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| Four-wheeled, all-terrain vehicles (ATV) |
We were now in Lakbay Tour’s second day and, after an art-filled first day in Baguio City, we were now in for some adrenalin pumping adventure featuring zip lines (3 to be exact) with some all-terrain vehicle (ATV) excitement thrown in at Pugad Pugo Adventure Park in Pugo, La Union. Pugad, “bird’s nest” in the vernacular, is actually a hybrid of the two words Pugo, the name of the town, and “adventure.” We alighted from our special Victory Liner tour bus (its body sticker-wrapped with the tour’s sponsors), at the Flying V (incidentally also a Lakbay Norte 2 tour sponsor) station along Marcos Highway in Brgy. Cares in Pugo and transferred to a smaller Pugad shuttle bus. DOT Region 1 representatives Evangeline M. Dadat (senior tourism operations officer) and Reynaldo Gesmundo (tourism operations officer II) joined us. After a 300 m. drive over a narrow road (unfit for our big bus), we finally arrived at the resort. Though this inland swimming resort has 2 crystal-clear outdoor swimming pools (adult and kiddie), picnic cottages, clean toilets, shower rooms, conference halls and a hanging bridge over a clean river, Pugad Resort is more known for the extreme adventure it offers. Pugad’s famous 380-m. long and 240-ft. high Super Man Zip Line 1, one of the resort’s three zip lines, stands out as the longest zip line in Luzon and is reportedly the second longest in the country. Rates for the 3 zip lines is PhP900 per person or PhP1,000 if it includes wall climbing and breathtaking rappelling.This was too good to miss out.
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| Pugad Pugo Adventure Park |
But first we had to wait in line as only five people can be accommodated at a time. While waiting, we opted to try out out the 4-wheel, all-terrain vehicles and dune buggies at the nearby dirt track. Unlike the zip line, this was a first for me and I drove cautiously over the winding and hilly but well-designed, 2.5-km. long course with its numerous bumps and turns, at one time falling into a ditch in spite of my caution. My other companions confidently drove like seasoned racers. However, I soon speeded up midway round the course, only slowing down as I tackled the final 4-ft. high and steep hill back to our starting point.
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| Hannah Barrios finally enjoys Zip Line 3 |
This initial adrenalin rush now over, it was now time for some state-of-the-art zip lining. There were no more waiting lines as only three of us were left, the other two being Studio 23’s Hannah Barrios and Joshua “Red” Nietes, both reluctant and scared first-timers. After filling up the necessary waiver forms, we were suited up with the necessary Petzl C29 Pandion harness and Petzl helmets for our safety then bundled into the back of a pickup truck, then driven up the cliff, We then made a short hike, up a concrete stairs, to our first zip line—the Super Man Zip Line 1 (so named because we had to do it in a flying Superman pose), the highest and the longest in duration (30 seconds) of the three.
I tried it first, as Hannah and Red were reluctant. Soon I was harnessed parallel to the ground and on my way. It was everything it was hyped up to be, with picturesque views of a smooth flowing, boulder-strewn river, small rice terraces and lush, forested mountains. It was sometime before Red then Hannah took the plunge but, after having done so, liked it so much that they were both first at the succeeding 2 zip lines. The 280-m. long, 160-ft. high and less picturesque Zip Line 2, the fastest among the three (10 seconds with its 100-m. descent), and the 250-m. long, 60-ft. high and relaxing, 20 second long Zip Line 3, the basic and beginner’s zip line, were both done in the sitting position. The last passes over the swimming pool and the river before ending at the campsite. It was starting to rain when I finished the last of the zip lines, making rappelling and wall climbing out of the question as the wall had become quite slippery. Besides, it was now time for lunch at the resort’s restaurant prepared by resort owners Eugene Martin, a retired police director, and his wife Pricilla, a Pugo councilor. Heck out my Business Mirror article “Pugo’s 3 in 1 Adventure Tour.”
Pugad Pugo Adventure Park: Sitio Kagaling, Brgy. Palina. Mobile number (0927) 667-2619. Tel: (072) 603-1592. E-mail: pugoadventure@yahoo.com.
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