Mt. Malipunyo

This is part of our "Mt. Malipunyo Traverse to Mt. Manabu - Day Hike"

Two days before the set date, we were talking about where to spend our weekends. Since we want to be busy and we want a new challenge to relax ourselves, we went to an idea "why not do a twin hike." Sounds great, right? I've been to Manabu, but not in Malipunyo ranges, although I already heard it during our Manabu expedition. about it since

The summit of Mt. Malipunyo reaches more than 1000MASL. Malipunyo ranges or others call in Mt. Malarayat is one of the prides of Batangas and Laguna in terms of hiking locations. It is one of the nearest locations where the hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts, from Manila and nearby areas, can enjoy the great views and extreme experience. For me, Malipunyo can be considered as “first timer friendly,” as it contains simple trail with the 3/9 for its difficulty. But still, that will depend on how to will conquer yourself.

Saturday, 5AM – my office shift ended. After that, we had drinking session somewhere in Village East. The session ended at around 2PM. When I got home; I changed my clothes, washed my face, and then took a rest. At around 6PM, I woke up and checked phone. There were missed calls and txt messages about our planned hike for Sunday. So I responded then prepared my hiking stuff after. Took my dinner, watched some tv programs then took a rest again at 9PM.

Sunday, 5AM – we met at the Provincial bus loading bay in Ortigas (below the flyover.) Took an air-conditioned bus bound for Tambo Exit. Bus Fare: 124 pesos. Travel Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes. While on the way, we took a power nap with earphones on our ears – kaya nga earphones, malamang para sa tenga talaga yan, diba? We arrived at Tambo Exit at around 7:05, and then we took our breakfast first in Jolibee-Tambo. After breakfast, we took a jeep (8pesos,) in front of Jollibee, going to the mini-terminal where we can take a coaster going to Fiesta Mall. Travel Time: less than 10 minutes. Took a coaster (8 pesos) going to fiesta mall. Travel Time: less than 10 minutes. Since hindi pumapasok yung coaster sa mismong Fiesta Mall, we chartered a tricycle going to Brgy. Talisay. Just tell the driver that you’re going to “Malipunyo.”

8:06 AM, we reached the gate of Brgy. Talisay (photo above.) We also processed the registration there. Registration Fee: 20 pesos per head. After registration, we proceeded. Since we still don't have any guide, the driver suggested some names and we even visited their residences, but all of them were not there. So, we decided to push without a guide. When we reached the subdivision, someone approached us (Tatay Muring) and volunteered to be our guide. Prices were settled and done. We proceeded.

From the subdivision, it was a long walk on un-cemented road. The sun shine was really striking and it was really hot and good thing that I was using arm warmer. There were pebbles, rocks and on the sides of the road were trees and plants. The resident’s houses seemed to be far from each other. But the people there were friendly and approachable. Photo above was taken at 9:24AM. After this part, the road was slightly ascending, until we reached the end of it. Next part was a normal trail and still ascending. The area smells good because of the coffee flower which blooms.

We were almost approaching the first water source. Photo taken at around 10AM. The area was rich in vegetation and the surroundings were so refreshing in the eyes because everything was green – including my mind. We took a short break at the mini-river while Tatay Muring was chatting with the guy who was washing his clothes. The water in the river was also refreshing and cool. Tastes good!

Photo above: Mt. Susong Dalaga. Sounds green, isn’t it? Eh green naman talaga ang paligid, diba? Hirap mag-explain sa English ng “Susong Dalaga” no? Wala akong masabi, kasi naman hindi ako interested sa mga ganun. Natawa ako bigla sa sarili while writing this. Hindi ko alam kung natutuwa ako, or kinikilig ako sa pinagsasabi ko.

Photo on the right: while on trail, Tatay Muring saw something on the ground, he picked that up and put/wrapped with leaves. And we found out that, it's the raw material of the most expensive coffee on earth -> the Alamid Coffee.

It's cute right? But, given the fact that it's a poop of a Civet cat, sounds weird or kadiri, isn't it? But it taste so amazing. It is one of the livelihood of the residents in the area. The locals were the ones who pick, clean this up, roast, grind and prepare. Medyo kadiri lang talagang tingnan or hawakan, pero wala na akong paki-alam, basta kape na ang nasa harapan ko, lak-lak agad.

Photo above was taken at the Peak 1. Taken at around 11AM. The area is clean and covered with trees. It can accommodate more than ten tents (depending on the sizes.) We took a rest here while chatting with our guide. He even narrated the story why the balete here has that unique appearance. After Peak 1, there were still descending parts but more on ascending. On trail, there were Lipa leaves and rattan. They scattered everywhere; and according to our guide, the government is pushing the residents to plant more rattan in the area, and I don’t know why. But the problem was the scattered poly bags where the rattan seedlings were placed before planting it on the ground. Poly Bags were biodegradable, but still it took some years to dissolve with the soil. Why not placing them in the pocket and bringing them back to their houses, agree?

At the view deck, some parts of Malarayat ranges can be seen. The nearby mountains, like: Mt. Banahaw, Mt. Cristobal, Mt. Maculot, and Mt. Kalisungan added a great shadows from afar. We even saw our next destinations: Biak na Bundok and Mt. Manabu.

another shot from the view deck

Few meters before the view deck, I already heard voices, so I expected someone's there. We reached the summit/camp site at around 12NN. And I was right, there were four gentlemen packing their stuff and they were so happy for something. 

When I already reached the camp site, I easily recognized and met Sir Gofie. He was one of the participants on our Mt. Mantalingajan Traverse. We had time chatting and took some photos with the group. Sa daming lugar na pwedeng pagkikitaan namin, dito pa.

Here we are again, (from left) Don, Me, Te Bing and Janneth.

Photo above is the camp site of Malipunyo. It measures few meters and can accommodate fifteen tents (depending on the sizes.) Photo taken after our lunch break at around 12:59PM. After lunch we took a short break then started searching for a perfect location for my "buwis buhay pose" and I found one and it's secret. 1:30PM we left the summit and descended. The guide was still the first one on the line and we were just following him because the trail was quiet complicated.