the challenge of ligñon hill

I went on a road trip to Bicol with my barkada from Dec 26 to 30.  We drove from Manila to Camarines Sur to Albay to Sorsogon to Camarines Norte and back to Manila.  Needless to say, I was sitting inside an AUV for most part of those five days. And ... no runs.  I know that's bad, especially with the TBR Marathon just a few weeks away.

To compensate for this lack of physical activity, my friends and I decided to visit Ligñon Hill in Albay during the 3rd day of the road trip.

with Imye, Royson and shy Magayon

Ligñon is a 156-meter high hill which has a view deck for the Mayon Volcano at the top and lots of other interesting activities.  The steep winding walk from the base to the top of the hill  loaded with fun and adventurous activities was just what we needed.

adventure from top to bottom

We drove to the top of the hill and decided to walk down and up back again.  At first, I tried to run but the road here is much much steeper compared to Nuvali's so we ended up walking instead. According to my running app, we only walked a total distance of 1.44 km but the elevation was 19 m during the first kilometer and a whopping 97 m during the last 0.4 km!

walking and posing along the steep winding road

side trip: view of the airport

side trip: a closed hanging bridge

side trip: a japanese tunnel

Perhaps the most challenging part of that morning's walk was when we decided to use the kapit-tuko trail going back up to the top of the hill.  As if walking up the steep paved road of a tall hill was not challenging enough, we decided to forgo the main road and use the unpaved steeper "trail" at the side of the hill. It was an adventure!

first part of the kapit-tuko trail

climbing up the make-shift ladder was the easiest part

looking for trails, securing footholds and grasping tree roots or branches can be tiring

finally, we made it to the top

time for a little snack

We had a great time with our Ligñon hill nature walk.  There's a zipline too and rappelling!  Perhaps we'll try those when we return to Albay.  I didn't get to run that week but I was still able to sweat it out while discovering a new place. 

hoping the Mayon won't be as shy when we return