Road Trip to Ambuklao Dam

It was around 10 AM when Azalea Residences invited us to stop by Ambuklao Dam before we head back to Manila later that day. I haven't visited that dam yet (except nung pumunta ako sa Mt. Pulag, nadaanan lang namin ang Ambuklao Dam) so it's a big yes to me.

View of Ambuklao Dam from the view deck.

We left for Ambuklao past noon. Aboard Azalea's shuttle service, we took the road that leads to Ambuklao Dam. It wasn't a simple road trip by the way, because somewhere in the middle of nowhere, our car malfunctioned and needed some time to get fixed, thus we did random things.

nasiraan kami kalagitnaan ng byahe

 Random Thing #1: Pose on the road as if you own it 

oh yeah! My Road..

Random Thing #2: Run like an ostrich when you spotted something interesting

Those travel bloggers just ran all of a sudden when someone shouted, "hanging bridge"

Random Thing #3: Cross a hanging bridge

for no reason, we crossed this hanging bridge...

 Random Thing #4: Lay on the road

I took advantage when there's no car passing the road!
The road is mine! *evil laugh*

 Random Thing #5: Take pictures endlessly until the car got fixed

like this almost dried up river under the bridge.

To cut the story short, we were just bored. Almost an hour lang naman kami naghintay, hehe. Thank goodness Kuya Leo still managed to revive the car, I thought we'll be stranded there forever. Anyways, we proceeded right away to our destination once the car was back on track.

At 03:20 PM, we reached the dam. The trip to Ambuklao Dam lasted for about an hour and a half (minus the stranded time of course) from Baguio city, passing by some beautiful river and landslide area.

a beautiful river along the way

This huge concrete structure in Bokod, Benguet was built in the 1950's to give hydroelectric power to most of Northern Luzon. It also serves as an irrigation and flood control to the lowland areas of Pangasinan. The water from Mt. Data, better known as the Agno River, hydrates this dam that continues further to Binga Dam.

During its early years, it was the biggest and highest in the far east, pero napag-iwanan na siya sa paglipas ng panahon. But still, it is an engineering marvel that we, Filipinos should be proud of.

spillway of the dam

The local government of Bokod has been also promoting the area surrounding the dam as a place for eco-tourism. It really has a big potential to become an adventure park for the tourists who are looking for some thrill.

tranquil Ambuklao Lake

Bawal ang pasaway

The place was very quiet and relaxing, however we cannot spend more time in the area because we still have to travel back to Manila later that day. As soon as we finished our mirienda beside Ambuklao Lake, we went off back to Baguio City.

mirienda time

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This trip was sponsored by Azalea Residences, our favorite hotel in Baguio City.