In Gingoog

Gingoog City is a 1st class city in the province of Misamis Oriental, Philippines. It is approximately 122 kilometers east of Cagayan de Oro City and 74 kilometers west of Butuan City. It is bounded on the east by the Municipality of Magsaysay, Misamis Oriental, the province of Bukidnon; the Municipality of Claveria, Misamis Oriental on the south; and on the north by Gingoog Bay. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 102,379 people in 20,081 households. It has a land area of 744 km².
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Gingoog is a very quaint city with a really laid back atmosphere. There was a time when everybody knew everybody. Kids who grew up there always find time to go back and visit despite having their education in CDO, Cebu or in Manila. Visitors who have gone there also fall in love with the place.

The City proper itself is quite small; you can take a bike and go around the city in a couple of hours. The market has fresh produce. You can find fruits,vegetables, poultry and seafood there. The tennis court is bustling with activity at certain hours of the day. And the pier/wharf becomes a date place in the evening. At that time, they even had bands performing at the pier for their version of a night or street party.

And this May 22 (tomorrow actually - HAPPY FIESTA!!!), Gingoog City will be having their fiesta. Recently; i think they fashioned it to be some sort of a coconut festival. (Coconuts realy abound in this place. You just have to request to taste some.). I just wonder what kind of celebrating the fun-loving people of Gingoog will be doing this year. Well, we're sure visitors will have a grand time there and food will be free flowing.

But what really is so wonderful in Gingoog is that it is a place where nature lovers can really enjoy themselves. There are lots and lots of nearby places to go. Beaches; hot springs; cold springs; rivers; forest trails etc. And it was only on this trip that i got to see a waterfall there; though Gingoog is called a city of waterfalls. It was only recently that these beautiful falls have been made very accessible. Previously; a rough hike on the mountains or a rugged river for about a hour or two was needed to get to one of them.




When we went to see one of the waterfalls; we took a half hour ride to the outskirts of the city. The city did not seem small now. Its boundaries included far flung places. It was a relaxing sightseeing through the fields and then up a mountain. And when we got to this bridge over a river; we hiked on a nature trail for around 15 minutes.





This particular waterfall was quite large. It was as high as about four-storeys and water was pouring in. A water mist sprayed near the pool and cooled the visitors below. The water rumbled and splashed on the rocks below. There were lots of local teens there who were enjoying their afternoon there. They were singing songs; eating and talking; swimming around and there were some who even jumping on the pool near the falls. Thats enjoying their vacation. And not to be left out; we also had our lunch there and spent the day enjoying a great picnic.