laguna Archives | Meghy Was Here

Glamping in Cavinti, Laguna: King’s Landing Waterfront Camping Resort

Meghy — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 12:29:35 +0000

It’s only this time of pandemic that I was able to explore Laguna, my birth province and where I currently reside. Due to restrictions implemented, traveling around became difficult and limited but I am happy that at least I was able to discover hidden gems of my other home province. One of the places becoming popular in the province is the municipality of Cavinti which is now being tagged as the “Glamping Capital of the South”. Glamping sites now herds around Caliraya Lake and Lumot Lake that offers various activities and camping setups.

King’s Landing Waterfront Camping Resort:

I scrolled over my facebook feed looking for an affordable glamping offers and found King’s Landing. Of course, aside from the affordability I took consider also the view, service and feedbacks by its previous visitors. King’s Landing Waterfront Camping Resort is located in Brgy. Bukal, Cavinti, Laguna.

How to get there?

From Manila

Ride a bus (from Buendia) bound to Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Travel time is around 2 hours and tell the driver to drop you off on jeepney terminal bound to Cavinti (It’s just near the DLTB bus terminal in Sta. Cruz). Upon riding the jeepney, tell the driver to drop you off in Jonson Cavinti. From Jonson, ride a tricycle that will take you straight to King’s Landing in Brgy. Bukal.

Camping Options:

Basic No Frills Camping

-Bring and pitch your own tent that costs 300 Php/night.

2. Glamping

-You got a nice tent undercover from the winds and rain. Includes air mattress, linens, pillows, blankets, fans, electricity, tables, chairs and full use of facilities that costs 500 Php/night.

3. Glamping Plus

-Same inclusions on Option 2 but with 3 full meals served right at your tent that costs 1500 Php/night

Note:

-Day tour rates cost half price of the packages mentioned

-Kids under 6 years old is half price

Glamping Experience:

King’s Landing Waterfront Camping Resort is being owned by a foreigner known as “Mr. King”. He stays on his house on the same compound so he checks all his visitors from time to time. He’s so friendly that he would talk to you when he’s out and makes sure that you are having fun.

Not only Mr. King but I would like to commend as well all the staffs of the camping ground as they will cater all your needs and makes sure that you are comfortable on your entire stay!

The camping ground lies beside the beautiful Lumot Lake, so you could just sit from your tents or camping chairs and stare on its allure to relax yourself. I definitely felt the calmness of the place. You can also have a view of the more famous glamp site, Bloc Camp Site, on your right and simply relish yourself with a site of fishing boats passing by.

The resort also serves food upon order and I definitely recommend their burgers. They use homemade patties that certainly one of the tastiest I ever tried. Plus, the servings are worth for its price.

If you wish to relax away from the city, connect with nature without settings aside comfort, go ahead and book an overnight glamping on this camping ground.

Additional things to know:

You can make a reservation through their official Facebook page or through their Airbnb account.
The campsite is equipped with comfort rooms and game rooms.
Parking space is available and pets are allowed.
When we arrived, they have this boat that you can rent the whole day if you wish to go around Lumot Lake.

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Travel Guide: Mt. Romelo + 4 Falls

Meghy — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 04:12:34 +0000

The province of Laguna still have a lot of unrefined beauty to offer to everyone who seeks adventure. One of its gems can be found on the town called “Siniloan”. The town of Siniloan, also tagged as “a waterfall sanctuary”, is situated between the plains of Sierra Madre and Laguna De Bay. Just 2-3 hours away from Manila, a weekend trip to this sanctuary is a perfect idea for a jampacked escapade one true adventurer could imagine.

Mt. Romelo and its falls:

Mt. Romelo is an ideal mountain for first- timers as the mountain only stands 240 MASL. One can reach the summit for about more than an hour or two but when you visit the during rainy season where trail becomes too muddy, the difficulty of the trail could climb up to another level. Aside from the mountain summit, Mt. Romelo is also an oasis of several waterfalls anyone would love to see. One could not see much on the summit but people look forward more on its hidden majestic waterfalls. Currently, they’re promoting seven of its waterfalls but as per our guide, there’s still more waterfalls on the mountain that only locals know.

How to go to Mt. Romelo?

Option 1:

Ride a bus bound to Sta. Cruz, Laguna (Buendia or Cubao). Upon reaching Sta. Cruz, ride a jeepney bound to Siniloan (fare is P50). From Siniloan town proper, charter a tricycle going to Brgy. Macatad (fare is P30 each) just tell the driver to drop you off on the registration house to Buruwisan.

Option 2:

Ride a van from Starmall Shaw Blvd. bound to Tanay. From Tanay public terminal, ride a jeepney bound to Siniloan. From Siniloan town proper, charter a tricycle going to Brgy. Macatad just tell the driver to drop you off on the registration house to Buruwisan.

Start of trail:

For this trip, we decided to visit Mt. Romelo and four of its waterfalls in an overnight experience. Since we’ll be spending the night on its campsite, we opted to start the trek late. We reached the jump off on Brgy. Macatad at almost 10 AM, logged our names and paid for the registration fee of P50 each. We were welcomed by our tour guide, Arnold, who we already contacted beforehand. After registration, we walked for few hundred meters to the nearest food house to have tapsilog as our early lunch then we started our ascent at almost 11 AM. The first part of the trail is a mild slope uncovered by trees and the scorching heat of the sun made our initial trek way too tiring. It made us realize that it was a wrong decision to start in almost noon (lesson learned haha!) After meters of struggling, we reached the part of the trail where trees already cover the trail and the trek became more manageable. We were lucky too that the course was not that muddy.

After spending some time of rest on shades and huts on the area, we took our final ascent to the top. We reached the summit at around 12:30 PM and just took few photos for few minutes because it was too hot! There’s no trees or shades available on the summit and the burning heat made us decide to just continue walking down the trail. Few meters down the summit is a sari-sari store where you can buy some refreshments. Not far away is another picture taking area called “skyview”. You can enter skyview and the other heart/start backdrop and take photos for a fee that you have to pay on the caretaker.

Campsite:

We continued the trek and after another hour we set foot on the camping site. The camping ground lies beside the Siniloan River just above the known Buruwisan Falls. There are “bahay kubo” that can fit around 5-6 people that can be rented for only P500 (overnight) or you can simply pitch your own tent. The camping area is completed with basic facilities such as public comfort room and “sari-sari” stores for your food needs. We just settled our things and started our journey down to Buruwisan Falls. The way down to the Buruwisan Falls is very steep that you really have to be careful because one misstep could make you stumble. Take note that the trail down to the falls is not as easy as the summit trail and could be another level as it will require series of climbing rocks and conquering abrupt tracks. After few minutes of striving effort will lead you to the majestic Buruwisan Falls. It is the most accessible falls and the most visited. Many consider this as the most stunning among all. It’s such a rewarding experience to finally bathe on its waters after a tiring day of trek and being under the sun. We stayed here for more than an hour just enjoying its cold waters and appreciating the grandeur of this 170 ft falls.

Few meters from Buruwisan, we reached our second waterfall named “Lanzones falls”. It’s smaller than Buruwisan, the area was a bit gloomy due to trees covering the area and it’s located on the other end of Buruwisan so both of its drifting water meets on the same river.

After enjoying two falls on our first day, we climbed back to the campsite to prepare for dinner. Good thing, there’s a store on the camping site that offers cooked rice. We spent around P60 for a half kilo rice. We relished dinner over rice and canned tuna meal and had a chitchat with the locals until we took a rest and had a good night sleep to prepare for another adventure by the next morning.

Second day:

We woke up at around 6 AM to have some breakfast before starting another long day. The stores on the site also offers cup noodles, pancit canton and hot coffee/chocolate so breakfast would not be a problem. We started our hike to the other two falls by 7:30 in the morning. First stop was the Sampaloc Falls located north of the campsite which took us around 45 minutes to one hour to reach. We did few river crossing and climbed rocky slopes. It was a continuous ascent-descent trail until we reached the 40 ft falls. I think this was the hardest to get so its charm is the most untainted.

Last stop is the Batya-Batya falls which means “basin”. It Is a two-level of cascading waterfall located downstream of Sampaloc Falls. It became my personal favorite as going towards batya-batya, you have to pass through a dreamy-like/enchanting river that lies between high rock formations. You even have to pass across a part of the river that’s more than 5 ft in height! One should be careful and guides usually ties rope for assistance.

We went back to the campsite, packed our things and started our trek back to the jump off. It was past 12 noon when we reached the tapsilogan to eat lunch and took a bath.

If you wish to visit Mt. Romelo and its waterfalls, you can contact our recommended tour guide, Arnold. He is a college student who works as a tour guide on the side to earn extra living. You can contact him on his phone number 09065049465 or on his official facebook page here.

Additional Information:

Siniloan tourism promotes seven waterfalls on Mt. Romelo namely: Sebakon Falls, Diwata Falls, Sampaloc Falls, Sapang Labo Falls, Batya- Batya Falls, Lanzones Falls and Buruwisan Falls.
Guide Fee depends on how many falls you want to visit. For our case, we paid P1500 for an overnight stay for summit and four falls.
Registration fee is P50.
Some stores on the campsite and along the trail might be close during weekdays.

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Luisiana, Laguna: Hulugan Falls Travel Guide

Meghy — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 15:28:39 +0000

Laguna might be known for its hot spring resorts, location of the country’s biggest freshwater lake, Laguna De Bay and being home of Philippine’s famous amusement park, Enchanted Kingdom but this province situated Southeast of Metro Manila has a lot of natural attractions waiting to be explored. Multiple waterfalls can be found in the province but for this article we’ll be talking about Hulugan Falls located on Laguna’s little Baguio, the town of Luisiana.

Knowing Hulugan Falls:

Hulugan Falls is one of the few falls that you can visit in Brgy. San Salvador, Luisiana. Locals would agree that it is the most stunning among all. Standing 230 feet, you’ll be amazed by its natural beauty and to be drizzled by its strong water drops is an experience you must look forward to. As per our guide, with the effort of the barangay’s ex captain the place was finally opened to the public last 2015 and since then many tourists were captured by its charm.

How to get there?

From Manila

From Manila ride a bus (Buendia, Cubao or Alabang) bound to Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Upon reaching Sta. Cruz town proper, ride a jeepney bound to Luisiana. Jeepney terminal is located at the back of Jollibee Sta. Cuz, fare is P50 each and tell the driver to drop you off on Brgy. San Salvador. Upon arrival you’ll be seeing a sign “To Hulugan Falls” at your right. Walk to your right and you’ll be greeted by tour guides. Once they assigned a guide, they’ll accompany you to the old Captain’s house for registration. After registration, you have to ride another tricycle going to the jump off (80 Pesos per ride good for 4 pax).

From Laguna

Make your way to SM Calamba and look for jeepneys bound to Sta. Cruz on its transportation terminal. Fare will be P60 each and travel time is around 1 hour. Upon reaching Sta. Cruz town proper, ride a Luisiana bound jeepney (located at the back of Jollibee Sta. Cruz). Fare will be P50 and travel may take another 45 minutes to 1 hour. Dropped off at Brgy. San Salvador and walk to your right, have a tour guide assigned and have your group registered at the Captain’s house. After registration, ride a tricycle going to the jump off.

Journey to Hulugan Falls:

On this trip, we only decided to visit Hulugan Falls. Upon reaching the jump off, we make our way to the right where we were greeted by the “I Love Hulugan Falls” sign. Long tables and chairs are also available on the area where visitors can take a quick rest. After this part, this is where the real tricky trek starts. You have to descend a very steep natural stairs and since it poured the day before we went, the trail is too slippery, muddy and a bit complex. Good thing is they managed to put bamboo railings that one can hold and use as support all through his journey. We also have a very nice guide that holds and assists us anytime we need.

The trek may take around 30 minutes and after a tiring descent, you’ll be rewarded by the majesty that awaits you. It rained the day before we went to Hulugan, making the waterfalls white in color, larger than usual and water drops powerful. Regardless of its color and not being in its best glory (as per guides and locals), I was just stunned and overwhelmed by the beauty right in front of me at that moment. It’s such a gem that doesn’t deserve displeasure.

We have to put all our belongings inside a big plastic bag (prepared by our guide) to keep our things dry. Due to the strong current of water, we were not allowed to go below or near the falls itself for our safety. You can take photos on the big rocks around the area but make sure to be careful since it can be too slippery. Make sure to bring as well waterproof phone cases so you could take good pictures without worrying about your phone getting showered. Enjoying being poured by water drops from the falls is a must experience! It’s like bathing one rainy day back on your childhood days.

Getting Back From Hulugan Falls:

You have to take the same route to get back above. It may be extra tiring as you’ll need additional strength during ascent. Still, be mindful of your steps because one missed step could make you slide. Upon reaching the top where “I Love Hulugan Falls” sign is located we took some time to rest and that’s when I noticed that I lost my gold ring given to me by my mom. Our tour guide was too kind and decided to went back to the trail to look for it but unluckily, he didn’t find it. (He even went back to the falls by the next day to look for my ring again but still didn’t find it).

We continue our ascent until the drop off and ride a tricycle going to a house where we can take a bath and change clothes (P20/ligo). After fixing our things, we ride another tricycle back to the main highway and waited for a jeep back to Sta. Cruz.

Additional Information To Know:

Aside from Hulugan Falls, you can visit the other two falls in Brgy. San Salvador namely Talay Falls and Hidden Falls. You’ll take around 1.5 hours of trek when visiting the three waterfalls.
Registration Fee is 40 Pesos only. During this pandemic, they don’t require any requirements but you have to fill out their registration log book with your passing temperature.
Standard guide fee is 500 PHP (mandated July 2020) for Hulugan Falls.
For a recommended tour guide, you can contact Kuya Jayson. Once you are sure, tell him your desired date to visit so he can reserve you under his name. Kuya Jayson’s phone number is 09094522936.

It’s such a refreshing activity anyone could try since we have been forced not to leave our home for the past months due to the pandemic. We’ll surely be back and will try to visit the other known “Aliw Falls” on the nearby barangay. Please follow health protocols and safe travel to everyone!

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