Osmeña Peak
How To Get There
Take a bus at the
Cebu South Terminal travelling to Oslob or Bato. Ask to be dropped
off at the Dalaguete junction. It is a 3hour travel time including
pee break. From the Dalaguete junction, hire a motorcycle (habal
habal) going to the peak. It is beyond the Mantalongon wet
market. From the wet market, it is your choice if you want to trek or
just ride up. You will be dropped off below the peak. When you choose
to trek, it will be an hour or so, depending on how fast you walk.
The fare from the center town of Dalaguete straight to below the peak
is one hundred pesos (100.00), if up to Mantalongon wet market only
is sixty pesos (60.00). From where the motorcycle dropped you, it is
only a 50meters treak up. The entrance is fifty pesos (50.00) and
tents are available for rentals, the price depends on how big the
tent you want. The road up to below the peak is well cemented so it
is a very comfortable ride.
I was traveling
with my husband and one of our friends, Micah. That trip was
supposedly a group trip but some of our friends quit before this
exciting trip, so that leaves to us, three. The climate when we reach
the peak is very cold, for me. After we paid for the entrance fee, we
started our trek up. When we arrive just near the peak, we had a
trouble finding a place where we should set up our tent because it
was a bit crowded since it was weekend. We settled for the takeout
food for dinner and started talking. It was already night time
because we arrive late. As we talked, I turned on the solar lamp and
tried to look around. But all I can see is the same light from the
tents that surrounds us. It was noisy. I was sure everyone was having
a goodtime with the background sound of the crickets.
We were up at
exactly five in the morning with zero visibility and an ice cold
wind. The tent was starting get wet inside because of the extra
morning dew and outside, so are the grasses. The fog was so thick
that you have to open your flashlight to see the surroundings. So
what we did was sit, boils water and settled for coffee and bread for
breakfast. We waited for like thirty minutes to make the fog to get
thinner. And it was like heavens agreed because in less than thirty
minutes fog was half gone and was replaced with a very cold wind. It
was like it rained the night before because the small road leading to
the very peak was wet and muddy. It was already cold but it was
already freezing when we reached the very peak. There was this big
mountain-like rock that is lined up with other tourist who was like
us eager to take a photo. When I tried to look down, all I can see
was fog and fog and more. We waited patiently for our turn to climb
that big rock and when it was already our turn, I had a trouble going
down and up to that narrow road. Thank god my husband helped. If it
was not for him, I can never reach the top of that rock. Since it was
still foggy down from where we were, I did not see the ocean or trees
and other things that can possibly be visible. But for me it was
okay. Reaching the highest peak in Cebu is already an achievement.
By: Malelou Yambot
