My good friend (and fellow photography enthusiast) Mel just bought his first DSLR (Nikon D70) and he was so excited to try it. So he asked about going on a road trip to Balamban on my bike. The plan was to travel to Balamban and take photos along the way. We did the exact same thing about three years ago. We had a blast. Next week, we’re probably going south! Hehe.
Mel taking photos of the mountains of Cebu.
Welcome to Balamban!
Panggunit Mel kay lawm kag tagakan simbako lang. Haha.
What a lovely sight!
Transcentral Highway
What a very lovely community. I’d surely love to live here.
Wow! A house on a hill! Or is that a mountain?
Is that the shipyard in Balamban?
An old wooden bridge. Very cool!
Corny ra kaayo imong posing Mel. LOL
View of the coast of Balamban.
Portrait of a photographer. Yahoo! Photographer na kuno siya! Hahaha.
Going up up up!
Look at those lovely houses.
Green Cebu!
The long and winding road. Hehe.
Ang kabaw! Bow!
The transcentral highway. Often referred to as ‘an engineering marvel’.
I don’t know what this is. But it looks like a chapel.
Horse with no name.
Sky! Weee. Hahaha.
Mel’s D70. Pretty little thing.
Mel and the chapel (nag rhyme. hahaha)
====================
Here are Mel’s photos!
Transcentral Highway
Leaving Cebu City, entering Balamban
Boundary!
Checking out the wooden bridge
Helmet!
Nyahahaha.
Wrong way, dude!
The old wooden bridge.
And unfinished road-side chapel.
Wow! Look at that!
We saw these those hikers on our way to Balamban. On our way back to Cebu, we saw them on top of a truck. They recognized us and they waved at us.
Jumpshots. Pagbantay kay maslide ka. Hahaha.
My trusty bike.
Wa lagi ko kita aning purple flowers mel. Imo ning giphotoshop sa? Hahaha
Rough rider! Hahaha.
Pagka-klaro nga shot. Klaro gyud kaayo Mel. Pwera buyag.
Macro shot.
A nice little chapel in Busay.
Cebu City’s first 5-star hotel.
Marco Polo entrance
Nivel Hills and view of Cebu City
Gorordo Avenue (UP area)
Golden Peak Hotel
So that was our Balamban adventure. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Join me again next time for more juicy Cebu adventures. 🙂
wow!im so happy at last first comment jud koh!hehe…da place is wonderful just lyk heaven on earth!!!reminds me of my college days…we used to search some adventures and one of it is nature hopping!!!we used to climbed hills and mountains and do some camping!!!im a nature lover,i love trees and mountains!
ley,thanks sa mga pics!wlang ganyan sa UAE…hehe!
by da way,ley ikaw nang nka converse shoes na color green???luv it,i missed wearing my converse shoes!i used to wore converse during my college days at usc-tc…those days are wonderful,such a good memories!
more power to your site!!!
hehe. thanks bai!
BAY thnks pag promote sa ako yuta natawhan ha….im so happy…well try to explore more natures gift in balamban,the cambuhawi spring,casili in Arpili,quail hollow,binghay beach and more…By the way im jevey from Lomboy Abucayan and recently living here in the city….Kitakitz mga balambanganon next year fiesta,,,,,,,MAS BIBOO,,,,,MAS ALEGRE………………….
Balamban is gorgeous! It’s nice to see you jumping for joy, Ley.
Keep it up. 🙂 Beautifully taken pics once again, you’re such a good photographer.
thanks mam ianne! 😀
i love those mountainside photos .something about those photos that made me feel so relax…
ley, how far is balamban to cebu city? naa diay na near the water? you mentioned about a shipyard? indeed beautiful! thanks for a lovely photogs… sige until next time
through transcentral, murag mga 45 minutes ra mam luisa. 😀
Hi Ley. Thanks! Rfreshing ang beauty of the endless greenery, mura pa gyud ug stairway to heaven ba haha. I noticed there were big houses under construction. I hope they aren’t a start of another high-end subdivision that would extend to as-far-as-the-eyes-can-see! Sayang ang picturesque view ba.
Is that the Tsuneishi shipyard?
Kuyog mi sa inyong South trip puhon ha. Looking forward to it.
yup. murag mao na ang tsuneishi nga shipyard. naa pud toy lake sa balamban. wala lang nako napicturan. hehe
kung dili ka kaafford magpahimo ngadto,high-end.joke.pero mao lagi oi daghan na pung datu mamuyo sa taas.ipadahilig na lang ilang hugaw sa ubos.imbis mga kahuy manurok ngadto.patch of greeneries na lang.thanks to human incursion.kadugayan wala na jud tay makuhaang tubig kay wala nay kahuy.salamat sa mga developer.paet.nakasuway kog spelunking unahan sa cantipla,sa sudlon,gamay lang uwan mubaha dayun ang cave.actually hapit mi mutiurok ato kay nasirado na sa tubig ang mouth sa cave.kay pa-drop man ang mouth.unya didto namo sa sulod kutob dughan ang tubig.swerte lang dihay shaft nga among nagawsan nga igo ra jud among lawas mag snake roll.ako pa nga claustrophobic.anyway pasalamat kog daku nga buhi pa ko.lesson:dili magpatugag kuyog nga dili suhito ug dili “pro” ang ga organize
wa pa jud ko kaanha anang balamban.,. But I bet u had a great time with Mel.
hahahha nalingaw lang ko ni Mel/.
hehe. ty!
those are good photos
visit my photography at http://rencalago.blogspot.com
is balamban just all bukid and hills? how far is the sea? and is there rivers around those bukid… what about “npa”, are those dickheads still operating up in those mountains? nice photos ley, it’s good to see that cebu’s govt. is actually spending money on building decent roads… viva la vida amigo.
murag wala na sila(npa) kaau nag operate sa bukid.nag adopt pud sila.one,layug lakaw.two,lisud kinabuhi.three, kalami rang kinabuhi sa ciudad.bitaw murag dili man sila true blooded communist jud siguro.nag take up arms lang siguro sila for survival.inappropriate lang cguro mutawag ug dickheads.kay tungod pobre.well naa sad juy nitake advantage nila.come to think of it,bata gadalag armalite?pero mas operative pa siguro mga osmenas pamalit ug yuta sa mga ignoranteng mang uma at a low price in the name of progress.perog nay opportunity for good living,mubuhi ra pud cguro ni silang mga ‘dickheads.’ pero ug muadto kag marawi city,normal rang magdala ug pistola.mas luv pa nila kaysa ilang asawa.despite sa natural wealth sa marawi including marawi lake, nihit makakitag fishermen ug farmers.
i want a house on a hill. with goats,chicken,pigs and a german shepherd. coconut trees, mango trees,bananas and vegetable garden… a beautiful wife and a few kids… it would be nice, wouldn’t it. i wonder why they call this place balamban? more photos ley.
waaahhhh…wa pa jud ko kaadto sa balamban. there are so many places here in cebu that i’d like to visit. unfortunately, wa na koy time (and money) coz i’ll be leaving soon. hayyyzz.
so green! 🙂
thanks ley
Ley, again you are showing to me part of Cebu that I’ve never been to. I’m rediscovering and seeing Cebu and it’s beauty. I’d thank you for this. I hope you can spare a few hours of your time to meet me on my vacation sometime in April/May. I’m really interested to meet you to say thanks in person and maybe ask you some advice about sightseeing for a short stay in Cebu. If you are available just send me your contact#/info via my email I provided when I sign up to your site. I’d appreciate it and hope to see you soon.
Uhmm I don’t see any Balamban area. Wala man mo modayon all the way to lungsod and the rest of Balamban. Layo ra na sa Balamban proper ang inyong mga shots. Naa ra mu sa entrance… klaro kayo. Abig naa may WELCOME sign. LOL.
Bitaw taga Balamban man ko Sitio Calag-itan. You were maybe sight-seeing the hills that cover the real Balamban municipality. Are you familiar with Mt. Manuggal? It’s somewhere there.
Balamban is a modern-looking rural area. Should you have gone sa ubos, makakita jud mo sa real Balamban nga pwerteng dakoa, sadyaa.
Somewhere padung sa Toledo, makakita unta mo sa Tsuneishi… himuanan sa daghang mga dagkong barko sa kalibutan.
i’ve visited balamban a couple of times. the balamban ‘proper’ that you’re talking about. since the manunggal area is already in balamban, i think the title still applies.
Wa mi nidretso na sa Balamban “proper” kay sa Transcentral ra man jud amo tuyo. But we were already in the Balamban vivinity. Went there years ago and had pictures taken on the same spot on some areas. It really was a blast.
Anyhow, Balamban “proper” is in the itinerary. Ang pangutana lang kung when hehe
And regarding Tsuneishi, nakatuyok na ko sa shipyard nila where the big boats are being made nga gasakay ug motor bangka. Gisita gud mi sa mga guard hahahaha illegal amo gibuhat lolz
hi adz… u ha.. na surprise jud ko… i ddn’t expect na makit.an teka dinhi i just surfing lang , looking for nice places here sa balamban din i saw ur pics….. imo jud gi career imo photography ha.. infairness nice shots bro..hehehe… keep it up…. God Bless
BRIEF HISTORY
TSUNEISHI Technical Services Philippines, Incorporated (TTSP), was established in the Philippines in 1992 to engage in ship design business and to subsequently engage in detail engineering design.
TTSP engages at least seventy (70) percent of its man-hour capacity in exporting detail designs, plans, drawings and a maximum of thirty(30) percent catering for the ship building and engineering industries.
And up to now, TTSP is continously moving fore, designing in the age of change, commited to providing drawings and plans of the highest level, carving its name through quality and excellence in the global environment.
nice shots by the way!
what another nice shoots again ley mwahhhhhhh… im coming home na by nextwek najud akong flyt hehehehhe… although short vacation lang kc 19days lang eh ;-( cge nlng at least makauwi for d last 6yrs. huhuhuhu so sad nman no :-(… takecare ol and cu soon Bisaya`s mwhhhhhhhhhhhh
What a nice roadtrip! I miss driving (and getting lost) there 😀 But I am looking forward to those kind of roadtrips in Cebu this June. See ya soon!
We drove over the Trascentral last winter in Cebu. But the driver was going WAY too fast. (I got car sick) .
I would rather take the trip on a motobyke like you did. That way you can experience the beautiful sights.
Thx for the pictorial!
just wanna say “welcome home mayor Tommy”. he look like a shaolin master… ready to kick some corrupt officials ass. live a good life Tom and more power to you.the prodigal son of cebu has return.
makamingaw man kaayo ning imong mga pictures dong oy pero salamat kaayo sa pag-post. im planning to go home to cebu by dec 2010 pa (layo pa no?) pero its never too early to plan where to go. this site is definitely giving me a lot of ideas. theres no place like home gyud, bisan ug nagkadaghan ang tawo ug nagkasamok sa cebu. limpyo man kaayo tan-awon ang gorordo avenue. familiar kaayo ni nako nga avenue kay i used to work in a hospital close by.
i had good memories at Balamban, hehe..My classmates and I had this project feasibility study in college, and our proposal was for a beach resort. As part of our survey/study, we interviewed some municipal employees about our proposal, and they laughed at the idea because it’s NOT feasible (as the place is more known for shipbuilding). lol. Now, I can’t even remember why we chose to have ‘it’ there.
Considering the time and effort, we decided to stick to the proposal for March was fast approaching then. Anyway, our trip was fun! Transcentral Highway was all muddy then, and V-hire fare was 80php! That was sometime Jan 2001.
ley, pwede i link ko nimo sa imong blog? i link pd tika sa akong blog… pwede?
thanks.. this is the link: http://mariancalago.blogspot.com
sure. add tika tonight. thanks
What’s up Ley, how’s it going dude? weekend here in Melbourne was a bit mesirable.It was raining since friday,i was gonna go to the air show today which is sunday but it rained and some gusty wind came with it and it actually turn some planes upside down,f111 and f18 hornets would have been a good sight.Next weekend the formula 1 race is on and looking forward to it…adios amigo.I had a look at Marian’s blog and it was interesting, smart and funny.I hope that she will own a house soon.
sige pud ug ulan diri sa cebu. hehehe. everything’s okay ra man sir. yep, ive read her blog too. will add her sa list tonight. 😀
pareha pod ta Ley, here in alabama sige ug ulan, i feel like i’m in washington state sige ug ulan, gloomy all the time, sige lang ba ug dag-om gamay ra and adlaw…. anyway good for the grass but its still winter here
kuya ley, pwede link exchange?
thanks
great pictures, ley! daghang salamat!
my kids and i just went to tuburan last month and we took the transcentral highway. the view is breathtaking and the temp is cool. hapit mig GL Highland resort-i remembered my frequent trips to baguio and upland benguet. hapit mi sa cantipla for the boiled corn!! yummy jud!!
then pag abot sa tuburan we went straight to molobolo spring-the water is cool and refreshing after a long trip!! my kids enjoyed ouy version of the suroy-suroy sugbo!!
Naa koy amiga dre taga Cambuhawi, Balamban sya. I never been to the west of Cebu yet. Maybe one day by a rent a car driving from Carmen, Balamban, Tuburan, Sogod>>>
I like ur jumpshots Ley,
hey, i already browse through your page a couple of times. and now i got the chance to drop some lines ^.^ Very nice pics.. I’m from Arpili Balamban, very near to FBM another shipyard, mga british people ga dah. and methaphil by abiotiz.
So, proud that im from Balamban, its a mixture of industrial and agricultural area. ug kanang mga nindot nga balay diha sa Central Hig-way sa mga Binghay nah.. mga well-known sa balamban. murag kang Mayor binghay ng usa, kanang brown color. yeah.. kabantay pud ko anang imung gi ingon ng lake its actually it’s a ‘dam’ in toldeo. wa na daw na gi use, i wonder kung mu awas nah. unsa-on nalang.. pero ma view sa Trans-central.
keep up.. your actually promoting not just tourism but the cebuano talents and culture.. Banzai!!!
I’m living here in Pardo, but during vactaions and weekends,, we go to Balamban
Hi Ley.
I like to go up to the transcentral highway and buy some veggies. Between Busay and Cantipla, on the right side of the road, is Bella’s Vegetable Stand and a couple of others with her. They’re all good. The veggies are much fresher and bigger than the ones in the grocery stores. Go up there, stock up on veggies and then go home and make some nice sabaw. Oooooh, so lami!
How are you Goyo? Long time no hear am so glad you’re back again.
hi ley,
we have a house in balamban and its not on top of mountains and hills its in pondol or in the lungsod thing or what sorry guys i only speak a little bisaya cause i am english I dont know why but in all the places in the world my dad prefer to built our resthouse in balamban because he said its nice thats all 🙂
Hi Leylander,
thank you very much for sharing your impressions of your journey. It makes me “homesick” so to say. I’m married to a Filippina and I got to know and love the Philippines. Hope to get there soon.
Yours,
Alex
Ley pagka nindot sa mga pictures post ninyo congratulations! nalingaw jud ko tan aw.I’ll be going to the place this end May 2009 ha.Asa pa man nindot adtoan sa blamban or cebu city having a vacation adto mi mga relatives dha lugar ninyo.
I liked the photos here, Balamban looks good motorbike riding country! Is there a good Hotle in cebu? I have never found one yet! I would like to travel north of Cebu one day been travelling the phils for 20 odd years wife comes from Dumaguete, I am from UK I know the south route (Cebu city to Negros) but North looks hilly! Great photos!
hello!thanks for the very beautiful n lovely pics sa balamban,u knw ge search jud nko ni ky my honey told me that if mouli nko dha pnas dalhon ko nya dha mao n nterest ko nga e search how nice jud d i kaau!hopefully mka anha jud mi.wow as n very very nice!mis n nko ang pnas!
hey Ley! naka-adto naka sa Sudlon? didto sa mga Moncado i think nga place? naa pa gani cave didto nga ingon nila lusot daw diri sa Cebu City ( i dont know if its true ha kay wla na jud mi musolod sa ilawom , mapalong naman daw ang suga so nobody daw nakalahos pa jud asa to end…) Used to go there during my elem days on summer with my cousins, its cold in there even if its summertime before, now i havent been back there since i got married.
what a lovely pictures!!!! That pictures are from the first Barangay of Balamban. Barangay Gaas. The house in the hill is the resthouse of Balamban’s mayor. The place is spectacular.. JUST A TIP since i know the place very well.. Don’t go there when it’s getting dark. Its a scary place… By the way…. the bridge is not an old bridge, its a newly built but wasn’t used and it’s called a killer bridge. A lot of accidents happen and nobody got out alive. The bridge is a dump area for dead bodies, a killing field…
wow! thanks for sharing. at least naa pud idea ang mga wala pa ka adto sa lugar.
Thank you for posting these photos.I have been searching in the internet about Cebu for some time now.My wife and I are planning to retire in Cebu.I have been trying to get first hand impressions about Cebu for a while now.Is it possible to ask any of you ladies and gentlemen to give your impressions about Cebu?Are there any NPAs or Abu (something,I forgot the full name)in Cebu?I have British and Australian friends who are alreay there and all of them always says it is great to be in Cebu.Is it true that people in Cebu make guns in their backyards? All of your comments will be greatly appreciated.
hi!!unsa pa lain nindot adtuan sa balamban??mga sceneries or anything..naa place na pwd stayhan ddto??an inn ba kaha??nahan jud ko moadto aie..hehehe
YES MAM,DAghan jud mga hotel didto,,,then daghan pud og bars and restaurants….IM quite sure malingaw jud ka sa balamban….
Ad2 mi balamban this sunday… motor ride… kuyug highschool batch ’97
is this u weng? ds s gazzy…
hala…hey guys so beautiful place balamban…remembering my high school days dating uptairs in the mountain of balamban…wow it’s nice guys…thanks for that you’re such a great photo shots…ya…I wanna go back there in a couple of month to experience the zipline…but sooo scarry….hala kahadlok baya……..oh…m…G…..kuwai desu ne…demo yaru sa…zittai yaru…hai domo arigato gozaimasuta….it’s me l.dragonjen born in baliwagan balamban…
HI LEY,
U do a good job man, sa mga pictures nga imo nakoha , its remind me during my vacation i b- lieve that was 2006,me and my brod and sis ,we drove that road from cebu city, going all d way down to my hometown( mainggit) it was a nice ride , bisan dre sa canada wala ko kakita anang mga view ha, hopefully mag take kapag more pictures para amo makita, para wala wala og gamay ang among kamingaw.
keep up a good work man….and again salamat kaayo…..
naa ka pict ani nga lugara sa balamban, Tsuneishi
i really like the pix.i remember when i arrive to balamban city,it was my first time to travel huh graveh jud kahadlok ui… nice ang pix..
super ganda talaga ang municipality of balamban…
coming city soon……
.try nyo ang balamban liempo ang sarap talaga…
and explore the municipality of BALAMBAN…
Very nice shots…Balamban is so close to my heart too…
http://cebuanos-life-and-leisure.blogspot.com
how to reach balamban cebu from mactan airport
naa mo nahibaw-an room for rent sa balamban?? knang affordable unta.. pls text me at 09334222662 ..thanks!
hey, need your help. how do i get to that old wooden bridge?do u take the transcentral highway route?or the national.highway?what landmarks are near that bridge?if we ask any local?what do we tell them so we can be directed to that location?thanks!
definitely transcentral highway. look out for the mt. manunggal sign. when you see it, you’re close. it’s just a few hundred meters from there.