Living at altitude

Valencia is as good as it gets near dumaguete for coolness..I tried mountain exploring around south of dumaguete and many dont even have electricity even along major mountain bypass from bayawan...i went to northern negros/occidental/bacolod area..i stayed mount silay for 2 weeks and decided on mount canlaon area stayed 7 months..canalaon highest mountain in negros and mount silay may be number three after don salvador benedicto towns mountain.I cant pronounce it..If willing to move to bacolod area, then its is much cooler on those mountains and much higher..Don salvador benedicto town where i lived, is farming capital of the region and maybe even negros as intended by local officials..lots of acerage and even share crop offers in exchange for money invested...There is electric and even ceres bus ervice up to don salvador benedicto...the other is mambucal resort on mount canlaon and its hot up there but the resort is 1st class with pools and hot springs..ask for St therese resort in don salvador..ask for mambucal resort on mount canlaon..there is a town called canlaon on canlaon mountain but that is a bit far from bacolod or dumaguete and possibly more wild people and animals alike..Don salvador and mambucal are the getaways for the rich of bacolod and don salvador is called "little baguio"...mambucal has huge army base there so it keeps rebel activity out,and donsalvador has PNP station there with more than a handfull of officers who are always interested in local foriegners..there is one american elderly man living there with local wife and some passing foriegners on the tourist route often......if willing to go up that way,its worth the experience even if just for the wild mountain honey when its in season..honey in the city is Sugar syrup mix with no floral scent like the mountain stuff..

 

I was seriously looking into the Don Salvador/Canlaon area. Did you like it up there? How are land prices? Is San Carlos a decent town?

 

It is possible to get cheap land there but i never actually priced any for sale...So much of it is sugar cane land but there are land owners there too poor to even plant their hectares for profit..in the town of donsalvador proper,it can be expensive since that is where most of the bacolod wealthy are bought into for private mountain getaway homes...i liked it up there in don salvador and made a small farm or big garden for myself and even seeds off of Robinsons produce took well in the yard there...i left philippines because anywhere in philippines or even south asia,is hard on my respiratory system non stop for 2 years no matter where i moved...Don salvador was my last and best move in philippines.. cheaper produce there and buying animals is cheap,they have a livestock market once a week from goats to water bufalo and cows...monkeys and ducks and no need mention chickens..lots of modern houses went up last year and were still going up this year as if putting in a whole modern subdivision in at once...Brown outs almost daily and water supply is drinkable mountain spring but need a tank to store it for most of the day it does not flow....Don salvador is the coolest temperature in negros that has highway access and modern amenities with an established municipality...It is not apple growing contry and grows tropical coconuts and bananas so no need winter coats and no need AC either...fresh air is for sure..i got light headed and short of breath my first few trips up there and it only last overnight before adjust.... San carlos is decent town but it was more worth my while to go the shorter trip to bacolod for my needs..it is longer trek to sancarlos because the roads are more dangerous and slower to sancarlos..bacolod is less than an hours ride and only a short strech of it is in the hazardous hair pin incline zones

 

oh yeah several times ayear buses or cargo trucks go over the cliff off the edge of the road hundreds of feet down in places..i was there 7 months and witnessed 1 in person minor loss of climb for overloade truck rolled back down hill into tree and then tree into my electric pole..the other was ceres bus towards sancarlos went over cliff,only 3 died including driver..the other i saw was one morning a new fixture was in the valley as a cargo truck had plough a patch of jungle down the cliff and probably still lays on its side down there....police told me an american man in san carlos came home to find his pinoy girl in bed with her pinoy lover..i guess the american man made some gripe and the two secret lovers teamed up and stabbed the american to death,,they told me also that in canlaon,an american or some foriegn national was beat to death there and probably over lovers quarrell or something....i never had problems in don salvador and neither has the old american man i met there..people call him the "american marine" really quiet small town where every body knows everybody except the rich people from bacolod who sneak in and out of their villas from time to time...

 

I remember Joe Walsh wayyyyyyyyyy back in the James Gang

 

Negative, Camp Lookout is on the opposite side of Valencia, but If you liked the views from Japanese shrine, then you'll like the views from the Camp Lookout area.
And I'd suspect the prices for land would be quite affordable up there.

 

I am wondering if the amount of tree cover in Valencia is as big as factor as the elevation change from Dumaguete. It seem like the elevations change in minimum when it comes to temperature drop. I use to have a vacation home at about 6,000 ft elevation and found the temperature change to be about 6 degrees normally. However it was sometimes it feels warmer in the mountains because of the dry humidity on very cold days (32-40 F). I know when I am on my motorcycle just driving by the the park in Dumaguete can be a cooling experiences, not as "cool" has having the Filipinas waving as I ride by on the Boulevard, but cool.

 

Wave back at Your own risk

 

Last month I camped just below the summit of Mt Talinis. It was still hot. If you are looking for cool mountains, I can highly recommend Colorado!