© ate may

For the sake of this beautiful place, I risked my life and did a lot of first times on this unforgettable trip with my friends.



Buntot Palos, also known as The Hidden Falls is situated in the mountains of Pangil, Laguna. From Balibago, we had a three-hour ride to get to Brgy. Balian in Pangil. (All this time, I thought Pakil and Pangil are the same... My whole life was a lie! char!) From there, the local barangay officials provided us a guide that will lead us to the falls.

From my experience, must haves are:

• about two liters of water. There are natural springs along the way, so you have the option to bring a smaller tumbler and refill. But for the maarte, you have to bring like three liters. xD
• a bandana, to keep those pawis from the forehead run through your face.. eeewww!
• trekking sandals or hiking shoes. I only have a normal rubber shoes, and I am soooo glad that it survived the trip! I suggest the maarte to wear shoes instead, coz there will be lots of putiks in your paa.
• gopro! just in case you want to document your adventure and you don't want to worry about your camera.
• a walking stick. I now know why people in the bible times have that stick! Good thing ate May requested for two! Or else, I don't know what'll happen
• sunblock. Who else goes out hiking/trekking on sleeveless without putting any sunblock on other than me?
• spoon and fork. You'll need those in case you don't know how to eat with your bare hands.
• chocolates! I'll explain later why. xD

First five minutes......

The first five minutes was such a challenge for me. The first part of the trek includes a cemented road which is really steep! Yes I have long walks to the office every day, but I realized that was not actually enough to be considered as my 'training'. It felt like my body has drained all of the water inside me that I really need to rest, at least. My legs were already in pain that time too...

second stop

After a couple of minutes, we had another stop. This time, it's not because we're tired, but we all felt the need to take pictures! The view from this place is really picturesque. The Laguna lake is impossibly blue and clear.

third stop

We really ought to rest this time. I can feel that I am going to faint soon. Ate May advised me to eat chocolates, and luckily I brought Snickers! She said that my body has lost a lot of water and it needs sugar to keep me moving. Thanks! I felt energized after having Snickers!

buko stop

Going up, we actually met several people along the way, Our guide told us that the people in their town earns a living from that mountain that is why they take good care of it. We met people who just came from their farm with his freshly harvested lanzones. He surprisingly gave us a huge discount! (Like 50% of the price here). It was almost noon and we can already feel the heat. We craved for buko and unfortunately, there are no buko stops along the trail. Luckily, we met local guys who were 'harvesting' buko nearby, they gave us fresh buko for only Php 10! (and each of us got one free! so nice of them!) We were refreshed and energized again to continue the journey.

I'm so proud of this shot! Taken from my Xperia :)

After roughly two and a half hours, we can finally hear the lagaslas of the waters. When we get there, all the sweat and tiredness and pain feels worth it and rewarding once you see the falls. The waters are cold and refreshing. Surprisingly, there's no one in the place other than the three of us! It's like we rented out the whole place!




We had lunch immediately after reaching our destination since it was already an hour past lunchtime. We bought lunch from the nearby carinderia before going up the mountains since we didn't bring any packed lunch with us. The thing is, we didn't bring any dinnerware either so we have no choice but to eat on plastic with our bare hands.

After dipping in the clear and cold water for about an hour, we have to say our goodbyes to the place. We really feel reluctant to leave, most especially me, since I don't want to go back to that rough and rocky and muddy trail. But we have no other choice, unless we become rich and we can call the pilot to pick us up with a private chopper. xD

This adventure is really unforgettable for me. Even though three days have already passed and I can still feel the pain in my legs, it still feels like an achievement for me, doing something that I never imagined, even in my dreams.