“Cable Car ride tomorrow morning!” Kuya Avel mentioned to us before we headed to our respective hotel rooms on Friday night.
I pictured it to be something similar to the one in Genting Highlands and the cable car ride I experienced in Hongkong when I was a kid – something that is good for four passengers and glass shield for protection.
We woke up at 4am and left the hotel at 5:30am. We went on a bumpy journey to Olympog, General Santos City to reach the 5th Mountain of Balakayo Adventure Park. When I say bumpy, I really mean bumpy. I then imagined it to be a part of the ‘adventure’ hihi.
The sun is high and the weather is fine. We were welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. James and Twilight Betonio and boy, I just love the scenery! You can see a glimpse of the Sarangani Bay and the city of General Santos too. Not to mention the luscious trees and beautiful mountains surrounding the place. Magandang Gen San talaga!
Half of the group are first-timers (me included) and the newest attraction of the place is the cable car.
“Where’s the cable car? Is that one under renovation?” I asked in an innocent manner.
“Mica, that’s the cable car already. Open air!” Kuya Avel replied.
OMFG. For Real?!
Apparently, he’s telling the truth LOL. I was scared at first because yikes, look at that! Is this the beta testing day of the open-air cable ride? What if we encountered some death-defying malfunction while at the middle of the ride? I didn’t sign up for a travel insurance yet!
Ok, i’m overreacting in my mind LOL.
The cable car can accommodate 4-6 people per ride depending on the height and weight of the passengers. Being the adventure junkie that I am, I volunteered to be part of the first group. The technique there is do not look down because you’ll get scared if you’re not used to it.
Together with Tiara, Rina, Charles, Leah and Mark, the first group rode the cable car back and forth. It was a bit scary at first, but the scenery is just too good to be true. I’m glad that this part of the Philippines managed to keep the ‘clean and green’ look of the mountains. Magandang Gen San, indeed.
The is-that-safe-because-it-looks-so-unreal-but-heck-i-wanna-try-it cable car ride costs Php200. Not bad, huh?
Our next stop is the breakfast buffet area. What a lovely way to start the first Saturday of September! Gutom na ako! Hehe 😛
As usual, we had a healthy and funny breakfast time. Credits to Kuya Avel and Kuya Don for the morning entertainment show 😛
Also, check this comfort room. Open Air din!
OPEN AIR is OPEN AIR. ANNA DIZON is ANNA DIZON. (what?!)
Now let’s proceed to the zipline part. I am a zipline fanatic and I got intrigued with Kuya Fitz and Kuya Don‘s testimonial about their first zipline ride in the place, which took place in Febuary. They claim that the zipline is quite fast compared to the rest that they’ve tried and that the take-off part is quite scary.
Hmmmm….
So we trekked our way to the departure point and i got tired in an instant LOL. Can I just zipline on my way up? Of course, that’s not possible LOL.
It’s nice to see female crews handling the zipline ride. They gave instructions and assured to us that we’re in safe hands. I think I went on 4th an managed to take a video of my ‘first flight’ in seating position (will post it tonight!). When I say fast, i really mean fast!
According to GenSantos.com, the first zipline fondly called the ‘Yankee Line’ is 800 meters long with the speed of 80 kms per hour over a 2,000 meter drop ridge between two of the highest peaks of Balakayo.  It is also the third longest zipline in the Philippines and the fastest in the countr. The second zipline is called the X-ZIPLINE, which is 400 meters long. Whew! Now I know!
Scary but worth-trying Cable Car + Healthy Breakfast + Thrilling Zipline rides = PERFECT SATURDAY MORNING!!! We went back to General Santos’ City proper to meet up with the rest of the gang who just arrived from Manila, Davao and those who didn’t wake up early. You guys missed a lot!
- Pitstop 1 5th Mountain Adventure Park, Balakayo, Brgy Olympog, GenSan
- Owner/Breakfast Sponsor: Mr. & Mrs. James and Twilight Betonio
- Prices:Â Zipline – P250; Xtreme Cable Car Ride – P200
- Facebook Page:Â Â Fifth Mountain
Special thanks to Charles and Fitz for some of the pictures used in this post! 😀
naalala ko yung palabas na Frozen. hehe.. nakaka-inggit naman.. gusto ko din mag SEX tour 🙂
Sali ka next year! Worth it siya, Ivan. Friendly pa mga tao 😀
WIN!! Pero bumpy nga, makailang beses ba namang muntikan ng nauntog ulo ko!! Haha. But it was all worth it. Ewan ko kung bakit hindi ako masyadong natakot sa cable car. Ang gondo kasi ng view like what you’ve said “it’s just so good to be true i don’t want to take my eyes off the view!!”
As for the zip line, grabeh, dun ako natakot…like Mountain to Mountain ang drama! Ang taas lang tapos, mas mahaba pa kesa sa cable car. hehe
Haha ayos sa linya ah! Dapat pala nilagay ko rin yung ‘i can’t take my eyes of the view’ LOL 😀
Natakot ako nung una ko siyang nakita, pero nung gogorabels na tayo, keribumbumbels na char :))
hahah! takot ako sa cable car ^.^
Buti na lang na-overcome agad yung fear haha! 😛
natawa ako dun sa Anna Dizon is Anna Dizon… wahahaha!!! i wanna try that cable car too… haizt! this post makes me more excited with my GenSan trip next year… 🙂
Anna Dizon is Anna Dizon talaga kahit sa write-up ko lang siya nabasa hehe 😀
Btw, i suggest you contact Avel and Orman in Gen San para sa super gandang Magandang Gen San experience! 😀
Looks awesome! So green. And again with the delicious food :-p
Thanks Chris! Are you convinced enough to visit the Philippines? 😛
Sayang di ako nakasama. tsk tsk
Sali ka next year! 😀
Gusto ko talaga yung cable car! At first look, mukhang under renovation, pero un na pla ung cable car! Hehehe! 🙂
Oo nga eh haha napaisip ako LOL. Paano kaya kung ganito rin ang Cable Car sa Genting, noh? For sure todo nginig tayo nun haha!
WoW! What an adventure Mica 🙂 I love cable carts 🙂
Thanks Samuel! Have you tried riding in a similar cable car?
Astig ng cable car! Reminds of the rusty old ferris wheel sa peryahan. Adbenchur!!!
Perya ftw! =))
haha! agree with gay. Parang chubibo nga. Cable car alone e scary na lalo na yung ride siguro. Sayang. Fail ang gensan ko. I chose Anilao together with Chyng kasi pero hindi naman ako nagsisi. Hindi naman siguro mawawala ang Gensan. heheh! i love ziplines!
Hehe ok lang ‘yan for sure masaya yung Anilao adventure niyo nina Gael 😀 I suggest na sali kayo sa next s3X tour. Usually, February and September sya ginaganap 😀
I love riding cable cars!! Ziplining is such a great adventure, on some of the ones I have zipped on people hang upside down for a different view lol! Crazy!!
I never dared to do the upside down position because that will deprive me from taking pictures and videos lol but hmmm… lemme try that one soon hehe. I only managed to do the sitting and superman position 😀
OMG! that’s insanely scary! i’ve had several cable car rides before, and i don’t shy away from zip lines and even scary and adventurous carnival rides before, but this one… this one is just scary to death. hehe! though i’ll still probably try this when i get there 🙂
I was hesitant at first lol but at the back of my mind, I want to give it a shot and since I truly trust the organizers of the tour, i know they wouldn’t risk our safety 😀
an saya! d ko pa na try yang cable car tour, kahet nga zipline eh! lol hope to invade Gen San next time! 🙂
Dapat ma-try mo na ‘teh hehe 😀 You must invade Gen San and the rest of the SOCCSKSARGEN area soon 😛
malupit ang open air cr. ganda naman ng lugar.
Para presko daw hehe. Makikita mo rin yung nagzi-zipline habang nagwiwiwi ka LOL
looks like you guys are having fun!
Thanks Amer!
Naalala ko tuloy yung last akong mag Zipline…
Gusto kong ulit-ulitin… hehehehe,… Sana matry ko rin ito..:)
Punta ka na sa General Santos 😀 Ok ang cable car at zipline woot 😀