#laguna

todays beanie is: laguna the bear!

I was so lucky to be invited in this amazing trip to Hulugan falls located in Louisiana, Laguna which is probably just 3 hours away from the busy streets of Manila.  This should be considered my first adventure for this year 2016 and I would say that the whole trip was remarkable! 

Here are the following itinerary proposed by a fellow blogger ( Joana Matias: taleoftheslippers.tumblr.com)

A picture of me and Jomaerz at Hulugan Falls.

ITINERARY:

3:30 A.M. Assembly at Robinsons Galleria (Jollibee Startek)
4:00 A.M. ETD (to Luisiana Laguna)
7:00 A.M. ETA Brgy Captain’s house
7:15 A.M. Start trek (descend)
8:00 A.M. ETA Hulugan Falls (photo ops)
8:30 A.M. ETD (ascend)
9:30 A.M. ETA (brgy captain’s house)

Estimated Expenses

Van Rental – 4000php
Guide Fee – 600
Reg Fee – 20.00/ person
What to bring:
1-2 liters of water
Trail food
Extra clothes and towel
Sunblock

And of course, due to Filipino time and the others arriving late we left Manila at 4:30 as opposed to what’s listed.

4:30 am | Departure – Rented a Van with the help of my friend’s co-worker

TIP: Please leave early as indicated in the ITINERARY because you will be expecting many people in the registration area if you arrive after sunrise.
According to the Guide (Benjie), there ae days where thousands of vacationers visit the area this is why I strongly suggest for you to leave early to enjoy the view of the falls with lesser people.

Registration House together with our assigned guide (the guy at the left with an ID Lace) – Registered at 7:25 am - 

We arrived at Louisiana Laguna around 7:00 and started trekking downhill to reach Hulugan Falls.

From Concrete floors to Muddy Pathways

After A 3 km trek we reached this beauty. Hulugan Falls | Luisiana Laguna

After that we went to another falls where you have to trek uphill and down to witness the hidden waterfalls or what is locally known as “Talayan Falls” 

Reached Talayan Falls after an estimated distance of 2 km from Hulugan Falls

Then we head back to our private van which is near the Barangay Captain’s house which is another 3 km trek — we had to take a break before we head out to our next adventure.

We then had a boodle fight with my travel buddies - getting a table is free as long as you buy something from the store.

We didn’t continue our trek to “Aliw Falls” since some were kind of tired and wanted to go to some hot springs instead since it was REALLY cold that time. Plus, our guide said that there are a lot of leeches there. Who wants vampires when you swim right? So we headed out paid our guide and looked for the nearest hot spring resort.
We then ended up in Sun City with a rate of 80php including the cottage. Swam a little then took a shower and now we head back to Manila!

Other comments:
Buwis Buhay Level – 2/ 10 Great for beginners but please wear the proper hiking shoes due to slippery rocks when going downhill.
Guide Overall Attitude and Knowledge – Poor 2/10 – The guide that we had almost didn’t have any answers to some basic questions you would usually ask to a guide such as “Why is it called Hulugan Falls?”-“What are some Past events that took place here?”.  And he seem to not care when some of us would slip, he would literally just stare from a far and wait for us in order for him to lead the way. Talking about leading the way, he isn’t doing a GOOD job. We always go first and we end up finding the falls ourselves with the help of the trails.
TIP: As much as possible get a guide who seems to be a little bit older, he may at least know some stuff
I also encountered one guide (not ours) and asked if the falls that we are seeing from our point is Aliw Falls. He just stared at us and asked us where is our GUIDE with that deep tone of voice and not even bothering to give us a simple answer of a YES or No. He just adviced us to wai for our GUIDE. WOW That’s an attitude, you really had to stare at as so with your resting BITCH face. DAMN When he walked past I was like “BITCH is he serious”. HE TOTALLY RUINED MY WHOLE TRIP, seriously.
Cleanliness – 7.5/10 just saw some cigarette butts around the falls but not too irritating that you see it all over the place.

And that sums up our whole trip.
As a student who travels with no work, this trip didn’t affect my budget that much. I just spent around 710 php including my share from the rent of the van, tour guide, registration, food, and the resort that we stayed in. It’s really more fun to travel in groups since it is less expensive and you get to have them take awesome pics for you. HAHAHA 

My expenses:
Share for the Van: 400php
Registration: 20php
Boodle Fight food (Adobo) – 60php (brought my own rice)
Pancit Habhab + Drinks and Kutsinta Dessert – 50php
Guide contribution – 100php
Sun City Entrance+ Cottage – 80php
Total expense = 710php!!!

Just imagine spending 710php on 3 Venti Starbucks Latte+ A slice of New York Style Cheesecake when you can go visit a Philippine Wonder!

I hope this has given you an idea on what to expect in Hulugan Falls!!! 

GO AND CHASE THEM FALLS!