DURING the years I spent living in my hometown, Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte, not much of the places there make so much an impression to me when it comes to tourism - much of the economy there relies on agriculture and fisheries. Or so i thought. I’m taking back all those words now.
There’s a place in Cabadbaran City that hasn’t really gain much attention in the past but turns out to be a paradise with its mesmerizing mountain view and cold water falls that lurk somewhere amid the silent mountains.
The place is called Putting Bato, which when translated to English, means white rock. Be warned, you will not see any white rocks there though.
Being a Cabadbaranon, I have always heard about the place but not about how beautiful it is. A neighbor or a friend would mention the place in passing but no words about how cool it is…Why? I wonder. But thanks to social media, I’ve learned about it.
Cabadbaranon friends were recently posting photos on FB about their trip to the place and I was intrigued as the place really looks picture-perfect. Glancing at those posted photos in the social media, I could already imagine what poses to strike there in a blogger way (haha).
So when I went home on June 1 to attend the graduation ceremony of my brother which was held a day after, I took the chance to visit the place and brought with me my brother, Glenn, who was our driver during the trip, and my grade schooler cousin, Jenemar.
Though I did not have much sleep yet from a nine-hour night travel from Davao City to my hometown, I was still ready to give it a go. I thought that since I am not at home most of the time so I might as well savor every second I spent there by going to as many places as I can and meeting the most people as I can all at the same time.
From Cabadbaran, we embarked on a less than 30-minute travel through a motorbike as we traced the trail to PutingBato through Barangay Comagascas (my barangay) and Katugasan. I was amazed as it turned out that the roads there are already cemented, though there are parts that are not, but still the travel was very smooth and easy.
Along the way, you will be enticed to stop and have photo ops with the mountains which are perfectly untouched and wrapped by green, the trees that lined up along the road and a glimpse of a flowing river. Mountains seem to intersect with each other when viewed from afar as you go down the trail.
Then just along the highway in what is said to be a new road that will easily linked Agusan del Norte to Tandag, we made our stop at the Tumipe falls. Locals from neighboring villages and tourists are drawn to visit the falls as it is famous for its really, really cold water. It is so cold that you can freeze a bottle of beer or coke when you soak it on the frigid water. Yes, that cold.
Locals there said that they are still developing the area to make it easier for tourists to enjoy the waterfalls.