You’ve heard of Buda right? 🙂

For those who haven’t, that’s short for Bukidnon-Davao. Referring to the road connecting Davao City to the Province of Bukidnon and Cagayan.

Recently, we had another road trip.

If you’re planning on going to Cagayan De Oro City via Bukidnon, I suggest that you give ample time for the travel itself. With the road repairs in Quezon and the bumper to bumper traffic in Valencia, it took us forever to reach our point of destination – Malaybalay.

Let me show you what to expect when travelling via Buda, these days through my photos. 🙂

We left Davao around 2pm. We were supposed to leave early but well, work happened. So there goes our plan. 🙂 I love going to Buda because it’s a lot cooler than downtown Davao. So most of the trip, I just open my side of the window to feel its cool breeze. Before reaching the boundary, we stopped at the Coffee Shop beside Seagull Mountain Resort for some coffee. I would have ordered “tsokolate with suman” if I saw it earlier. Too bad, I thought. But there’s always a next time…. I’ll make sure to order it then because the “tsokalate” smelled so good!

The Coffee Shop, beside Seagull Mountain Resort.

The winding road in Buda. I can’t say it enough, I love the place!

Pitcher Plant Farm, where we stayed at, is past Malaybalay City. Going back to Davao, that’s the welcome sign you will see upon entering the city proper. They have a Gaisano Mall there now. 🙂

Bukidnon is famous for their pineapple plantations. So you’ll find pineapple displays beside the road. And they’re cheap too! I bought the big ones for P25 / each. Perfect for the new year huh! 🙂

These pictures (above and below) were taken in Valencia, Bukidnon. Beautiful right? It’s never boring to do a roadtrip in this province because you will be entertained with spectacular landscape and mountain views.

NOTE: There’s Roadhouse in Valencia. So if you get hungry in that area, Roadhouse offers really good food.

You’ll find this limestone mountain in between Maramag and Valencia. There are nice resorts in Maramag. But among them, I like RR Spring Resort.  (I wrote about it here –  https://leawalkerblog.com/2011/10/05/maramag-bukidnon/ )

One way lane in Quezon. So you will need to stop for about 10 to 15 mins, each time. They’re doing several repair works so give an allowance of at least an hour when you plan your trip. This is far from being over, so I guess my suggestion applies until next year. 🙂

Interesting mode of transportation in Bukidnon. I took this particular picture somewhere in Quezon. 🙂

After a tiring trip in Quezon, Bukidnon I am happy to be back in Davao again. 🙂 This is the view you will see in Buda – on Davao side of the trip. I love watching the valleys and the people taking care of their farms.

Lunch at Seagull Steak House.

We reached this side of Buda past 1pm already. We were actually looking forward to their coleslaw. But they said that they ran out of vegetables. I said, “I have a cabbage. Can you fix it for us?” Of course, we will pay the same price as their menu. But they won’t do it. That made us really sad. We skipped Roadhouse because of the coleslaw in Seagull. Can’t believe they ran out of vegetables when there are vendors beside the road nearby…  😦

John ordered Fish Fillet. It’s made of cream dory, which I find bland and tasteless. 😦  French call it Pangasius. So if you’re wondering if they’re the same, the answer is yes it is.

While I ordered the unhealthy but yummy, Lechon Kawali. hehe..

Pinetrees in Buda.. 🙂

John saw this plant on the way to Malaybalay. So on our way back to Davao, we kept looking beside the road for it. Until we found this garden beside the road. I asked Manong, the owner , what its name is. He said “uhhmm.. paper rose?” He sounded unsure but I said, ok. Since I had no idea what it was. hehe…

And then he mentioned, it was used as paper in egypt. In fact, the scrolls were made from these plants. That’s when John said – ahhh.. papyrus!

To cut a long story short, we bought some for our house and for our farm. 🙂

Thanks to Bing for this clearer picture.

Clean river in Lorega, Buda. 🙂

Ahh.. back to traffic again. Taken in Calinan, Davao City.

Like I said, it was a tiring trip. But it was worth it. We ended up buying several pitcher plants at Pitcher Plant Farm. Pineapples in Bukidnon. Vegetables and plants in Buda. hehe

So that’s why, we like roadtrips…. 🙂

Lea C. Walker

www.davaoproperties.com