During one relatively unremarkable lunch hour in the pantry a few weeks ago, Ella, a workmate, asked for suggestions on out of town trip destinations. A lot of people got on board the idea of an informal team building, and everybody contributed ideas – Sagada, Baguio, Puerto Galera, etc – but since nobody can spare a full weekend this close to the holidays, the consensus was that it should be somewhere close enough for a day trip.

Someone suggested Pagsanjan and things progressed very quickly from there; calendars were cleared for the second Sunday of December. After a quick search online we found that the cheapest tour package available is at around 1900PHP per head (inclusive of van transfers to and from Manila, Entrance Fees, Boat ride but no lunch and no tip for the boatmen). Being Pinoys, and Manilenos at that, we found that price too steep considering that the place was only a couple of hours away from the city. We settled on DIY-ing it and luckily someone volunteered a van for the drive there. Just like that, we were all set to go.

Or so we thought.

Best laid plans and all that, the person in charge of the ride suddenly had to back out because of an emergency. Suddenly we had no plan – nobody knew how to commute to Pagsanjan and we really weren’t willing to fork over the dough for the tour. Adjustments had to be made and the plan evolved from trying to bargain with the tour organizers for a cheaper rate to just renting out a private resort in Pansol, Laguna for an overnighter. Despite the somewhat unenthusiastic ‘okay’ from the group, we settled on the Pansol idea because it was the most feasible. The trip just had to push through.

The Friday before the blessed event, we were (at least I was) a mix of dejected (that we’re only going toPansol) and happy (that at least the trip is a go). After a few more random online searches, I stumbled upon a couple of blog posts that itemized a very detailed itinerary on how to go to the falls (Magdapio Falls, officially; it was named Pagsanjan because the people from that town first discovered it) through the cheaper route, via Cavinti.

After an impromptu emergency meeting after shift (which included quite a few more online searches), we were able to come up with a solid plan on how to get there from different points (not all of us live near the office). The nine of us finalized call times and food assignments were allotted. We were divided into three “teams” – Alabang, Cubao and Market-Market, so named because of the chosen meeting places.

I was part of the team Alabang (with Jun and Ella) and come Sunday morning, I drove and deposited IHKA into the nearest guarded parking facility. We were originally supposed to board a bus but by some stroke of dumb luck, a man holding a signboard stating “STA. CRUZ, PAGSANJAN” walked by right in front of us. We followed him and found that he was driving a van, which meant a shorter travel time for us because the van wouldn’t waste time colleting passengers along the way. Even though our group was technically the last to leave, we were still the first ones to arrive at the designated bus stop at the town of Pagsawitan.

It wasn’t long before Team Cubao (April and Neri) got off their bus and after a few more minutes of waiting Team Market-Market (Cha, Byran, Jen and Ces) arrived. We turned down offers from the tricycle drivers to drive us to Pueblo El Salvador Nature Park, where we’re to register and start the descent to the falls, because hello, we’re not paying 300PHP per trike for a one way ride. Literally a few meters away from the bus stop we found the jeepney terminal to Lucban, and after confirming with the gentleman manning the place that yes, we can ride the jeep (20PHP each), get off at Johnson (?) and hire a tricycle (30PHP per head) to take us to Pueblo. A couple of the passengers were even nice enough to give us tips on what to expect when we get there.

We got Kuya Tricycle driver’s number so he can fetch us once we were done and paid the 270PHP fee at Pueblo (inclusive of the entrance fee, a guide, the rappelling gear and the raft ride at the falls). The descent, thanks to the rain, was somewhat slippery and muddy. According to Kuya Arnold there’re a total of 582 steps to the mouth of the river but personally I think that number was just the count of the actual stairs; there was still a lot of walking to be done between the two metal chutes where we rappelled down. There weren’t any pictures of the whole trek, unfortunately, because we left all of the tech stuff behind for fear of them being wet. There were eight of us (one stayed behind at the jump off point), so it took us over half an hour to get to the mouth of the falls.

I was the first one down and was surprised to find that there weren’t a lot of boats parked on the river (that option’s the more expensive one – 1500PHP per head, plus tip for the boatmen) because on all the pictures I’ve seen, the river was crawling with them. According to Kuya Arnold, the eighth of December was the feast day of Pagsanjan (I think) which explained the lack of boatmen; although I did chance upon my high school classmate Dhessie who was there with her family (small world!). I followed the roaring sound of the falls and a few meters later, I was staring at it. The majesty was dampened a little bit by the brown water (muddied because of the rain) but it was still a sight.

We finally got onto the raft and after a few panicked shrieks that totally freaked out the Koreans who were there with us (we thought that the raft was overloaded – there were over twelve people on, not counting the two raft men), we were able to enjoy the experience of going directly underneath the raging waterfall. The others took a dip inside the Devil’s Cave (the pool was relatively shallow) but I didn’t feel like going in. Kuya Arnold allowed us to go on the raft again, this time with a bunch of Americans, and he even said that we could go as many time as we wanted (although if that was really the inclusion in the Pueblo tour or just the lack of tourists, I don’t know).

Hunger forced us to start the treacherous trek up to the jump off point. I kid you not, that was one hell of a walk up; some of the stairs were so steep that they required all of my nonexistent upper body strength to climb. I couldn’t go further than thirty steps without stopping for a break because my heart was pounding. Needless to say, we ravished our packed sandwiches, empanadas and candies once we got back up to the jump off point. We were all in dire need of a sugar rush.

We were led to a small hut where we ate lunch, boodle fight style (banana leaf courtesy of April) and Kuya Arnold was kind enough to share with us something from the fiesta. Ces and I washed up after lunch and off we went to Bumbungan Eco Park, our ride courtesy of Kuya Arnold’s trusty owner jeepney. Yes, have fun imagining nine people crammed inside a tiny owner. We paid the entrance fees (20PHP each), rented out a cottage (150PHP) and played in the water while munching on the remainder of our snacks. We took a lot of pictures on this site because we were compensating for our lack of shots of the actual falls, haha.

At around four o’clock Kuya Tricycle Driver arrived, completely panicked because he thought we’d left without him. After quick showers for everyone, we were on the way back home at five. We boarded the jeep that would take us to Pagsawitan and made enough noise during the ride to earn glares from the locals who were in the jeep with us. Since Jun and I were the only ‘southerners’ left, we got off earliest and boarded the bus to take us back to Alabang (the rest took the bus back to Cubao).

The bus we rode unfortunately combed through town after town to pick up passengers and by the time we reached Calamba (where Jun got off), two hours had already passed. It was slightly better once we entered SLEX and it only took twenty minutes to arrive at South Station. I retrieved IHKA, paid the parking fee (steal at 85PHP) and got home just a few minutes shy of eight-thirty.

I only had energy enough to shovel a couple of bites into my mouth and unpack the wet stuff before crashing on the bed. Come Monday we were all sore and more than a little bit stiff but still riding that high of having our original Pagsanjan plan come to fruition.

I so can’t wait for the next trip.