Bantakay Falls

This was my first trip to Quezon. The first plan was to climb Mt Marami in Cavite but thinking of the summer heat, we opt to go to another location which must be a little cooler, within shades of trees perhaps. Jasen found this falls in Atimonan. Me having been disappointed with my previous trip to Daranak Falls in Tanay willingly said hell yes.

There were only four of us who went on this trip. Most people who come with us to climbs happened to be busy on the weekend. That was April30-May1. We meet up in JAC Liner in Kamias 5AM then we arrived in Lucena around 9AM. The trip was very sluggish. We ate our breakfast there then rode another bus going to Atimonan. What sucks about this is that we don’t know really where we should alight. I know that the zigzag road is our landmark but the bus conductor told me he does not know where it is. Bummer! We ended up going to Atimonan market then ride a jeepney going back to where the bus passed by a little earlier. Then we were at the old zigzag road. At that point we also don’t know where to go next. Pinagbanderahan is supposed to be uphill so we went up the zigzag road. Climbing up is tiring to the legs because of the firm concrete road as compared to real dirt when climbing a real mountain. This terrain is not spoken of when mountain climbing is concern. 

test shot using my toy cam

A little bit up the mountain, we ended up on Quezon National Park. 

Quezon National Forest Park

It seems to be a stopover for those travelers where they can eat lunch. We also ate our lunch there. We only ordered rice and opened one can of sausage. It started raining so the idea of still going to Pinagbanderahan was aborted. We were more excited about the waterfalls.

going down the zigzag road after the rain

Going down the zigzag road again we were lucky that the rain stopped. We saw this guy selling giant snails. It was my first time seeing really big snails.  They were caught in the forests during the evening. I wonder how it tastes like because we saw empty shells of these snails possibly grilled near Niyugan campsite.

We rode a tricycle going to Bgy Sta Catalina, jump off to Bantakay. There we registered, hired a guide then we were off. We arrived at Niyugan campsite about 4pm. There’s a lot of mosquitoes so we made a campfire hoping that the smoke will help reduce the number of mosquitoes. This campfire is also a little helpful that we have something to look at, like a TV or something that keeps us from getting really bored while waiting for our supper to be ready.The whole day was very tiring. Lights off was very early at about 9pm since there is only four of us so there is not much socials needed.

Niyugan Campsite

In the morning, we woke up early. About 6AM.  After breakfast, we headed up to the falls. It was great compared to what I see in Daranak. What sucked as always is all the rubbish around the waterfalls and the river below it. The guide told us the day before that the place is cleaned from time to time. The holy week may have brought all these trash. It is saddening that people who come to this place should at least have the courtesy to clean up after. We also learned that the waters that dropped from Bantakay is not that heavy because some are being diverted to a dam.

Swimming in the waterfalls is fun. I don’t know how to really swim so as a work around, they let me used two PET bottles as flotation device so that I can reach the waterfalls. McGuyver would be so proud of that improvisation.  There’s just the four of us in the vicinity so we also had time taking silly pictures like that where I were only wearing leaves. The photos are hilarious. We decided to end the photoshoot when the drizzles come.

We ate lunch, or what was left over from our breakfast then we broke camp.

When we arrived at the jump off point, we learned that the diversion road is closed. Therefore the convenience of getting a bus a few yards from where we were is gone. We could hike until the start of the old zigzag road which was about 8kilometers or get a tricycle if we got lucky. We proceed to the new hike when we saw this halo-halo stand. Of course we stopped to eat some. For fifteen pesos, it was a lot. 

an empty diversion road calls for this photo

After the next bend we were lucky to get a tricycle. It is not really a tricycle but a motorcycle with an attached sidecar which is I think for delivery of some merchandise like bottled water similar to those I see in Manila. We endure the trip then we were able to ride another bus to Lucena City then another jeep to SM Lucena. There we ate out early dinner in an Inasal restaurant. We bought Lucban longganisa and pancit lucban in the supermarket then we head home.

I would like to be back again. Next time we would be prepared for the mosquitoes, the rain and we will know the correct way to commute to that place. I wish Bantakay would still be great. It is not that amazing as it used to be but I wish it should not be worse.