Hidden Gem of Barangay San Salvador, Luisiana, Laguna

Who would've thought that there’s a place close to heaven situated in the little town of Luisiana in Laguna and you can visit for less than a thousand pesos? Brace yourselves as we will take you to Barangay San Salvador’s hidden gem.

Luisiana (pronounced as Lu-sha-na) is a 4^th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines, which is headed by Mayor Nestor Rondilla. One of Luisiana’s Barangay, San Salvador, is where you can find the underrated waterfalls called “Hulugan Falls” with an approximate height of 90 meters.

I’ll make this review as concise as I can.

How to get there:

1.) From JAC Liner Station in Buendia, ride a bus bound to Sta. Cruz. Fare is 140.00 PhP

2.) Tell the conductor/driver to drop you off at Pagsawitan, Sta. Cruz. You can confirm if you're already in Pagsawitan when you see this junction. Travel time is 2 hours and 30 minutes (with light traffic in Pansol, Laguna)

3.) Ride a jeep bound to Lucban. Tell the conductor/driver to drop you off at Barangay San Salvador. Travel time is 30-40 minutes, fare is 25.00 PhP

4.) From Brgy. San Salvador, you can secure a tour guide. Guide fee is not mandatory, but please, be considerate :D They are WISAR and First Aid trained so getting a guide is highly recommended. After all, it's your discretion on how much are you gonna pay them.

 Chief Arnold Escobar (ang aming butihing guide)

5.) After securing a guide, it's up to you if you're gonna go straight ahead to Hulugan Falls, or you might wanna visit another underrated waterfalls in a barangay close to San Salvador, which is Brgy San Luis. A 5 minute walk from San Salvador to Mountain Hillcrest Homes, is where the Talong Aliw is situated. To avoid the confusion, Talong Aliw is inside the Mountain Hillcrest Homes, Brgy San Luis, Luisiana and is a 20-30 minute gradual trek to the falls. But before that, you will bumped to a very friendly Bibingka Vendor lady named Ate Imelda. You can buy it for 3 pcs/100 PhP. Can be consumed as trail food. :P

Ate Imelda and her delicious Bibingka :)

Spots to Explore

1.) Talong Aliw - Probably 20 meters approximate height. Not sure

Photobombing. More fun in the Philippines

2.) Talong Talay - Cascading Waterfalls. Not as tall as Talong Aliw/Talong Hulugan

3.) Butas Kabag - Not for claustrophobic. Helmet and headlamp is needed

4.) Hulugan Falls - This picture paints a thousand words :)

Tips

1.) Waterproofing by default.

2.) Leave No Trace

3.) Mind your footwear. It's muddy and slippery all seasons :P

4.) ENJOY God's creation :)

Hulugan Falls itinerary (Suggested - overnight)

Day 1

1000 - 1230 = Buendia - Sta. Cruz Laguna

1250 - 1325 = Sta. Cruz - San Salvador

1430 - 1500 = San Salvador - Talong Aliw

1600 - 1630 = Talong Aliw - San Salvador

1630 - 1645 = Register @ Kap Coco's house

1645 - 1715 = Hidden Campsite

1730 - 1800 = Explore Talong Talas

1800 -------- = Rest!

Day 2

0600 -          = Preps

0630 - 0700 = Trek to Hulugan Falls

0700 -------- = Enjoy Hulugan Falls

1000--------- = Brunch

1100--------- = Butas Kabag

1400--------- = Uwian Na!

1400 - 1500  = Log out to Kap Coco's house/Wash-Up

1500 - 1520  = Gradual walk to Luisiana-Lucban Highway

1530 - 1600  = San Salvador - Sta. Cruz

1630 - 1900  = Sta. Cruz - Buendia

It will be hard for you to ride a jeep from San Salvador going to Sta. Cruz. Punuan ang jeep. So I suggest to take a peek at Luisiana's Town Proper and ride a jeep there. Explore and Eat! :D

Expenses

140.00 = Buendia - Sta. Cruz

  25.00 = Sta. Cruz - San Salvador

  30.00 = Luisiana - Sta. Cruz

140.00 = Sta. Cruz - Buendia

-------- = Food

-------- = Tip sa guide

Pictures (Pasensya na, I'm not a professional photog. :P)

Luisiana - Lucban Highway

Group pic with Councilor Elaine Teope of Luisiana, Laguna

Gradual trek going to "Talong Aliw" or Aliw Falls

Going to Talong Aliw

Going to Hulugan Falls

Group pic w/ Kap Coco Rocreo

The Hidden Campsite

Toploading. More fun in the Philippines

My travel buddy at Talong Aliw

Good Morning, Barangay San Salvador :)

I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all the people who had helped us out on this trip. To Sir Kenneth Taguilaso, Sir Buyaw Yaw, Ate Imelda, Councilor Elaine Teope, Brgy Kap Ramon "Coco" Rocreo, Chief Arnold Escobar (our guide), Kuya Raffy, Sir Renzy (Hidden Campsite), to my travel buddies/colleagues (Jona, Chad, Lou, Ricky), my family and to Lord Almighty ^_^

TAAL VOLCANO via DAANG KASTILA TRAIL (Day Tour)

(Also known as the Executive Trail)

Taal Volcano is one of my 2015’s bucket lists. So I’m glad, finally, after so many weeks of waiting in vain, I’ve witnessed the splendid crater of Taal Volcano :)

Photo taken by Richard Pazo

Taal volcano with its lake-filled 15x20 km wide Talisay (Taal) caldera is a beautiful caldera volcano, but also one of the most active and dangerous volcanoes of the Philippines. Taal has had some of the country's largest and deadliest eruptions: At least 6 eruptions during the recorded history of Taal since 1572 claimed fatalities, mostly from powerful pyroclastic flows, as well as tsunamis produced in the Crater Lake.

The Taal caldera is largely filled by Lake Taal, whose 267 sq km surface lies only 3 m above sea level. The maximum depth of the lake is 160 m, and contains several eruptive centers submerged beneath the lake. All historic eruptions took place from the 5-km-wide volcanic island in the northern-central part of the lake.

The island is formed by overlapping stratovolcanoes, cinder cones and tuff rings (maars). Historic eruptions have seen the constant change and growth of the island.

Taal caused one of the worst volcano disasters in history: its eruption in 1911 killed 1334 people and caused ash fall as far as Manila city. Due to its devastating potential, Taal was declared one of the "Decade Volcanoes" in the Decade Volcanoes program of the 1990s in order to incentive study and monitoring of the volcano. Taal is today one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the region. An increase in seismic activity under Taal was recorded in November 2006, followed by an increase in hot water springs in the crater in April 2007.

SOURCE : http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/taal.html

THE PARTICIPANTS (also known as Ka-Share with Expenses :P)

FROM L-R
Richard Pazo (Colleague from Current Job), Noel Catilo (Husband of my TwinSisBestFriend), Krystel Batiller-Catilo (My TwinSisBestFriend), Ryan Jade Santarin (Colleague from Previous Job, Travel Buddy and Business Partner) and Noel Reyes (Elementary Schoolmate and Climbing Buddy)

HOW TO GET THERE (Our DIY Itinerary)

• 0400    :    Meet everyone at JAM LINER Buendia (rode bus to Tanauan City)
• 0500    :    ETD Tanauan (ask conductor to drop you off @ Talisay Batangas Jeepney Terminal)
• 0630    :    ETA Tanauan (right side. No need to cross the street)
• 0700    :    ETD Talisay
• 0730    :    ETA Talisay, meet Kuya Angelo (the boatman contact from Soriano IV)
• 0740    :    ETA Soriano Boat Resort
• 0800    :    ETD Taal, settle expenses
• 0820    :    ETA Taal
• 0830    :    Start Trek
• 0930    :    End Trek – View Deck
• 1000    :    Descent
• 1030    :    Back to Resort
• 1050    :    Resort – Wash up -- Bid Goodbye :P
• 1100   :  Happy Hour – either you can trek Mt. Maculot (Cuenca, Batangas) or Mt. Batulao (Nasugbu, Batangas) or go home straight :P

EXPENSES (for 6 pax) = PhP 700.00 (without meal)

• 96.00        :     Pasay to Tanauan (JAM Bus)/head
• 26.00        :     Tanauan to Talisay (Jeep)/head
• 10.00        :     Talisay Terminal to Soriano Resort (Trike)/head
• 1500.00    :     Boat Rental (back and forth)/group – 250/head
• 500.00      :     According to Kuya Angelo, it is mandatory/group – 84/head
• 50.00        :     Entrance fee/head
• 50.00        :     Boat Parking fee
• 10.00        :     Soriano Resort to Talisay Terminal (Trike)/head
• 28.00        :     Talisay to Tanauan (Jeep)/head
• 96.00        :     Tanauan to Pasay (Bus)/head

TIPS (and things to bring)

• At least 1L of water (sari-sari store is present in the area)
• Baon! Packed lunch, trail food etc
• Camera
• Face Mask (if you’re allergic to dust)
• Hat, Towel, Umbrella, Sunblock (something related to summer :P LOL)
• Waterproofing by default (gadgets, clothes, kikay kits, etc)
• Medicine Kit
• Horseback Riding is Optional (ranges from 300-600 : depends on how you haggle)

MEET THE BOATMAN – Angelo (+639197280514/+639273842398)

Photo Courtesy: Veronica Cabailo Tibon’s Facebook Account (Kuya Angelo’s wife)

AHA MOMENTS @ TAAL VOLCANO

All my life, I thought this is the crater of Taal Volcano – no it’s not. This cone shaped structure is Binintiang Malaki, one of the 47 craters found on Taal Volcano Island.