Pagsanjan Falls via Cavinti, Laguna

       Laguna is a place of bliss just 2 hours away from Manila. Pagsanjan falls is a very well known falls in the Philippines, but the fact is that it is located in Anglas, Cavinti Laguna. Locals call it Magdapio falls or Cavinti falls. There are two ways to get to the falls: first an expensive but thrilling ride from Pagsanjan Laguna , second an adventurous and exciting hike from Cavinti Laguna. Since I love adventures we took the second way to Cavinti Laguna.

        This is the sign at the entrance of the nature park. From the entrance we walk apprx. 100 meters to the office, we register and pay for the entrance fee and the rappelling fee. After that the guy at the office give us some reminders and rules on going down the falls. We followed the cemented pathway and some muddy path. I was amazed by the Santol tree around the cemented path the fruits just lay there decayed and there was like a sack of them! Its kinda expensive in Manila. We also passed a small mountain stream, the water is crystal clear and we tried a bit of it its a little bit sweet and amazingly cold.

The mountain stream

The short muddy path 

     This is the landmark where we  started rappelling and the 672 steel steps down to the falls. We had 2 rappelling going down but its not the usual rappelling where you would jump or kick into the walls but just hold unto the rope going down. My friend didn't have the chance of rappelling because of her weight :( but still she had fun. She had to go down the stairs like the ones used on fire exits. The 672 steel steps going down is not easy as the normal stairs. It's insane  because its narrow and the handrails are crazy hot because of the sun!

         And WOW. We made it. The sound of the river, the falls, the trees and the silence that we can get from the surroundings ahhhhh its relaxing. We saw some tourists on their way back on the other route. I wanna try that route eventhough its expensive. The boatmen deserves their pay its roughly 2 hours of boat ride back and forth. 

The famous Pagsanjan Falls or Cavinti Falls or Magdapio Falls whatever you wanna call it. Isn't it wonderful? It takes my breath away the second I saw it. The weariness I got from the route we took just go with the flow of the falls and I felt good. We take a 5 minutes rest and did the bamboo rafting to the Devil's cave.

      Usually the tourists would just take a minute or two at the cave but we decided to stay till the next bamboo rafters return. It feels like a storm is happening inside the cave. The wind was so strong and the water from the falls are like rain. But I LOOOOVE it! I sang some songs I felt like a mermaid in a deserted cave hah! But then my fantasy was stopped when the bamboo raft appeared.

 

     We took some pictures and decided to swim but its sooo deep like 80 ft. wooow so we just stayed at the edge of the river. While we are having a great time dipping ourselves at the cold river, the bamboo rafter asked us if we want to join the 7 old women to the devil's cave who will have some rituals there. We felt a little bit scared the group has their props like the ones we can see in the movies the one that the fairies or fay has. ( for the whole story of the group of old women click here) We suddenly heard the thunder and the sky went dark so we settle and go on our way up.

Bye bye falls see you next time :)

On our way up. Woohoo tons of sweat to go. haha. We drop by the Bumbungan Eco Park (click here) and ate some Bulalo and finally went home.