Hidden Paradise of Maragusan, Compostella Valley

Summer is just around the corner, but there are so many places in the Philippines you can visit which will make you feel like summer will never end. Most people will go to the beach or swimming pool. But I am an adventurous type of person, I like to go to unfamiliar places, one of which is actually the summer capital of Davao Region: Maragusan, Compostella Valley. Compostella Valley is known for its beautiful mountains, hills and waterfalls.

About 3-4 hours drive from Davao City, we booked our stay in the most popular mountain resort in the Philippines - the Haven's Peak Resort. The wonderful resort is on top of the hills of Maragusan. The place is very impressive as you are able to enjoy the perfect view of the city, it's like heaven on earth. The weather is extremely perfect if you need a place to relax and just unwind. Plus the resort offers different amenities which you will truly enjoy. However, before reaching the resort, you have to take 208 steps of their stairs. whew! But once you're on top of the resort, the 208 steps is definitely worth it. The view is just breathtaking.

We arrived in the resort late in the afternoon so we were all exhausted and planned to take a dip in the pool. I am truly impressed of how well-maintained the whole resort. From the rooms, the gardens, the restaurant (which by the way offers organic and delicious food) and most especially their pool. It's just very inviting because of it's clear blue water however you have just to prepare before taking the plunge- the water is freezing cold. haha!

Fortunately, we are the only one who checked in on that day so we've got the whole place for ourselves. So as loud and noisy that we can be, we truly enjoyed our swimming activity.

This is how clear the pool water is (an ANTM- America's next top model pose with one of my bestfriend):

and to cap our Day 1 in Maragusan, a group jumpshot is required.

At night, city lights can be viewed from their restaurant. We just had a sumptuous dinner and the owner offered us if we would like to try their videoke for free. Since we've got the whole place for ourselves and my gay friends craziness, decided to take the stage, punched in the "I wanna dance with somebody..." song, an they performed on the stage. Everyone truly enjoyed the night.

The next morning, we wake up early and waited for our breakfast to be served. So we took a walk around the resort and checked out their gardens and amenities. The weather is just so perfect, it was really cold and the whole place is enveloped with thick fog.

Now just an fyi, the resort also offers a rafflesia flower tour wherein you can trek in their forest, of course you will have a tour guide, and check out the largest flower in the whole world. Unfortunately, it was not their blooming month at that time so we cannot take the tour.

Did you know? That a rafflesia flower can grow up to 3 feet and it's known also as a "corpse flower" because of it's foul odor like a rotten flesh. It is the first plant that does not use photosynthesis which means it does not use sunlight to make food.

Photo grabbed from google:

On our second day, we planned on visiting one of the popular falls in Maragusan - the Tagbibinta Falls. I was expecting for a long and difficult trek and surprisingly, it's very easy to visit the falls. From the parking lot of the area, you can easily see the waterfalls from there. The difficult part is, going near the waterfalls. You have to jump through big rocks and heavy stream of the waters.

Dipping in the waters is like an instant jacuzzi experience.

The place also has small cottages so we just decided to eat our lunch there. We did not bring any utensils with us so we just grabbed banana leaves near the area and put all the food in the middle. This is known here in the Philippines as "boodle fight". A boodle fight is a military style of eating in which food is filed on top of the leaves, to be taken with bear hands and everyone got to eat from there. No utensils at all, just water on the side.

Our last stop before we head back to Davao City, is the Kanlawig Hot Spring Resort.

It's my first time to try a hot spring and it was truly relaxing. When you just needed to float in the water, closed your eyes and just float.

and before we say goodbye to Maragusan.........

The whole overnight tour in Maragusan was just so simple yet very memorable. Especially when you are with friends, it's not just the destination that you look forward to but the experience and memories that you will be making with special people in your life. I would definitely go back to Maragusan and I'll make sure the next time, it's going to be the blooming month of the rafflesia flower.

For now, I'm happy to be able to sit on it, even it's just miniature. One day, I will keep on hoping that I will see a live one.