A visit to Sinulom Falls is almost always tied to a visit to another natural body of water, the Bolao Cold Spring. Apart from the fact that they are jointly managed, they are conveniently near one another. While there is an option to visit just one, such is not an option for Renegade Junctures. We are supposed to be travelers after all, aren’t we?

From Sinulom, we walked through unpaved roads beneath dense canopy of trees. The experience was reminiscent of the hike we undertook to reach Ganano Falls in Quirino, or the one we trod upon to get to Kaparkan Falls in Abra. Through the foliage to reach a body of water—we are pretty used to it. The only difference with our way to Bolao Cold Spring was that the canopy of trees ended as soon as we reached the river and had to cross a hanging bridge.

One thing we did not know yet back then was that crossing the river through the hanging bridge meant crossing a provincial boundary. While accessible via Cagayan de Oro City, Bolao Cold Spring is located within the boundaries of Talakag, Bukidnon. In fact, even Sinulom Falls is geographically located in Bukidnon as it is across the Misamis Oriental side of the Cagayan de Oro River which is a natural boundary between the two provinces. Its access point and the resort that features its view, however, is located in CDO.

It would take around five minutes more from the hanging bridge before we finally caught sight of the entrance to the cold spring. Similar to Sinulom Falls, Bolao Cold Spring has improvements in the area that consists of gazebos, huts and bridges. The difference would be the structural materials used. While the developments surrounding Sinulom Falls are mostly made of concrete, Bolao Cold Spring chose to go entirely natural with nipa and bamboo.

Bamboo bridges and huts.

When those who names the springs called it the Bolao Cold Spring, they were not kidding. All I needed was to dip my feet to know that the water of the spring was ice cold. Despite a lot of prodding from Ran, hence, I opted out of swimming in the spring. There was no stopping him though.

More often than not, calmness is associated with warmth—that sort of fuzzy feeling that seems to embrace the body, relaxing all the senses and the mind. Cold, on the other hand, is often emotionally associated with something uncomfortable, nowhere near anything calming. Bolao Cold Spring, however, changed the common preconceptions, making the power of nature greater than what human experience can fathom. The water was cold, the surroundings were cool, but the calm it provides to every visitor is more than enough to relax the senses and the mind from the usual worries of life. In some way, relaxation also means recharge; and with the long day behind us, the recharge in Bolao Cold Spring was a very welcome break.

We started our way back to the parking lot after Ran had his fill of the cold natural pool. Our accommodation was still in Laguindingan and it would take us more than an hour and a half for us to get back there, and we do not want the dark to catch up on us before we were able to check-in to our home for the night. Besides, we had more than enough for our first day in Northern Mindanao.

Looking back at the experience, it did not feel like it was just our first day in Northern Mindanao when we went through all the destinations that we did, all on our own. The adventures we had did not only prove memorable. Every step of the way, we know that we were further enhancing our marks as travelers who would want to see the Philippines and eventually, the world, in every way possible. That was exactly what we wanted to do and achieve in being in Mindanao the second time around. Eventually, we would indeed achieve it.