Family Outing 2009

Last May 1, my family (together with some relavites) went for swimming in Itogon. Itogon is one of the municipalities of Benguet province and the swimming pool area is almost 2 hours away from Baguio. It’s amazing that aside from Asin Hotspring, and La Union (where the nearest beach is), there’s another option for swimming hehehe. The place is not sophisticated actually. Below are some details that I remember.

• The pools aren’t tiled. But they have a Jacuzzi. Oha!
• Entrance fee is Php 20.00 per person.
• Hut rental is around 300-500.
• There are a lot of nipa huts in various sizes so it can accommodate small to big groups.
• No electricity yet in the huts so night swimming is not an option at the moment.
• There are CRs and shower rooms.
• The pools are drained every 5 PM.
• There are stalls that sell swimming gears from swimwear to floaters.
• Only a few stores (or none at all) sell food and if there are any, it’s expensive so the best option is to bring your own baon.
• They accept reservations for the nipa huts but it’s more expensive than when you just rent it upon arrival. Good thing for us, my cousin’s BF is from the area so we just asked him to reserve for us hihihi.

The pools are constructed in the base of a mountain so while nearing the area, you wouldn’t expect that there are pools because what you’ll only see is the towering mountain. Amazing.

Of course we had a great time, especially the kids who were in the pool practically the whole time we were there. They were only out of the pool during meal times. As for me, I stayed in the pool for only 2 hours. It was so hot I didn’t like to get sun-burned hehehe (but I still did anyway). The rest of the time, I was sleeping, reading, or eating, while consciously waiting for any ring from my Blackberry (because if it did, it just means one thing - there’s an issue in the office that needs my attention – this is another story). We left the place at around 4 PM.

The only downside was that it was a holiday and it’s summer so there were SO many people.

Err...I haven't downloaded the pictures from my camera still, so no pictures to share hehehe.

My cousins are requesting me to sponsor a trip to Riverview in Asin this time. We’ll see about that. It’s more expensive there. It may be twice (or more than) the expenses in Itogon. But nevertheless, I also want to try it there so maybe next year. :D