One of most recently "opened" mountains are the ones located in Brgy. Laiban, Tanay, Rizal. They are not that high as it just stand roungly around 600++ MASL. The brgy is also well organized. The guides are knowleageable and they have IDs while doing guideship. The brgy also give receipts for the registration fee. Before the actual start of trek, the guide do a short briefing that includes the coverage of the entire trek plus a little bit of history of the mountains.
Barangay Laiban is approximately 7KMS from the main highway. The road is very rough plus you have to cross 9 rivers. Locals ride "habal-habal" (a chartered motorcycle) for their travels but for us we hired jeepney. Being in a remote area, the village is sort of secluded that they dont have electricty.
Natures best creation |
The team doing stretching before the hike |
View along the trail |
The gang in one of the pre-mark stations |
One of the several rest stops made by the locals |
One of the several rest stops made by the locals |
Not just one, but all Traces! |
Ngusong Kabayo rock formation |
The Gang! |
One of the good viewpoint. Its a long drop! |
Tangwa peak |
Yes we know Mon that you can do yoga! |
Mary Poppins in Tangwa Peak |
After Tangwa, its all descent. The trail now passes a river which consist of 4 cascading waterfalls distantly apart. The best water falls is of course the first one as the water in here is fresh from the mountains. But the best part to dip is the 3rd one albeit its not as clear as the first one. The other two is best for photo-ops.
Tagpuan Falls. The cleanest of the four |
Mahangin Falls |
Panat-In Falls. Here is where we took a dip. Water is very cold but refreshing |
Kalaparan Falls |
Water is almost dry as it is almost summer |
Nearing the start of point. Beside here is another river (not on pic) which connects to the river of Mt Balagbag |
So how did the hike went? I loved it! The place is still pristine as it was open to the public just 2 years ago. Plus the locals are kind and accomodating. They treat you as a visitor and not as a customer.