Photos by Clara Angelicbug
I have always loved the great outdoors. Okay, so I have not done anything extreme nor have I had been doing anything outdoorsy lately but I still heart the greatness of Mother Nature.
Since Ekiel really enjoyed himself during our last picnic, I decided to do his belated birthday celebration at Moyog river, Pusat Pelancongan Tinukadan Kampung Mongkusilad, about 20 minutes drive from Dongggongon town.
Though the road is steep, it was in good condition and inexperienced drivers would not have a problem driving to the place. The only reason why I hang on tightly to my seat is because I got nothing better to do with my hands.
When we got down from the car, I nearly had anxiety attack when I saw the long suspension bridge. When I was told we didn’t have to walk across the river, I actually did my happy dance.
The Moyog river is secluded with almost (2 families came and left while we were there) no one around except for the 3 kampung dogs and 2 free-range chickens who feasted on the leftovers.
The river is made up of few sections which I named: cold + rapid section, cold + deep section and cold + shallow section. There were plenty of stones of all shapes, sizes and colors which were pretty slippery so you need to be careful.
Yes, the water was cold but I guess the rain the night before and the lack of sunshine that day has something to do with it.
It was quite difficult to move from one section to the other and you either walk in the water or climb over those kick-arse stones, which I prefer. It’s like a simpler version of rock climbing but not that easy when I had to drag and carry Ekiel around.
Once you conquer the slippery stones and freezing water, you’ll be rewarded with a refreshing swim, or in my case, dip. My favorite bit of the trip was dipping in the river with my back against the strategically placed rock that hid me from the rest of the world and the sweet sound of nature lull me to Lala Land.
It is one of the best feelings in the world I assure you.
The Moyog river is a good picnic spot with clean toilets, big sheds with table and chairs, BBQ pit and tap water!
However I would not recommend families with small children to go simply because of the deep waters and slippery stones but for those who want good fun, this is definitely it.
One more thing, never throw stones towards the jungle area because you’ll never know what you’ll hit. In our case, it was a big black snake that fell from the trees. Yes, I was the first one to run far far away.
