Laguna (2 Falls) Adventure

October 31, 2015

For this day we had a trekking going to some of the falls in Laguna. As some of us may know, Laguna has several falls and some of them remained hidden as of now. Example of them are the Hulugan and Talay Falls located at Louisiana, Laguna. It has been only introduced to the public two months ago (according to our local guide).

Our  meeting place was at Mcdonalds Cubao near LRT station. At 5 a.m. we then rode a bus going to Sta.Cruz, Laguna. 

It has been a 2 and a half hour ride including the traffic.Fare was 138.50 pesos per head as of this writing.

At Sta.Cruz, Laguna, we then rode a jeep going to Lucban, Quezon. We told the driver to take us at Louisiana Laguna where the Hulugan Falls located.
Fare was 30 pesos.

What made this jeepney ride special was that we were on its top! It was a first time for me and I may say that I really enjoyed it!

It has been raining during that time so we got wet but we didn't mind it.

After thirty minutes, we reached Louisiana.

We had a stopover at Kapitan's house for registration. We had a payment of 10 pesos per head and we also took 2 local guide.

And the trek started! 

At first, I thought that it would be easier than a mountain hike but I was wrong. It was a hard trek plus since it rained, the land was muddy. Oh yes. Slippery when wet! So the struggles are for real.

After more than hour, we finally reached Hulugan Falls. Yey!

After the photo op activity, we didn't miss the chance to experience its cold water. 

There's a cave beside the falls and there we put our things. We also had a lunch there

At 1 p.m., we headed our way to the second falls- the Talay Falls. It was also an hour trek. Talay falls is smaller than Hulugan Falls. 

We also had a swimming time and photo op there.

Going back, we have to cross a river. And that river was connected to Hulugan Falls.

Along the way, we saw the top of Hulugan Falls and it was pretty amazing!

At past 5 p.m. we were back near the Kapitan's house to freshen up.

We paid our local guides 500 pesos each.

It was dark already when we were all done freshening up.

We still have to walk for about one kilometer before reaching the main road. The street was a total darkness. And it's creepy! Happy Halloween, guys! We were all alone walking in that dark and empty way.

According to residents there, last trip of jeepney going back to Sta.Cruz Laguna is7:30. Luckily, we did had a chance to catch it.

And it was a home sweet home. At 10 p.m., we were back in reality.

Thank you Lord God for keeping us safe all through out the trip. It was really a fun adventure indeed.

Mount Manalmon and Mount Gola Adventure

Sept. 25, 2015

Happy holiday!

It was Friday and since we don't have office work for this day, we then decided to have an adventure.

Our destination was Mount Manalmon in San Miguel Bulacan.

Our meeting place was at Mc Donalds Cubao at 3 in the morning.
We were nine in the group.
We rode a bus going to Cabanatuan. It was a three hour ride. Fare as of this writing is 117 pesos one way.
We reached San Miguel Bulacan at 7 in the morning.
We then took a tricycle going to Biak na Bato or Barangay Madlum. One tricycle cost us 200 pesos good for 4 people.

We crossed a bridge and parallel to it is the monkey bar.

We took a tour guide and he is Kuya Dong.

At 7:30 after some briefing and negotiation, we were then ready for a mountain climb, trekking, river crossing, swimming and spelunking. But of course, before anything else, we had a group prayer first.

We passed through Madlum Cave before reaching the Madlum river.

 Yes it was a bit scary crossing that river because we heard several stories about it.
Thank you God for we have crossed the river safely.

We reached the summit of Mount Manalmon after more than an hour. Mount Manalmon is 160 MASL.
Mount Manalmon is also accommodating overnight campers. It has a wide camp site.
The scenic view on top was breath taking. We can see the Madlum River and also some of the neighboring mountains of Sierra Madre.

Photo op was then followed. He-he. 

We also hiked the mountain on its front, the Mount Gola.

Before reaching the jump off, we have to cross again the river.

We reached the top of Mount Gola for about an hour too. Just like Mount Manalmon. It is 160 MASL also.

We took our lunch at the summit.

Then when we went down, we swam on the river. Yey! It's swimming time.

After our swimming activity, we were back to the main jump off. We prepared ourselves for Spelunking.

We took the bridge again and climb for another mountain. For in this mountain that I don't know the name, is the main entrance for the Bayukbok cave.

It  was our first time to enter a cave that was so hard to pass through.

After maybe two hours, we reached the other end and it was almost sunset. We entered the cave clean, we went out like a mud person. hahaha.

Some of our friends crossed the monkey bar. But I chose to wash up already. There's a bathroom and the water costs 10 pesos per 5 gallons.

At 7 in the evening, we were ready to go home.

We paid Kuya Dong 800 pesos. 600 pesos for the two mountains that we hiked and 200 pesos for the caving.

We then ate dinner at a nearby restaurant along the main road before going back to Manila.

Trully this Mount Manalmon adventure was one of a kind and very much unforgettable for me. Specially the spelunking or caving. Buwis-buhay it was! But then it was really a must try. It was just like a step higher, out of the comfort zone. :)

Photo credits. :)