BALUNGAO, Pangasinan—Local officials have joined the zipline craze in an effort to put this eastern Pangasinan town on the tourism map.
This town’s 600-meter zipline starts from a hilltop, stretches through farms and patches of old trees, and ends at a resort at the foot of Mt. Balungao.
Mayor Philipp Peralta says the adventure project, the second in Pangasinan, will be open on Sept. 8, the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. A similar facility is operating in Natividad town, also in eastern Pangasinan.
Peralta says zipline riders will go to Balungao Hot and Cold Springs Resort, where they will be fitted with safety gears and ferried to the launching pad below the hill.
The jump-off point offers a view of villages and Balungao, an extinct volcano from which hot and cold water flows.
Riders will also pass above swimming pools surrounded by trees in the resort.
The thrill takes under a minute. “It may be short but when you’re suspended in midair, 50 seconds may be a long time,” Peralta says.
He says the town bought 16 gears from the United States and wanted to inaugurate the project as soon as possible.
The zipline project aims to complement Balungao Hot and Cold Springs Resort, which has been luring visitors, he says.
The local government has built several pools in the area, each offering varying water temperatures. The hot and warm pools are ideal for soaking in, as one would in a spa, Peralta says.
The resort is accessible from the Balungao town proper through a four-kilometer barangay road.