Hello Hive Travelers!
Most days I'm boxed in within the four walls of our tiny home. The farthest exploit would probably be a trip to our local supermarket or an occasional coffee mug in hand quick chit-chat with a neighbor at the community pool.
On the day of our wedding anniversary, we drove for 50 minutes to the town of Barili, Cebu for a lunch date at an open-air restaurant. Some of you might have seen it in my previous post. We usually don't celebrate milestones but we both needed a quick getaway especially now that face-to-face classes have resumed.
If you're interested to find out Where to Eat in Barili, check out Café Alfonso:
South Cebu Pit Stops: Café Alfonso in Barili
Café Alfonso is more than just a café. It serves authentic Filipino Cuisine. What I love about Café Alfonso is its tranquil location. It is lost in the middle of nature with the much-needed breeze from the scorching heat this summer. It is around 50 minutes drive from Moalboal, 2 hours, and a 20-minute drive from Mactan International Airport. Once you get to Barili there's a short 1.2 kilometers detour inland from the main national road.
The plan was to enjoy a sumptuous lunch, breathe in the fresh air and then head home. We were halfway through our main course when a group of big vehicles covered in election campaign streamers arrived from the other direction. A large group of men and women occupied a long table at the far end of the restaurant. The staff later confirmed that there's a shorter road inland that connects to the main highway. Adjacent to the parking lot was Barili ATV Adventure which was highly recommended by friends who tried it. There was no one in the office that afternoon. Besides, we were not appropriately dressed for the activity and we had to be back to pick up our daughter from school in a few hours. Should we ever do it, we're interested in their longest mountain adventure ride (Package C) equivalent to more than 2 hours. Aboard a small sedan, we took the shortcut and headed straight towards the mountains. The concrete path tapered off to a rough and muddy limestone trail. We missed the turn and that's when I spotted a tree-canopied stream with water buffalos. While Yohann made a U-turn, I strolled further to take in the scenery. We later joined the diversion road. He was supposed to continue straight but at the last minute decided to take a left turn until we found ourselves under the Mantayupan Falls Signage. Oh. "Should we get in?" I felt a growing bubble of wanderlust slowly rising within. I expected him to say yes. "Do we have to? Let's head back," @iamyohann replied unenthusiastically. "Come on, since we're here we might as well. We have an hour to spare anyway. Let's ask the lady if they're open. Before he could object, I made my way toward the counter. For Php 40 / $0.80 entrance fee per person, a vine archway guided the path. There was no one else there that day, just us. Mantayupan Falls (also known as Ambakan Falls) is the tallest waterfall in Cebu located in Barangay Campangga. Since it was unplanned, we came without expectations. We were immediately greeted by the bottom waterfall tier at 14 meters in height ( 45.93 feet), cloaked with vines, trees, and naturally etched rocks. We stood there in awe. The silence was interlaced with bird songs and trickling water. The higher waterfall tier can be accessed by crossing a swinging suspended bridge that rocked with every step. The height slightly bothered Yohann but our curiosities triumphed over any heart-pounding vertigo-induced sensation. I rarely post photos of myself but please allow me to do so this time. I blame it on the excitement on the hanging bridge The higher waterfall tier was nothing short of spectacular. It is 98 meters high (321.518 feet) Impressive. Magnificent. Majestic. I could throw all of the superlatives while we both stared at the grandeur of this tall chute and remain speechless. "Aren't you glad for this last-minute spontaneous decision," I asked him. To that, he replied, "Yes, I'm glad you coaxed me into doing this." Cebu is an hour's flight from Manila. Take a cab from Mactan International Airport to South Bus Terminal on Natalio Bacalso Road. Take the southbound bus to Moalboal / Barili and ask the driver to drop you off at Barili's Poblacion. That's roughly 2.5 hours from the city depending on the traffic. Ride a habal-habal or a tricycle from the town center. I took a lot of photographs while admiring the rock formations that surrounded the waterfalls. A Noteworthy Fact: Mantayupan Falls aside from being a mini-hydropower plant in Barili not only provides electricity but supplies water to the neighboring rice fields as well as for domestic and industrial use. Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery according to wiki. Who would have thought we would end up there by accident let alone have the place to ourselves? I am still fascinated by how life nudged us towards stumbling upon Mantayupan Falls. My spirit was low that day. The calm proximity to the cascades was uplifting, it was exactly what the soul needed. Negative ions from the waterfalls have a positive effect on our well-being and sometimes all we need to do is show up and put one foot on the bridge. The rest will eventually fall into place and surprisingly take our breath away. Thank you for reading! Are you a spontaneous traveler or the type to create excel sheets? What would you do if you had the entire waterfalls to yourself? *Cover image edited with Canva Curiosity and imagination lead to unexpected experiences. Interested in Nature, Places, Roads Less Traveled, Minimalism, Authentic Living, Anything French, and International Cuisine. Feel free to follow her, re-blog, and upvote if you enjoy her content.
When in Barili, Ride the ATV
How to Get to Mantayupan Falls
My Takeaway
"I am an old soul who simply loves coffee, who finds joy and beauty in both tangible and the unseen."
How wonderful @discoveringarni sometimes it just changes in a second.
Beautiful waterfall and surroundings. What a find 😊😎
Hello Jackie, it does change. A writer friend described Mantayupan Falls as "like a tall lady in a white free flowing dress." It's definitely a hidden gem we were fortunate to come across.
That's a nice description @discoveringarni 😊
Thanks, I will let her know 😊
👍🏻😊
Hiya, @LivingUKTaiwan here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #1521.
Your post has been manually curated by the @pinmapple team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider supporting other authors like yourself and us so we can keep the project going!
Become part of our travel community:
It's always an honor to be a part of the Travel Digest, thank you very much @livinguktaiwan and @pinmapple team 😀
Great that you entered!! It was the best choice you did!!
Amazing price!! I really can't believe that you paid that for visiting such a beautiful place!!
I love this post and your pictures!! Thanks for sharing!!
Hi @belug, when we moved to this part of the Philippines, I didn't know it is bestowed with 90 waterfalls (or maybe even more). We have only visited 5 out of the 90. What I forgot to mention as well is that this waterfall is so close to the road, you can get to the lower tier in 2 minutes.
It was a great deal! The entrance fees depend on each municipality but the lesser-known cascades are even free. Thank you, unplanned stops bring great surprises sometimes. 😊
Wishing you a happy anniversary!!
Nature treated you pretty with a gift I suppose in this unexpected destination. I kept on watching all the rocks as well, stripes, and everything look beautiful. Atv adventure & this spot must get a good number of visitors during the season. This place looks Chilling. Realized you guys were twinning on the dress, is it? :D Cute.
Hi @suzn.poudel, thanks for the anniversary greetings 😁 The ATV route goes to another waterfall but it does attract many visitors to this part of the island.
Haha, I didn't realize we were twinning until you said it Lol. Just like the waterfalls, the matching color outfit was also unplanned. I guess when you spend time together for a long time, couples tend to start resembling each other. Have a great Wednesday and looking forward to more of your captures and adventures.
This looks like a sweet coincidence to me. The twinning part definitely caught my eyes besides the waterfall. It looks lovely tbh for the resemblances :D
Looking forward to seeing more of your beautiful exploration as well.
The twinning was a sweet coincidence indeed. Just like today, we ended up wearing same colors again 😁
That's a cute one. :D I have this wishlist to do with the gf. LOL
Or interchanging each other dresses..not all.. hahah..
Hahaha
I'd say that's a great way to spend a wedding anniversary. I don't know about you, but when you've been married for a number of years, anniversaries changes from the lavish romantic candle lit dinners with exchange of expensive gifts in the early years, to "I just love being with you whatever we do" as years moves on. The latter are just as special as the former in my opinion.
Happy anniversary Arni!!
Hi Pauline, thank you very much for the greetings 😊
You nailed it right, it is so in our case. Romantic candle dinners and expensive gifts are replaced by sharing experiences in a casual eatery or mundane activities. After 16 years of marriage, the effort of doing something unusual to break the routine is already remarkable. Cheers to more of these moments 🍻
Magnificent falls😍👏🏻
She's such a beauty. They say being close to a waterfall can make one happy and I think it's true. Definitely a mood booster.
Not a bad spot to stumble upon. Both the bridge and the waterfall are really cool and only 0.80 cents! That's awesome. Not a bad price at all.
The atv trip sounds cool for the future when you have more time and the right attire. That would be a cool way to explore the area.
It is indeed affordable and well worth the unplanned detour.
After checking earlier, there are shorter circuits around 30-40 minutes on the ATV. Even though I haven't driven one before, I would love to maximize the opportunity. One-time big-time activity in the future 😁
Yeah, "go big or go home" as they say haha
You nailed it. Go big or go home 😄
Uh these look gorgeous! I would have loved to try camping near such a site, to wake up in the morning with these views and smelling the fresh watery scent near me
That would be amazing! Love the mist and the scent of the greens. Given the time, I'd probably just sit there and stare at it for a long time.
Me too!
Too bad you weren't able to take those ATVs on a ride. I'm sure it would be a lot more fun, but hey! The waterfall is truly amazing, and it's definitely worth all the efforts to reach it ❤️
Hi Gabriela, a friend with his wife along with their friends tried the ATV off-road adventure last year and they all had fun. There are lots of scenic nature trails around the area where everyone ends up muddy and wet. We'll plan a free day when our daughter is in school 😊
That's awesome! Sounds like lots of fun and cool memories to return home with 😊
I hope it happens 🙏🤞 Have a nice evening!
Thank you for sharing this amazing post on HIVE!
Your content got selected by our fellow curator @priyanarc & you just received a little thank you via an upvote from our non-profit curation initiative!
You will be featured in one of our recurring curation compilations and on our pinterest boards! Both are aiming to offer you a stage to widen your audience within and outside of the DIY scene of hive.
Join the official DIYHub community on HIVE and show us more of your amazing work and feel free to connect with us and other DIYers via our discord server: https://discord.gg/mY5uCfQ !
If you want to support our goal to motivate other DIY/art/music/homesteading/... creators just delegate to us and earn 100% of your curation rewards!
Stay creative & hive on!
Hello Priyan @priyanarc, thank you and DIYHub for the support. Hope you are doing well and wish you a good day today.
Woah nice place to go to.. in indonesia the waterfall usually called curug :)
Great place you've been @discoveringarni !
Thanks, Devy, you taught me a new word today. I bet there are many beautiful curug in Indonesia. It would be a dream to visit one day.
You're welcome, Arni.. yes :)
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
DO NOT FOLLOW any instruction and DO NOT CLICK on any link in the comment!
Grateful for the notification, thanks
You're welcome @discoveringarni
Congratulations @discoveringarni! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 4250 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Thanks Hive Buzz!
You're welcome @discoveringarni, that's a pleasure! Have a nice weekend 😊🌹
nice sharing
thanks Free Spirit @akkann, I'm glad you liked it.