Que pasa at Quezon

2/13/16

Subsequent to the leg and limb challenge from conquering Mount Mamara, we head directly to Quezon province (still with my cousins and siblings). We plan to visit Borawan as we are curious if it really got the famous pristine white sand of Boracay and the wondrous rock formation of Palawan. I've been to Boracay and Palawan last 2013, I could say that both are awesome places to stay and discover. Boracay and Palawan are beautiful and amazing in their own ways, I will discuss what they offer on a different post. Soon! :)

So the adventure starts after wash up time from our mountain and cave trekking. We don't know the way or path to follow so we use Waze app as a guide going to our destination. It took us 3 hours of road trip to reached our first stop which is Lucban.

My siblings and cousins at Lucban tourism welcome spot. It's Valentine season that's why there's a cupid beside the ❤ and a "Kasalang Bayan" ad/tarpaulin as a project of the local government.

 As we had our stop at Lucban, we bought some food for dinner and roam around a bit before we went straight to the island of Borawan. We bought some pasta and pizza at Loop's Pizza. I wasn't able to capture some photographs of the foods we tried there but I can say that the Pizza was good as our snack on the road. The pasta tastes ok, we had carbonara and spaghetti eaten at Borawan island not inside the car.

It's near 8pm already when we reached Brgy. Padre Burgos, I have contacted ate Vanessa to assist us having a boat to ride to reach the island. Here's her contact number 09094001022, she's very helpful and accommodating. She has a parking space for tourists who have cars that needs to be safe-kept for overnight stays on the islands. Parking fee is 60.00. After 15 minutes of boat ride we landed on a night sky the talked about Borawan island. We pitched our tent before we had our dinner and had our rest for the day.

There's an option to rent those cottages but we opt to just settle with our tent. Besides, there's a security personnel that roam around the island.

It's light and noise out on the island at 11PM. It's for everyone's comfort so that all can have a good night sleep and rest.

Sunrise can be seen on the island, unfortunately I wasn't able to see it for myself as I'm still asleep when the sun had risen already. For breakfast, we have instant noodles, coffee and bread. Hot waters are available in the islands subject to payment of course. There's a mini sari sari store also, just in case you forgot to bring drinking water, food, utensils and others.

Here's the fees for our stay on Borawan island alone:

Amenities Fee (per person)

(Water usage, Washroom and Bathroom)

for a Day - 150.00

for Overnight - 220.00

There's a discount for student and senior citizen, make sure to bring your id's. 4years old and below are free.

Cottage rate

Day - 850.00

Night - 1200.00

Tent Space

Small - 200.00

Large - 250.00

Tent Rental - 500.00

After we had our breakfast, we explore the island. Walk left to right. Checking what it can boast against other places or spots in the Philippines. Below are some of the photos.

It's like a mini El Nido because of its rock formation but the sand and beach are uncomparable to what Boracay and Palawan offers. Borawan is good enough for a daybreak from the busyness of the cities in the Metro.

After wandering around the Island of Borawan, we head of to our island tour. We visited the other two islands in Padre Burgos Quezon - Puting Buhangin and Dampalitan.

Puting Buhangin beach has a finer and whiter sand compared to Borawan though at this island, everything has a fee. Entrance fee of 80.00, toilet fee and bathroom fee of 10.00. Amenities in Borawan beach are more well maintained as compared to this one but the view is more picturesque.

Entrance to Kwebang Lampas

My sister inside the cave. (Ooops! I didn't intend to capture the couple at the background kissing)

This is what you'll see when you passed the cave tunnel.

My siblings and cousins beside the rocks of the cave.

The sand on this beach is similar to Boracay - fine and white.

The other island is the Dampalitan beach. The island has pine trees and white sand as well.

We didn't explore much on this island cause we're all tired, what we do is just rest on the hammocks all over the island and get some sleep. My cousins opt to lay down on the sand the grasp some nap.

Mount Mamara and Tinipak River

February 13, 2016

This is the first time I did some hiking and trekking with relatives (siblings and cousins). We do have our own vehicle and my cousin in law (husband of my cousin) is from Rizal, who happens to be our driver for the trip so we didn't have any problem about directions as he knows the ins and outs of where we are heading to.

Our first stop for breakfast - Bikol Ni Gotohan @iba pa.

They serve various foods not just Lugaw, Goto and Arroz Caldo. But we all decided to order Lugaw - it's affordable just 12.00 and it's the usual meal for breakfast.

My sister and cousins taking a look on the menu while discussing which to order.

After having our breakfast, we get back on the road to reach the baranggay hall of Daraitan for registration and to meet our tour guide before starting our adventure. We have the option on which mountain to hike - Mt. Daraitan or Mt. Mamara. Since it's already past 6AM and we will not see any sea of clouds on Mt. Daraitan, we pursue Mt. Mamara.

As we start our journey, below scenery welcomes us.

#WhiteRockFormation

For those who are interested to have overnight stay and doesn't have tents to pinch, below nipa hut cottages ( kubo in filipino) are for rent (1,000.00 -1,500.00).

My cousins and siblings descending on the manmade wooden stairs.

The Luscious Tinipak River

Another view of Tinipak River

My cousins crossing the river via manmade wooden bridge.

After crossing the river, here's a view of the trail going up to the peak of Mt. Mamara.

Everything's green. :)

A wild pink flower on our way up.

All sweat we had vanishes upon reaching the top and seeing these views.

View of the Tinipak River from the peak of Mount Mamara

My cousin JC - On top. :)

It just doesn't show on this photo but seating on that pointed rock is really painful. Buwis buhay para sa picture. :P

Peak of Mt. Mamara

Me trying to descend on the peak of Mt. Mamara. Trust me, descending is more dangerous.

Aside from the mountain and river, Tanay Rizal offers cave spelunking too. See photos below.

You'll cross this on your way to the flowing river inside the cave.

Sorry for the blurred photo. It's really dark inside the cave and cold. We don't have any action camera. Only DSLR and Camera phones that's why lenses moists. Light comes from the flashlight and headlamps that the visitors brought.

Reaching the peak of Mount Mamara is not that long (about 2-3 hours depending on your group's phasing) but it's hard and a bit dangerous. Lot's of pointed rocks to climb and vines to hold on to. I suggest for the beginners to have a preparation for this climb at least 2 weeks before the date. 2-3x jog will be fine. If you're looking for a weekend getaway just for a day near Metro Manila - Rizal has a lot to offer and Daraitan is one of the many.

Breakdown of expenses:

500.00 tour guide fee

50.00 - other fees along the trek

What to bring:

- Sunblock

-1.5-2 L Water

- Packed Lunch

- Snacks

There's an eatery at the campsite, you may eat here instead of bringing packed lunch. Viand price ranges from 50.00 - 80.00 PHP.

Akyat Akyat the Second time Around + Beach Bummin' (Capones Island + Nagsasa Cove and Mt. Bira Bira)

First trip - Discovering Cagayan De Oro and Camiguin