As 2013 rolled in, I had the opportunity to visit Isulan in Sultan Kudarat. This trip was work-related, rather than a vacation but I still had the pleasure of exploring this part of Mindanao for the first time 🙂 .
I am sure that those of you who have heard of a bomb explosion there just recently (in fact, about a week before I got there) might wonder how safe it is to travel in that part of the Philippines. Well, I would just say, we can always take extra precaution in life but when it’s our time to go, it’s time to go (and hopefully, we have made peace with God and others when we do so).
If you want access to malls and fast food places in that part of Mindanao then you can do so in Tacurong City, about 30 minutes from Isulan. Isulan is the place to find some quiet and enjoy the view of mountains, the fresh green of rice fields.  You could also decide to explore Lake Sebu; a road trip there from Isulan can be another option to explore the hidden beauties of Mindanao. You can enjoy the 7 waterfalls there.
I found the people there very warm and surprise, surprise! Majority of them speak Ilonggo there. Yup, not Cebuano or Tagalog 🙂  Ilocano, Cebuano, Maguindanaon and Kapampangan are also spoken by some groups there.
Getting There. I traveled to Isulan by way of Butuan City. And thankfully, there is now a Cebu Pacific early morning flight from Butuan to Davao City. If I took the bus, it would have taken me 6-7 hours getting there. From Davao City, I then took a van going to Isulan. Due to some ongoing road construction, the trip took almost 3 hours. I think the trip would have been shorter minus the construction. The van costs about P270 (about 7 USD) per passenger.
I took a different route going home. I traveled by bus from Isulan to GeneralSantosCity (Gensan), South Cotabato. The good news is there are now air conditioned buses which goes straight to GenSan non-stop. No need to change buses in Marbel (also known as City of Koronadal), the capital of South Cotabato and regional center of Region 12. Fare was less than P300 (about 7-8 USD).
Below are some shots my friend and I took in lovely Isulan 🙂