Buntot Palos

My whole summer has been about waterfalls. The last one was Buntot Palos in Pangil Laguna. I stumbled about this blog entry about this waterfall after our Pahiyas roadtrip. We passed by the Laguna and I wondered where else can we go since I know Siniloan and Famy have some nature tripping to offer.

So there, I invited people to go. We scheduled the hike June11-12 just in time when other mountaineers are cramming up other mountains for the Freedom Climb. There were five of us when we did go. We take a 83-peso jeepney ride from Robinsons Cainta to Siniloan. It took about an hour to fill the jeepney and the whole trip was about 2.5 hours long. It was a little unbearable with the big basket in front of me that I don't have a lot of leg room to move and slouch a little. I can't sleep well. Biyaheng probinsya talaga. We ate lunch at Jollibee Siniloan which was of course, serious nonsense and disappointing when I was craving for goto, mami or whatever home-cooked meal I saw on the side of the road. Anyways, it’s been ages since I tasted burger steak. Laman-tiyan din naman.

After lunch, we went to the market for provisions. A tricycle driver contracted us for 25-peso each ride to the jump off point at Barangay Balian. We hired a guide, and pay the fee then we were off.

Ang daming kalat

The trek took us less than two hours. When we arrived at the waterfalls, there were a lot of people there.Some are drinking beers, taking photos and not really swimming. Just there for a day hike. There were no mountaineers there obvious because the group in front us are all wearing flip flops. Even the other group who stayed in the evening addressed us "tol" when we are already accustomed using "sir" to all mountaineers we met ever since this hobby started. Their group used charcoal for cooking so Frank did try to lend our burner to them but they declined. I think they don’t want any socials that evening. Screw them.

It rained that evening. We were using Floser’s new tent which he bought form the US. it is an REI quarter dome tent,really awesome and lightweight. That was the first test for its worth. It is supposed to be weatherproof but I guess the slope of the ground and our not so perfect pitching ruined its reputation. Adding that there were three of us cramming inside, the night was not so pleasant.

When the morning came, the rain already stopped. Our neighbors woke up really early talking and laughing really loud with their tales of how they survived the night before. I would love to sleep more but they were really noisy. When we did decide to come out to eat breakfast, they were sort of already packing things up and breaking camp. We were not in a hurry. We are still planning to go to the falls even though we anticipate a higher river and a not so clean water due to the heavy rains. We ate Frank’s paksiw na daing eggs and noodles. After that we went to the waterfalls again. 

the water looks dirty but yeah we did swim in there

We swim for about an hour then we washed up. We break camp then go down the mountain.

a view of the Laguna Lake. Picture taken during descent

I love this natural spring where the water is cool enough to quench thirst

Before we reach the jump off point, we stayed in this resort-like place so that Jerwin can wash himself up. He also threw away his worn-out Airwalk shoes which evidently not fit for hiking. After that little rest we hire a tricycle going to Famy where we were told that shuttle(locals call it van) are available. These trips run all the way to Legarda in Manila. When we arrived in this very familiar cross road of calamba-Sta Cruz Famy junction, we decided to eat first. I ate halo-halo and lugaw and of course Pop cola.

When it’s time to finally ride the damn vans, they had this commotion over colorum vans. This issue took us very long to finally leave that place. I even considered to just head to Siniloan but a local told us that the last trip heading to Antipolo is at 7PM. If only we went straight there earlier. Anggulo ng sistema tapos wala pang pila, andami nang tao.

Then finally, we did ride this van. I alighted at Antipolo, walk about 3 blocks to reach the church then to the tricycle terminal.