The start of my SoCCSKSarGen tour
My SoCCSKSarGen tour started when I flew from Manila to General Santos City. I boarded Cebu Pacific and the travel time was 2 hours to reach the General Santos City Airport. From there, we went to the province of Sultan Kudarat.
I can say that the SoCCSKSarGen tour was one of the most fun-filled and memorable journey I had because of various reasons – I was able to travel with old joiners who turned into friends and met new ones, the tour was full of laughter and I was able to explore new places in the Philippines especially in Mindanao. This was my second time in Mindanao provinces (Check my ZamBaSulTa Tour)!
We rode a van to take us to La Palmera Mountain Ridges.
La Palmera Mountain Ridges
After a quick stop for lunch break, we went straight to La Palmera Mountain Ridges to stay overnight. The land travel was 2 hours and since I wasn’t able to get a decent sleep as I came from work before going to NAIA terminal 3, I took the opportunity to take a nap and rest so I have energy for our SoCCSKSarGen tour.
For us to reach La Palmera Mountain Ridges, we took a “habal-habal” (a motorcycle taxi that carries passengers).
I was afraid at the beginning. I don’t really like back riding motorcycles due to fear of accidents. I am not saying it is not safe nor I don’t trust the driver but I’m really not used to back riding and my close friends know that.
I had no choice. The only way to reach the La Palmera was to ride a motorcycle.
I overcame my fear of riding when the driver and I started sharing stories about the place, the road we were going to take and many more.
It was fun even though the driver was having a hard time as the road was muddy and he was carrying a heavy guy like me. Hahaha!
It took us an hour to reach Station 1 of La Palmera and the view was stunning!
After getting some photos at Station 1. We rode again for another hour to reach Station 2 where we stayed overnight.
We had some booze at night as the first social night of the group. We learned each and everyone’s stories and ‘broke the ice’ as everyone became comfortable with each other.
We slept without taking a bath as the water is a bit of a challenge at the La Palmera Mountain Ridges as there is no water supply in the area yet. The owner told us that hopefully in the coming months, with the help of the local government, the water supply and road will be in place the next time we visited La Palmera Mountain Ridges.
Our aim in staying in La Palmera Mountain Ridges was to witness the beautiful sunrise and it did not disappoints us.
The place was majestic!
Provincial Capitol of Sultan Kudarat
After taking our breakfast, we road again a “habal-habal” to take us to the jump off area. This time around, it was a bit easier as the road was dry compared to the previous day.
We went to the Provincial Capitol of Maguindanao del Sur first (more on our Maguindanao trip later) before going to the Provincial Capitol of Sultan Kudarat.
It was a short visit at the Provincial Capitol. We just took some photos at the statue of Sultan Kudarat and we went inside the capitol to cool down as it was freaking hot outside.
From the Provincial Capitol of Sultan Kudarat, we went to the Pink Mosque in Maguindanao del Sur (next chapter).
