Mt. Romelo Famy, Laguna

I am writing this with a heavy heart because hours earlier, my Canon 400D died so expect this to be a lazy post. At least that's what I think.

The boss found a new love for mountains and hiked his first ever mountain last November 4. He joined a group tour and went to Mt. Maculot in Cuenca, Batangas. So last November 19, we found ourselves on the way to Mt. Romelo at Famy, Laguna and visit Buruwisan Falls. Leo's officemates organized the trip. We left Manila at 8am and reached the foot of the mountain at around 1pm. So yeah, it was a thirst-quenching yet muddy climb. 

I will just let the pictures do the talking.

(L-R) Boss, JC, Ferds, Ghay, Chuck, PJ and Cherry

This is where you can change clothes after the climb and buy snacks.

Registration fee is P50/person.

That's our guide Kuya Tonton. We haggled and paid him P200 for the group. Before you even start the trek, prepare to get wet because you need to cross this river.

We thought that the trail was dry but apparently not. So just in case, prepare to get really dirty.

The trail is regularly beaten by horse's hooves so expect a rough path ahead.

Some parts are full of vegetation but some are scarce hence, the sun.

\m/

Some parts are rocky too, but 70% is still muddy - our guide said that it's been raining for a week and it only stopped on the day of our hike.

Trivia : Mt. Romelo is the second mountain I ever climbed in my life, first one was Mt. Arayat in 1999.

Another muddy shot

Pit stop number I can't remember.

Trust us, we held to this cement poles for our dear life on our way down.

Almost there

It was a big relief to see shelter and hear people's chatter when we were approaching the camp before dusk.

This is just one side of the camp. You can pitch your tent on the area before you cross the river. We rented a hut for P250 and it included a little cottage where you can cook, eat and booze the night away. The rush of fresh and clean water brings a different kind of sensation (no, not that kind you perv). We cleaned ourselves and started to prepare food.

On top of Buruwisan Falls

We cooked ham, hotdogs, corned beef, chicken nuggets and paired it with salted eggs and tomatoes. It was indeed one of the best dinners of my life and my chicken nuggets tasted like Chicken Parmesan. Tiredness can sometimes turn regularly - neglected things into wonderful ones. Since I'm not allowed to drink (thank you, asthma), everyone but me and PJ stayed late and finished 5 long necks of alcohol and savored the icy waters of the river in a man-made "jacuzzi". The boss and I were not supposed to stay for the night but due to unavoidable circumstances, we decided to just leave early the next day to make it to our friend's event. In light of this, I would like to thank Chuck for welcoming us in his tent and JC for lending me his sleeping bag *hats off*. No one but our guide Kuya Tonton slept in the hut we rented because there are a lot of crawling elements I wouldn't dare mention.

It was still dark when the boss and I woke up at 5am to prepare for our 6am descend. We ordered 2 cups of coffee from the store for P10 each and munched on some crackers then made our way down the mountain by ourselves. The rest of the group was still asleep and they stayed to do more exploration.

Our shelter for the night

Good morning!

Such a wonderful world indeed

Buruwisan Falls

A friend we met along our way down

Friend number 2 (a limatik as locals call it, in English - leech) so avoid murky waters

Tree massacre

Prepare to see some of those leeches on your soles when you take off your shoes and rinse. They are that flexible.

Reached the starting point at 8:24am

We took a bath in this river - freshest water ever w/ no people around.

We walked our way back to the highway and rode a tricycle for P20 each to bring us to the terminal located at Famy-Crossing where we took a bus named Raymond bound to Legarda and payed P86 to drop us off at Rosario, Pasig City.

Warmest thanks to PJ for lending some of his pictures for this blog post (see you soon bro!).


Hasta luego!