5 Reasons Why Trekking in Mt. Naupa, Naga, Cebu Rocks!

Last year I started the year trekking in Mt. Naupa for the first time with BRB on the 3rd weekend of January. This year was the same but I’m with NCR Trekkers last weekend, January 30-31, 2016 while last year was spent on a challenging weekend traversing to Kawasan from Osmeña Peak.

Group picture at Sto. Niño Chapel labeled in groups. No labels are day trekkers.

My 2nd time in Naupa was no longer wet. I’ve loved Naupa on my first visit but it was sweeter the 2nd time around. Here are my reasons why trekking to Mt. Naupa rocks every (damn) time.

1. Wet and dry, Mt. Naupa is very accessible. The mountain can be accessed via Tungkop, Minglanilla or in Lanas, Naga. Both of my visits started in Minglanilla and ended in Lanas.

Views to Naupa!

Views going down to Lanas!

How to reached Mt. Naupa via Minglanilla
From Our Lady of Lourdes in Punta, ride a jeepney bound to Tungkop, Minglanilla. The last stop of the jeepney is the corner where you can hail a motorcycle to Sto. Niño Cogon chapel. Fare is Php35/pax or Php70/motor.

2. The trek is short but still gets your heart pumping. On our first visit, despite some lost moments, we were able to reach Mt. Naupa from Cogon Chapel in 45 minutes. The trail was mostly ascent. Last trek, the trail was a bit different. It was shorter but still have some parts where you will have to catch your breath. Just my type of trail ’cause I can talk in between walking. Haha!

Going up to Naupa!

The pave road leading to the highway in Lanas!

3. Big or small group is not a problem in Mt. Naupa. We were the only campers last year but this time, there were 27 other tents aside from our 15 tents.

Views of the camp from all angles including a bird’s eye view of the camp at the foot.

4. Day or night trekking is possible. Because of its accessibility, you can start your trek in Naupa as late as 5 PM or if you’re pretty adventurous, go on a night trek. I haven’t tried night trekking to Naupa yet but last weekend, we saw a group who arrived around 7 PM. We were already preparing our dinner then.

Going down the peak!

5. You can camp in the peak (though I don’t recommend it)! Yes you READ it right! Only a few mountain in Cebu allows you to do that. On our first visit, we camp in the foot with the peak as the background. This time, we CAMP in the peak. I was VERY hesitant at first. We were around 30 campers and I never thought it could accommodate us all. But it did. A total of 15 tents were accommodated.

Upon going up, one of the trekkers from the group who arrive first warned us about camping in the peak. We were told that the winds would be strong and it’s not a good idea to camp. But when I arrived at the peak, some tents were pitched already. It took me a while to settle down and accept the decision that we would camp there.

Do I recommend camping in the peak?
Unfortunately, NO! Despite the nice experience of camping at the peak, it is not recommended. For me, it was like denying the other campers an immaculate view of Mt. Naupa. If I was camping in the foot, I wouldn’t want all my pictures to have a view of a peak with a camp. I feel for the campers who walk up to see and capture the view from the peak and was (maybe) having a hard time taking a perfect angle without the photo bombers. I actually heard some saying “Selfiesh! Selfiesh!”

On the other hand, camping in the peak was sort of a good decision that time too because the campers below were very noisy. There were 27 tents in the below camp plus our 15 tents, there was a total of 32 tents in Naupa last weekend.

But of course there are a lot more reasons why climbing Mt. Naupa rocks but as always every mountain trekking is a rocking adventure no matter where you are especially if you share it with equally rocking people. 🙂

My amazing group! Group Binay ’cause we have the NCR Trekker’s VP on our Team. Yay!

How ’bout you? Have you been to Mt. Naupa? How was your experience? Do tell. See you in the mountains!

See below our itinerary and major expenses:

Itinerary w/ day & overnight options.

Expenses:
Php13 Fare via jeepney from Our Lady of Lourdes Punta to Tungkop
Php35 Fare via motorbike from Tungkop to Sto. Niño Chapel
Php14 Fare to Naga from Lanas
Php18 Fare from Naga to Our Lady of Lourdes Punta
Total: Php80 (for fares only)

Meal Plan for a group of 13 people:
Saturday Dinner:
– Buwad Kinamatisan
– Tuna with Cabbage
– Inasal Manok (Palit lang daan. Snr. Pedro)

Sunday Breakfast: (American breakfast)
– Bread, hotdog, Egg w/ cabbage, tuna w/ cabbage, coffee/milk/milo

To Bring:
Kresia: 1 Cookset, 1 Burner, 1 Butane, 2 packs Buwad, 1 Loaf bread with spread
Diana: 1 Butane, 2 Tuna (Flakes in oil)
Phoebe: 1 Butane, 1 Inasal manok
Nadia: 1 Cookset, 1 Inasal manok
Elijah: 1 Burner, 12 pcs eggs
Alquine: 1 Loaf Bread with spread, 1 kg Hotdog
Analyn: 1 Burner, Magic sarap, Oil, Onion, Garlic, Salt, Kamatis, 1 Cabbage

Everyone: 1 cup rice,
2 liters water,
Your choice of drinks (coffee/milo/milk/others),
Noodles (sa katong ganahan)

GRAND TOTAL: Php80 for fares + Php85 for food = Php165

Always,
Kring