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Tuesday, October 16

Ambuklao Dam: A Benguet Dam Travel Story

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This water reservoir of the Ambuklao Dam in Benguet has a scenic angle of skies and mountains over lake.
 Ambuklao Dam was created to sustain a chunk in the necessity of electricity of people over Luzon Island in the Philippines. It was constructed sometime in the 1950s and eventually took more than 6 years of completion. At that time, the Ambuklao Dam was said to be the largest and highest dam in the East Asia. Other than its main purpose to generate power, Ambuklao Dam in Bokod, Benguet also serves as a flood control structure as well as irrigation to the fields of Pangasinan.

 
Lost In Ambuklao! (Full video length version) by Travex Travels

Part 2 of Lost in Ambuklao! (A Benguet Dam Story)

Waters of Ambuklao
My Ambuklao trip with some Pinoy Travel Bloggers was a different story, as I already went to this scenic water reservoir on the day Baguio was chartered (oh I’m not sure but they call it “Baguio Day”). Getting the urge to visit a place outside Baguio, I finally decided to go on a solo trip to Ambuklao Dam. How did I get the idea of getting there? A friend of mine told me that she went to Ambuklao for a project in Water Resources Management, and when she saw that dam thing, she was stunned by its wonder. She never saw something like it before, and when she told her story to me, it’s as if I have to go here before I finally leave Baguio for good. And yet I did.

It took about one and a half hour before I reached the shed where the spillway is just five minutes walking distance. There were no tourists when I went there, or well by the way, Ambuklao Dam was not really a tourist attraction. It has the potential to become one, and I guess the government is still working on it. The cascading mountains are a treat to the eyes, as well as the water flowing to the spillway from the reservoir. By the way, according to Merriam-Webster, reservoir is an artificial lake where water is collected and kept in quantity for use. It’s really a good timing that I went to Ambuklao Dam to see a real reservoir, as we studied water reservoirs in my past hydraulics subjects.


The Ambuklao Dam spillway

The scenic view of Ambuklao water reservoir in Bokod, Benguet

Locals' means of transportation is boating on  the waters of Ambuklao
Ambuklao Dam
A backdrop of skies, mountains and lake is a good souvenir. Only that you can’t swim or snorkel or something, it is strictly prohibited. But I guess boating around it would be a better choice, but I didn’t get the chance to do so, maybe you’ll just have to ask some locals there. If I’ll be the one to develop the area, I’d be putting some “boating” or “kayaking” activities there. Ambuklao water reservoir is a good place to unwind, relax, row a boat or kayak. But as of now, no single footprint of kayaks has been there (or maybe I just didn’t see it).
View of the Ambuklao Dam at the view deck.

Anyway, I just spent my lunch time seeing this nature wonder. For me it’s already enough. At least I rediscovered something there. An inner soul, maybe? I don’t know. You’ll have to realize it yourself. Ambuklao Dam is one of the secret manmade wonders in the Philippines. It’s an artificial beauty crafted from the wonders of nature. Ambuklao Dam in Bokod, Benguet doesn’t only sustain life as a whole but the water reservoir is so enticing you may want to spend hours of self-realization in the middle of the lake, beside peaks of mountains…over clouds and skies.

The operating machine of Ambuklao Dam

Sayote plant vines somewhere in Benguet (before reaching Ambuklao)

Cows beside the road to Ambuklao


Lost in Ambuklao! (A Benguet Dam Story) Travel Series:
Part 2: Ambuklao Dam: A Benguet Dam Travel Story

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