHA! Akala nyo madali lang ito ah HAHAHAHA! One must be very careful because again the trail is open, and there is nothing you can hold unto going down. So you just take every step one at a time, slow and easy, or else you will end up rolling in the deep. wow, singer hahaha!

THE EXIT: TISA AND SIOMAI!!!

After the strenuous hike, the exit is at Brgy. Tisa is very known for Siomai. So what's the best reward from that day hike? SIOMAI FOR LUNCH!! We always go to Kuya Jeff's Siomai Store because it has rich meat inside and delicious chili sauce.

Overall, this hike usually will take half a day, starting at 7 AM and ending at 12 NN. The hike will give you different flavors of experience, fun, adventure, excitement, despair (because of the steepness of ascent and heat of the sun), but most importantly, the rejuvenation and reset that you can get from spending time in nature, and away from the daily stress and pressures of life.

I hope you enjoyed this journey! See you on the next adventure!