Mt. Pamitinan (Dayhike + Budget Breakdown)

Mt. Pamitinan is located at Rodriguez, Rizal. It is one of the trio mountains located on the same municipality, together with the Mt. Binacayan and Mt. Banoi. If you are adventurous, you can try trilogy and can climb these three beautiful mountains in one day.

We arrived at the jump off at around 4:00am, registration usually starts at 4:30am. We paid 50 pesos environmental fee per head. At the barangay you also need to give donations in any amount you can give. I gave them 20 pesos. It is also advisable to wear gloves and protections from the sun. You can buy gloves at the jump off point for just 35 pesos for a pair and for the sleeves it would be 30 pesos. You can also buy hats for 110 pesos.

For the guide, It will be for 500 pesos for 5 persons. We are a group of ten and we had two guides. They are quite good and humble. Kuya Mark and Kuya Rolly which is a grade school teacher at the place.

Kuya Mark's contact number: 09087006282. You can contact him ahead of time to have you and your group booked. 

We started the trek at exactly 5:00 am. We first crossed a hanging bridge in which you can see the flowing waters coming from the Wawa Dam and the breathtaking view of Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Binacayan. Here are some photos which were taken after the hike.

Mt. Pamitinan

Mt. Binacayan

There are several spots that you can take a rest, and there were stores that can provide you temporary shelter and food. The people were also nice though. In fact we actually had my sister rest in one of the stores as we continue to hike because she was dizzy.

We arrived the junction at around 6:00am where some hikers were also resting. This is the starting point for the mountains Mt. Pamitinan and Mt. Banoi. There were also some stores in here that sells some food and drinks like buko and melon juice for refreshment.

The trail going up is a challenge. The mountain is actually full of rocks and you really need to be careful climbing and jumping through them since some were having sharp edges.

I wasn't able to document the time when we reach the first summit, maybe because I was caught by the breathtaking view that is in front of me. In here, there were policy to take almost two to three pictures per person to give time for others who also wanted to have their pictures taken at the edge of a huge rock.

We took almost an hour taking pictures and resting in this beautiful spot. If you are brave enough you can also get to an edge of a cliff were you can pose like you are hanging.

Sorry for the face tho. heheheh :)

The second summit is about 30 - 45 minutes away from the first summit. You need to climb in a rope for you to get to the peak. In here, you can see the picturesque view of the famous Sierra Madre and Mt. Binacayan and Mt. Banoi.

Sierra Madre

Our guide also wanted us to experience the other side of the summit. They told us that we can take more pictures here because some of the guides were not going in that place.

The summit

After taking a lot of selfies and group pictures, we then descent for us to rest and freshen up. the original plan is that we will be swimming in a pool nearby or will bathe in the famous Wawa Dam. But unfortunately due to some events (we were all tired and cannot decide), we just have our shower at the shower rooms at the jump off point for just 25 pesos.

I also wanted to do spelunking at Pamitinan Cave, but unfortunately it is closed due to some reasons. So sad.

 

THINGS TO BRING / REMEMBER:

- Wear shoes or sandals.

- Wear comfortable clothes. For girls, it is advisable to wear leggings and put shorts on top of it.

- Wear gloves, because the rocks were sharp and hot.

- Bring at least 1liter of water. Depending on your water consumption.

- Bring protections from the sun. (Sun Block lotion, sleeves, cap, shades)

- If you're going on a weekend,  make sure to be there as early as 4am, because there were a lot of hikers also going there during weekends.

- There were Limestones that you can see on your way, make sure to not touch them because once caught, you will be entitled to pay 250 pesos per gram

Limestones

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:

Van = 1500 pesos

Environmental fee = 50 pesos

Donations = any amount

Guide = 500 pesos x2 = 1000pesos for a group of ten

Other Expenses:

Cap = 110

Sleeves  = 30

Gloves = 35

Lunch = 60 pesos

Shower = 25 pesos

Mt. Mag-asawang Bato Tingloy Island, Batangas

Mt. Mag-Asawang Bato is also located in Tingloy Island, Batangas. It is actually near the Masasa Beach. Masasa beach is also one of the beaches near Manila that is still not yet populated.

How to Get there:

* From Buendia Taft, ride a bus going to Batangas Grand Terminal. Fare is 157 pesos
* From the Grand Terminal ride a jeep going to Mabini and depart at Anilao Port. Fare is 37 pesos
* Once at Anilao Port look for the List from Coast Guard and list your names for you to be able to ride the boat going to Tingloy Island. They are observing a first come first serve policy.
* Boatride from Anilao Port going to Tingloy island takes an hour. Fare is 65 pesos.
*From Tingloy island, ride a tricycle going to Masasa Beach. Fare will be 15 pesos per head. This is also the jump-off for Mt. Mag-asawang Bato.

Total Fare cost (From buendia to Tingloy) = 274 pesos


Suggested Itinerary:

If you are planning to go overnight, you can first setup your tent at the beach and hike. Then enjoy the beach after. You can also ask some of the locals to take care of your things while hiking. You can leave your bags on their house. Don't worry the locals were very kind and nice.

We have one of the locals as our tour guide for the hike. We hired Kuya Berto and he is actually nice. We paid him 500 pesos for that. The hike will take around 1-2 hours depending on how fast you are and also depending on how long you are going to stay at the summit.

You can find Kuya Berto in this store.

Kuya Berto's Store

* You can also have yourself challenged by hiking at the famous Mt. Gulugod Baboy in Anilao Batangas that is also near the Anilao Port. We are about to have it the next day, but my friends were already exhausted and we decided to have a sidetrip in Tagaytay instead.

The Trail:

The trail is actually fit for beginners like us. You can have it done for about 2 hours or so.

Rocks that are stacked made by other hikers

The view <3

The Summit:

It is fulfilling seeing the summit and seeing the famous rocks at the top of Mt. Mag-Asawang Bato. You can see the breath taking view of the island. You can also see from afar the famous Puerto Galera Island.

*You can actually climb up the peak of the Rocks to enjoy the 360 degree view of the island.

My brother and my friend enjoying the peak of one of the rocks :))

Masasa Beach

After a tiring trek at Mt. Mag-asawang Bato have yourself relaxed and freshen by the cooling breeze of the waters of Masasa beach. Just a 15-20 minute walk down the beach from the Jump off point.

Here are some photos of the beach:

Stunning rock Formation at the beach :)

Masasa beach : For budget travellers

We went to Masasa beach in Tingloy Batangas last weekend (April 9-10, 2016). We have read some reviews and blogs about the place. We were excited since it is one of the beaches near Manila that is affordable and not yet crowded. So we planned our trip and make sure to have it documented for future references (wala na kasi kaming mkitang latest review sa net). So we decided to create our own. hehehe

How to get there:
From Manila, take the bus bound to Batangas pier, ask the conductor to drop you at the Grand
Terminal. We took the bus at Jam liner Terminal at Buendia Taft. The trip going to the Grand terminal took us roughly 2 hours.

Then from the Grand terminal, we rode a jeep going to Mabini, this will take almost an hour. What we know is that we will be going to Talaga port, but because it was late the jeepney driver told us to have the boatride at Anilao Port. Since they have the last trip by 4pm. We reached the port at 2pm. We waited for about two hours before we ride the boat. We had the last trip.

*You need to write your names on the list form the coast guard to have you booked for the next ride. Travel time is about an hour.

This is the boat going to Tingloy.

We arrived at around 5pm. Then we get a tricycle going to Masasa Beach. Travel time is about 15 minutes.

Finally! we reached our destination! we were so excited to look for a spot to have our tent setup. There were also numbers of tents that has been installed throughout the coast. We also expected that there's a lot of trashes everywhere coming from the irresponsible tourists.

Enjoying the Sand :))

Enjoying the view

Corals

Campsite

Sunset <3

Accomodation: 
We have brought our own tent, so the accomodation is FREE! 
But there's also some huts that you can rent for a night, the only thing is that we do not have enough time on knowing how much it is and to see how it looks. 

Things to remember:

- Bring your own water and food.  (Wala kasi mabibilhan. May mga tindahan kaso malayo at hindi ganun kakumpleto mga items na tinitinda nila.)
- Bring your own tent. Wala kaming nakita na nagpaparent ng tent.
- There's no comfort rooms. So dapat hindi kayo maarte.
- No shower rooms as well. Pero may balon dun na pede kayo maligo for free!
- Last trip ng boat pabalik sa Anilao ay 9am. Meron ding mga private boats na nagooffer ng ride pabalik after 9am. Price range 1800-2500 pesos.
- Kung balak niyo magshot sa beach. pwede naman kaso mahirap makahanap ng yelo.
- Huwag na po magkalat. Oo, madami nang basura ang masasa beach pero dapat tumulong na tayo para hindi na un lumala.
- Umalis kayo ng maaga para masulit nyo ang stay nyo dun and kung trip nyo magbundok may time pa kayo. May malapit na bundok dun, Mt. Mag-asawang bato. Pwedeng pwede niyo isama sa itinerary niyo. :)

Budget:

Bus going to Batangas                     P157.00
Jeep going to Mabini                       P37.00
Boatride going to Tingloy               P65.00
Tricycle going to Masasa beach      P15/ head

Total: P274 one way

*The trip going back to Manila will be the same route. The only thing is that, Jeepney drivers were having a short trip and they are depending on the number of passengers if they will reach the Terminal. The driver did not took us to the terminal and we rode another tricycle for P10 and the travel time is about 15 minutes.

What you can do in Masasa Beach:
Aside from swimming you can also enjoy the nature by trekking at the Mt. Mag-asawang Bato. Some of the tourists were actually adding this on their itineraries. We actually planned to go hiking and trekking in that mountain also in Mt. Gulugod Baboy. Unfortunately, we have limited time and we decided to just enjoy the beach and plan to go back to those stuff. I will definitely share the experience once we get back. :))