North Cotabato - Strolling around Kidapawan City, "A Spring in the Highland"

Just before lunch when we arrived in Kidapawan City, the capital city of the province of North Cotabato. Kidapawan is one of the major tourist destinations of the province of North Cotabato as the city lies at the foot of the majestic Mt. Apo, the country's tallest mountain. After settling our things at AJD Pension House, we went out to the City Center to roam around and get acquainted with the city.

Kidapawan City Arch leading to the City Hall

As the industrial and commercial center of the province, commercial establishments abound the city. After having our lunch in one of the fast food chains, we proceeded to our first destination, the Kidapawan City Hall.

Walkway to the City Hall

I was impressed at how the city hall was beautifully built. The dome at the center seems like it was patterned from one of the government buildings in the United States. It looks clean and well-maintained. This is really a must-see when visiting Kidapawan City.

The imposing Kidapawan City Hall

Kidapawan City Hall

At one side of the city hall complex is where the City Plaza is located. It's pretty huge with a well manicured lawn and dotted with tall trees. Here, you'll see statues of our National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal and an eagle; there's also the city fountain and a canyon. A bike rental store can be found at one side where kids could rent and bike around the park.

Rizal Monument

Eagle Statue

Canyon

Tall Trees

City Fountain

At the fountain

On the other side of the complex is a weekend market. Here, you could buy fresh produce of fruits, vegetables and other products. We had our snacks here - ginanggang or grilled banana, nilagang mais and tokneneng.

Weekend Market

Nilagang Mais for snacks

Fresh Fruits at the weekend Market

Merchants at the Weekend Market

Ginanggang (Grilled Banana)

Tokneneng

Then we went back to the national road and walked westward to the grocery stores. We need to buy some supplies for our trip to Lake Agco the following morning. It is interesting to note that the roads here in Kidapawan City is wide, they have a 6-lane National Road.

Main road

While walking around we saw this small mosque named Masjid al Shiek Abubakar Siddique.

Masjid al Shiek Abubakar Siddique

Also quite interesting to see this old theater named "Imus Theater". I am from Imus in Cavite and we also have this theater when I was young.

Imus Theater

Birds on the electric wires

Kidapawan comes from the words "tida" which means spring and "pawan" meaning highland, thus the city is called as "A Spring in the Highland".

Kidapawan City

Kidapawan may just be the usual jump-off to Mt. Apo, but there are interesting sites that you can visit around the city. We spent about 4 hours just eating, strolling around and experiencing the life in Kidapawan City.

Note: North Cotabato is also known as Cotabato Province. For this blog, I used North Cotabato to differentiate it with Cobabato City.

HOW TO GET TO KIDAPAWAN CITY

Kidapawan can be reached by bus or van from Davao or Cotabato City. From Davao City's Ecoland Terminal, there are buses (Weena bus) bound for Kidapawan or to Cotabato City which passes by Kidapawan City. If you want to take the passenger vans, go to NCCC Mall or SM City Davao where you could find the vans bound for Kidapawan City. Estimated travel time from Davao City to Kidapawan is about 2 hours. Fare is around 150 pesos from Davao City.

If you are coming from General Santos City, take a bus to Davao City and drop off at Digos City Terminal and take a bus bound for Cotabato City, which will stop over at Kidapawan City.

This trip to Kidapawan, North Cotabato happened on June 10-11, 2012 during my "6-day Davao Region + North Cotabato trip". North Cotabato is the 66th province on my list. COMPOSTELA VALLEY Lunch at Magnaga Waters Beach Resort in Pantukan DAVAO ORIENTAL A Quick Stop at the Sleeping Dinosaur of Mati City Mati's Dahican Beach is one of my Favorite Beaches in Mindanao Surfing and Skimboarding in Dahican Beach TRAVEL GUIDE: Mati City, Davao Oriental NORTH COTABATO Strolling around Kidapawan City The Hot and Boiling Lake Agco in Kidapawan City "Lost and Found", a Sanctuary at the Foot of Mt. Apo TRAVEL GUIDE: Kidapawan City, North Cotabato DAVAO DEL SUR Beach Bumming on Passig Islet Aqua-Eco Park Resort

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