Things to do around Malaybalay

The Monastery of the Transfiguration is the one everybody asks about: a Benedictine monastery whose pyramid-shaped church was among the last designs of National Artist Leandro Locsin. Stop for a cup of Monks' Blend, the coffee the monks have roasted since the early 1990s. The Kaamulan Grounds are where the province gathers for the Kaamulan Festival, and the Bukidnon Provincial Tree Park offers shady pines and a view back over the city.

All three are in Malaybalay City, which you'll pass through on the way up whichever direction you're coming from.

Nasuli Spring at Bangcud is cold, crystal-clear water, and a swim there is wonderfully refreshing on a warm afternoon. Lake Apo in Valencia City is a crater lake and an easy half day with a kayak. Mount Kitanglad Range Natural Park, an ASEAN Heritage Park, holds some of the highest peaks in the country, and its ridge line is the one on your horizon from up here. North in Manolo Fortich, Dahilayan Adventure Park makes a full, happy day out among the pines, with its long dual zipline and the country's first alpine coaster.

We haven't timed the drive to any of them from our gate, so plan them from town rather than from us, and count the climb up to us as about an hour at either end of the day.

December through April are the drier months and the easiest driving. The wet season runs from roughly mid-May to late November, with June the wettest, and the last stretch of road is the part the rain changes most.

The Kaamulan Festival fills Malaybalay for about a month each year with music and street dancing, honoring Bukidnon's seven indigenous tribes: the Higaonon, Bukidnon, Talaandig, Manobo, Matigsalog, Tigwahanon, and Umayamnon. It usually falls somewhere between February and April, so check the dates for your year and book early, because the city fills up fast. Up on the ridge, the morning cloud drifts through camp most of the year either way. Working out how to get here? Start with Cagayan de Oro to the ridge.