Steamy Day in Compostela Valley

It is officially summer and one way to have a good time is to head off out of town. My family and I were first timers as local tourists in the Compostela Valley, and I heard terrific things about the place especially the capital town of Nabunturan; home of the mouth-watering bibingkas and the soothing nature springs.

We traveled up north for about 2 to 3 hours from the Poblacion or the centre of the town wherein the pavements are well-cemented, we roved the tough roads of Brgy. Mainit for about 45 minutes and finally reached Toyuzu Mountain Resort nestled in the lush, green forest of Mainit Protected Area and Landscape. Before entering, you must pay an entrance fee of 50PHP/adult and 45PHP/child.

From the gate we wind down a little further to the cottages and springs. Aside from cost-friendly cottages the resort comprises of lukewarm pools, cold water pools, hot water pools, sauna caves, private pools and a man-made waterfalls. Sauna caves are pretty interesting, as soon as you entered a cloud of steam and a flowing watercourse coming from an underground cave which is a hundred degrees Celsius or more welcomes you and makes you sweat in seconds.

Surprisingly, there is a stream nearby as we entered the waters it was very hot. However, me and my cousins able to tolerate the sweltering warmth and braved the mighty current for fun; we got slightly wounded and lost our slippers.

Sometimes exposing your body in heat like in a sauna could be therapeutic and beneficial it helps to reduce stress and other respiratory concerns but you should take precautions otherwise you will get burned. Merely a 10-15 minutes stay would be enough for a good sauna session. Finally, our excursion really improves our physical well-being and evaporated our ennui and generated a mist of memories.