Back in 1986, I was sent along with my wife and daughter, to the province of Bukidnon as a ministerial trainee. I was assigned there as an assistant pastor for two local congregations — one in the town of Maramag and the other one in Barangay Kiara in the town of Don Carlos.

My family and I lived in Don Carlos, Bukidnon for about one year and during those days, the roads were not yet paved. It was quite a challenge to travel on dusty and bumpy roads being shaken all the way inside a small Suzuki Beaver. But we somehow survived. My 6-year old daughter seemed not to mind. She seemed to be enjoying it when we were on the road. I still remember our Australian regional director who made a comment after visiting and traveling to Bukidnon inside a Suzuki Beaver. He said, “I felt like scrambled eggs!”

At first, it was quite a cultural shock to suddenly move from the big city of Metro Manila to the remote town of Don Carlos, Bukidnon. Back then, I thought it was a very remote place with my reference being in Metro Manila. We lived among and were surrounded by the rural folks with their corn fields, chickens, goats, cows and carabaos but thankfully, our rented house was a 3-bedroom bungalow. Not bad.

Bukidnon has beautiful mountains and as you travel along the national road, you will get to see and appreciate the natural beauty of the place. One of those that stand out is the Musuan Peak. If you’re traveling from Don Carlos to Valencia City, you will get to see the Musuan Peak to your right as you pass by. That mountain stands out and its beautiful to look at.

In the featured photo above, I took that shot sometime in the year 1986. The national road was not paved with concrete yet. It was a dirt road and if you look more closely in the photo, you will get to see a vehicle at a distance with a cloud of dust behind it. Those were the years when paving of the national road was not yet completed. Only portions had paved concrete and some paved with asphalt.

This photo is quite old already. I had it scanned then I edited and retouched it somewhat to restore it to its original condition. Anyway, I just wanted to share this picture and without realizing it, I have this blog written already and added some more pictures in it hahaha! Just sharing.

Aside from durians and the Philippine eagle, Davao is also known for its variety of beautiful orchids. That’s what greeted me when I arrived at the Davao International Airport a few weeks ago when I visited the place again. I was not happy with the shots I have taken but here are some of the shots anyway right at the airport.

Of course, since I’m a student of architecture, I also took a few shots of the airport — all hurriedly done.  Oh well…

It was nice to have visited the place again where my family and I once lived for some seven years. The orchids reminded me of my wife’s orchids when were still living in Davao.

There was a time back in the 60s when bus travel from my hometown of Bayugan to the city of Butuan really took a long, long time. If I recall rightly, I think that it took about two hours to get there. I could be wrong but that was how I remembered it as a young boy back then. According to Google it’s only 43.5 kilometers and it only now takes 57 minutes to go there. Back then, the roads were very rough and dusty. And I could still remember that the ladies including my mom would put on their bandanas to cover their heads from all the dirt and dust as we travelled on bumpy and dusty roads. The buses had entrances and exits on the right side of the bus on each row of seats. It was “air-conditioned” alright and you have to climb up to the bus to get on board!

Travel by Bus

Times have changed. A few weeks ago I was in Cagayan de Oro and I travelled by bus to my home city in Bayugan. A young friend offered to bring me there using his car but I declined because I thought that was a really long, long drive away from his home.

I was surprised that in Cagayan de Oro, they now have a diversion road along the seashore from the bus terminal in Agora going towards the east on our way to Butuan without passing through the inner city. It was great to see the seashore as we began our travel through this new road which avoided going through traffic inside the city.

Bus Travel Much Improved

The aircon buses are a great improvement and comfort from what I had experienced during my boyhood years. They also have movies to pass the time away as we travelled on. But I enjoyed more looking outside at the sceneries all around me as we moved along. I actually have seen all the movies anyway. The bus stopped in so many towns but I did not mind it at all. I was in no hurry. I enjoyed watching the people and the places all along the way. I actually took the wrong bus. I learned later that my travel would have been faster had I taken a bus that only stopped a few times. Oh well, I did not know it but I enjoyed the ride anyway. It’s been decades that I have used a bus on this route.

Much Improved Road Conditions

I also remember back in 1986 that the Bukidnon-Davao Road (BUDA) was really a rough dirt road. Concrete roads were only in some portions from Cagayan de Oro to somewhere in Valencia, Bukidnon. Back in 2005 (if I recall rightly) I drove all the way from Davao City to Zamboanga City and many portions of the road were still unpaved and rough but road construction was ongoing all over Mindanao during that time. I also experienced the rough roads from Davao to Agusan.

Back in July I also travelled by bus for 3 hours from Zamboanga City to Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay. I’m glad all the major roads (national road) are all paved now all over Mindanao. Bus travel in Mindanao has now really improved a lot.

Lesser Checkpoints Than Before

And to my surprise, there was not much military checkpoints all along the way! And it’s supposed to be martial law in Mindanao right now. It is still in force. Back then, when I travelled in Zamboanga to Ipil and back, I could see lots of checkpoints along the way. It felt like there was a checkpoint every 10 kilometers  hahaha! It’s different now.

I’m just glad Mindanao’s roads have improved a lot including bus transportation. It was great to have experienced riding a bus once again in Mindanao.