Hulugan Falls, Laguna April 2016

Nestled in the peaceful town of San Salvador in Luisiana, Laguna is a hidden..well actually used-to-be hidden but now quite popular, Hulugan Falls!lol

travel time was about 2 hours by car.

watch out for the sign above once you're in Louisiana ;)

there's ample parking space making it convenient for tourists with cars

Registration is required with a fee of P15.

There will be a tour guide who will accompany you to the trek.

No fixed price for the tip, in our case we gave P200 (group of 4)

Starting point: 15 min trek on concrete.

This part was quite easy though only problem is the heat since there's not much shade covering the road.

FYI, they are already developing this area to promote tourism hence the concrete road

Then comes the jungle trail hehe

There's even a lounge area at the middle of the trail

pretty steep going down, mind your steps!

a sight of hope! hehe

Unexpectedly, it only took us 40 minutes to reach the falls!

I was a bit worried it would us longer since I've been traumatized with our experience in Bugtong Bato haha

What a beauty!

Our guide said so many people went here last Holy Week reaching up to 900! O_O

OMG can you imagine a sea of people gathering in this supposedly serene place?!!

Ugh, tourism =/

Although summer is best time to go here, I think rainy season or during -ber months would also be a good option since the water flow would be much stronger ;)

so enchanting!

Yea, i had to pose in every angle hahahaha

view from a different side!

mineral water!

this is safe to drink.. some tourists would even bring a gallon of this as a souvenir haha

Till next time Hulugan!

Villa Escudero 2015

Villa Escudero has always been our go-to places for a quick getaway from the city.

Since I was young, we've always brought our balikbayan relatives here for some sight seeing and a beautiful lunch at their waterfalls site--more of that later ;)

Map of the area

The resort is located in the town of San Pablo in Laguna and takes about 2 hours by car from Manila.

Day tour costs P1250 for Adults every Mon-Thurs and P1400 during Sundays and Holidays.

The package includes welcome drinks, carabao cart rides, use of outdoor recreational facilities, lunch at the waterfalls and access to the museum.

Too bad, their swimming pool was under renovation when we went there...

Our ride going to the falls!

Such a pleasant ride with the staff singing some native songs during the ride!

Highlight of the tour!

Lunch consists of mainly Filipino dishes like...

Steamed okra with bagoong, kangkong and salted egg

Pancit, lechon manok, ginataang gulay, caldereta etc.

Turon, banana cue and some fruits for dessert.

jam packed!

there were some Korean/Chinese group tours that go here too so better come early to avoid the crowd~

Above the waterfalls site is Lake Labasin where you could do some bamboo raft paddling ;)

The resto by the lake..

The cultural show also takes place here.

After lunch, we then headed to see the church.

so beautiful!

Last stop was the museum.

The exterior resembles that of a church but inside..

...houses a vast collection of random things such as religious art, ceramics, costumes weaponry and other items they acquired from the family's travels abroad.

various dolls

money collection

Philippine costume display~

some random riddle lol

Buntot Palos Falls

If you like chasing waterfalls like me lol, then I highly recommend you check out 

Buntot Palos Falls. 

It's located in the town of Pangil in Laguna, approximately 2-3 hours from Manila.

We arrived at 10am, a bit late already since the hike to the falls takes 2 hours.

Another falls you could also see which is beside Buntot Palos is Ambon Falls, our guide said it's smaller than Buntot Palos but takes lesser time to reach.

Time to trek!

I must admit, we weren't completely prepared for this trail.

I was expecting walking on flat ground for two hours rather than doing some mountain climbing!!!

Lo and behold, the usual two hours took 4 hours in our case ~3 women living a semi-sedentary lifestyle. Goodluck!

So whoever plans on going to Buntot Palos, pls pls pls...think twice or thrice if it's ok with you to do extreme mountain climbing/hiking for 2 hours to reach the falls LOL

There are 4 stations/stopovers for the trail.

Sorry forgot to take a pic of the first one hehe.

This is why station 2 is named as such =P

This cute doggie guided us the whole time by the way! such a fit dog. #jealousmuch haha

Overlooking view of Laguna

I think by this time, I already lost 10kg from sweating profusely hahaha

Ahhh, station 3 is my fave.

We ate lunch and drank fresh buko juice here ~perfect thirst quencher!

This is also the area where tourists can camp if they decide to stay overnight.

It's not allowed to camp at the falls due to safety reasons.

Finally, a sign of hope lol

and there it is....

The water coming out from that tube is fresh spring water! WOW

Our guide said some tourists would even bring back gallons of that and the poor guide have no choice but to carry it OMG #crueltymuch??!!lol

closer look

one with nature!