Iligan City

Iligan City, Lanao del Norte

This place has always held a special place in my heart. I've been here when I was younger and it has been my frustration to go back here once more. About 15 years later, I've finally gone back! I was so happy and I really loved the place.

We came by way of Cagayan de Oro and passed by really big infrastructures of Holcim which I found cool. It also reminds me of Baguio because on the mountain sides, you'll see water trickling. Hence the name Iligan which in local dialect means 'water's path'. If I were a hobo in Iligan, I'd be a clean hobo lol I could just bathe about anywhere.

My fascination for making my photos look old/taken by film. 

As always, we strolled through memory lane and tried to visit every place I've been to as a babe. First stop was Mimar's Springway Resort in Timuga, Buru-an. I really liked Timuga because there're lots of resorts there and all water came from springs which makes it reaaal cold.

Craving lechon baboy right now. I can't seem to find any karinderya in Manila where they sell one.

And in front of those line of resorts are lines of eateries selling lechon baboy. What a great way to end swimming - lechon!

Just outside the backyard of the Ancestral house is an ankle-deep stream which I really liked. You could just soak your feet and enjoy the day.

We slept at Mimar's for one night then slept the next at Macapagal-Macaraeg Ancestral House - home of the 9th and 14th president of the country. It was next door to Mimar's. I preferred sleeping at the Ancestral House than Mimar's because, it's a lot cheaper and the facilities were clean enough. The rooms were so-so given the cheap price (about P700 I think). The place kind of gave me chills though.

We went to Islamic City of Marawi early in the morning (haven't bathed!) then went back to Iligan City. I'm not really sure if I'll be blogging about my time in Marawi since there wasn't really any interesting places (just the food we ate) but rest assured that if I do, I'll put up a link.

We ended up bathing at Tinago Falls (Hidden Falls). It really lived up to it's name! The trip there was quite pleasant according to my parents because most of the road were already cemented.

The walk to the falls was exhausting for physically weak me and my fat sister but not for my exercise junkie parents - srsly, you'd think that they're younger than us with their stamina. But not quite as hard as the walk back up. You have to go down long steep stairs to reach the falls. And you know what, thank God for the exhaustion was worth it!

If you're afraid of swimming and do not trust the contraptions they call "life vests", you can take this raft to the falls. Locals will help you.

My dad and I went cliff diving (more like jumping). I was scared as hell but the bragging rights I got were great \m/

Iligan City and Camiguin were definitely the highlight of our Mindanao road trip! Tinago Falls was the best! Plus points to the fact that there's no entrance fee (and if there is, it'd be really cheap).

An Iligan trip wouldn't be complete without a visit to Maria Cristina Falls! As a person who lives in Mindanao, I am thankful to this falls for generating our electricity all year round even though we have to constantly suffer brownout rotations during summer.

My really awesome dad got us a tour inside the plant. Civilians aren't really allowed to.

You can also visit Maria Cristina's mini zoo. They have crocodiles and a butterfly sanctuary. Back then, when you visit Maria Cristina, monkeys frequently cross your path. Since most of the roads I saw going there were already cemented, tough luck you'll see a wild monkey.

 

I wasn't able to visit all the places I wanted to go to in Iligan this time since locals couldn't quite point us to the right direction. And I wasn't that prepared/didn't research enough. Buuut I'll probably be back in a year or two. After my Hong Kong trip next year with my friends, I'll probably fly from Manila to Iloilo/Boracay/Cebu then travel by land to Mindanao during sembreak or summer. I'll be picking up my friends from Iloilo and Dumaguete by then \m/ I can't wait to visit Cebu with my best friends again and swim once more at Tinago Falls on our way home. They'd love cliff diving! *crosses fingers that all my plans pushes through*