Balagbag Falls (Real, Quezon)

I haven't run out of nice places to try out -- last time I went to Famy/Siniloan (Buruwisan Falls) we were supposed to go this next spot which was about 45kms away, but my friend's car had to be back home the same day so it didn't push through. This is a long story so if you want to go to the nice pictures just scroll down.

I got another few days off from work and decided to drive there and stay overnight fearing I might not have enough energy to drive home 100+ kilometers the same day. Instead of the Antipolo route going to Famy, we took the south expressway route and then the southern edge of Laguna lake passing through Los Banos, Sta. Cruz, and Pagsanjan. It's not as scenic but it got us to Famy within reasonable time.

It was almost 6pm when we reached Famy so we had to decide on whether or not to cross the mountains to reach Quezon at night. We called up a resort owner to check if the road conditions are good and safe. They said it was fine so we took it on.

The drive from Famy to Real was a 40+ kilometer stretch, a very long, dark and almost 40% zigzagged path with plenty of almost hairpin turns and hundreds of road warning signs (like "falling rocks ahead"...OK!). I felt comfortable only at times when we would see locals walking or some houses with lights on along the way. We reached the eastern edge of Luzon about 1.5 hours later -- Real, Quezon.

We took Ocean Blue resort which was a bit pricey (2K at the time of our visit) maybe because it was holy week, though it offered a swimming pool and airconditioned room, and some discount. I'm not sure if there are resorts that offer similar stuff in the area, but since we weren't familiar, I just had to pick this. The info came from another blog that I went through so I assumed it was safe enough to stay here.

We didn't have TV in the room so aside from the pool, we went out and crossed the street to buy snacks in the sari-sari store just in front of the resort. The store owners were so nice to entertain us and give advice on what to do while we were there (Aida and her husband who fondly calls himself as the guy with just one leg) and also told us of a nearby restaurant owned by her sister (Merly's).

We tried Merly's for dinner. It was a videoke restaurant, and we sampled out anything that we could -- blue marlin, clam soup, bbq chicken and a lot of rice... all nice stuff to feed hungry stomachs. Roger (Merly's husband) sat with us and we talked about a lot of stuff while waiting and eating (from cameras, boats, nice travel spots, to business, etc... boy I was surprised by the richness of this man's experience). Later we were also joined by her daughter and her friend, and we continued on talking about so many things until late in the evening. They also invited us to join them next morning in Baluti Island (another white sand beach in the Real area accessible by boat). Just an added note... They have rooms for rent at a very good price (just drop me a note if you want contact details).

After dinner, we went back to Ocean Blue and got our much needed rest.

My sleep was cut short by a nightmare (I won't talk about this anymore). I got up at 5:30, maybe waited until 7:30 to feel really awake. I spent a few minutes outside to have a look at the beach at sunrise (left). The waves were quite strong (first photo at the top of this blog) but some were still brave enough to swim in the area.

We went around to search for restaurants within a few kilometers radius, but ended up again at Merly's. We got ham, hotdogs, cream soup with macaroni, bread and coffee... wonderful breakfast :) Sad to say we couldn't join the Baluti Island that morning because we had to leave early in the afternoon.

We got back and left our car at Ocean Blue, then got a tricycle which charged us with tourist rates... 150 pesos because of the very rough roads leading to the falls that they have to go through. Still, not bad if you start to think of the cost of vulcanizing for your car's tires. There's another 10 pesos entrance fee for the caretakers of the area. Also, at that entrance area, there's just another road beside it that leads to another waterfalls (Lunok Falls, harder to access because it requires a 1km trek).

Just 5 minutes of walking and we got to the front of the lower basin of the beautiful Balagbag falls.

There were just too many people in the lower area so we decided to climb to the higher basin. Up there it was more quiet and beautiful. I saw some people climbing this section halfway up.

Blablablablabla... and then back to Manila.