Mt. Daraitan | Tinipak River

Looking for a great adventure near Manila? Or want to leave the stressful life in the Metro? Mount Daraitan and the Tinipak River in Tanay, Rizal should be one in your list. Its adventure is a combination of trekking and camping. In this spot, you can enjoy the natures beauty such as clean river waters, fresh air, unexplored caves and many more.

Usapang biglaang event ba kamo? Ganitong-ganito ang nangyari dito sa Daraitan-Tinipak River event namin, yung tipong kinabukasan na. Panu naman kasi tong si Hanna eh, andaming arte, sabi sa bahay daw nila tapos malaman-laman ko mag-trek pala. No choice, dahil kelangan ko na ding mag-papawis eh. But in general, travelling is already a great adventure.

Travelling to Daraitan is much challenging then other mountains that we’ve been to, reason? Check the photo above. By the way, we met at Pavilion Mall in crossing. At the rear side of the mall there’s a parking lot for public utility vehicles like jeepneys and FX going to some parts in the Metro. In our case, since feeling mayaman kami nag-FX galore kami for 70 pesos going to Tanay Terminal. Travelling time would be approximately an hour and a half to two hours.  At the rear side of the terminal is the wet market and beside it is the space provided for jeepneys going to Daraitan. NOTE: Punuan ang mga jeep, kaya mas maaga, mas maganda. If you’re searching for something extreme, being ON-TOP of the jeep is an option. Jeepney fare is 70 pesos and travelling time from Tanay to Daraitan is two hours.

Travelling – is really More Fun in the Philippines. Check the photo on the right. Kung ang peg namin eh “Top Load” si Madam panalo ang peg ay “By the Windshield.” Pero in fairness ang driver nakikita parin ang dinadaanan. Anyways, just to set your expectations, the road to Daraitan isn’t a hundred percent concrete, so expect for  a zigzag and “maalog” while on the road, hirap mag-English.

Epic moment din yung nakita naming sign board, ang sabi “For SALE: Mami with Egg” eh mataba at green minded kami lahat, anu pang aasahan natin sa usapan? Kinuwestyun ko yung naka-sulat, feeling ko kasi mali eh. Panu naman kasi parang mali yung mga phrases eh. “Mami with Egg” daw pero diba dapat diba “Dadi with Egg?” At kelan pa nag-ka-egg si Mami? Aber? Nagets nyo ba? Tawanan lang kami ng tawanan. Kahit pinag-tititigan na kami ng mga tao sa paligid, at pati yung tindera masama na tingin samin.

4:53 PM, we reached the river. After getting off the jeepney, next part would be the river crossing. Dahil tag-ulan, malalim at malakas ang tubig sa ilog, kaya sumakay kami sa bangka makatawid lang sa ilang metrong ilog. Five pesos ang  bayad. Walang makina ang bangka, kaya manual lang na tinutulak nila kuya ang bangka patawid. Pagkatapos ng bangka, sumakay kami sa tricycle patungong Brfy. Daraitan Hall. Tricycle fare was 10 pesos per head. Travel Time is within 15 minutes.

At the Baranggay Hall, we processed registration and paid 20 pesos per head for the enviromental fee, secured our guide (guide fees: 500-day hike, 750 over night) and did the final packing. Weather wasn't still good yet and we already seeing sun set. So trekking was a challenging one. Ascending took us two hours, including photo ops, tsismisan at of course walang katapusang pakikinig sa mga reklamo at sigaw ni Hanah.

Finally we reached the camp site. Prepared our dinner and pitched our tent. At dahil basa ang lupa, maputik at umuulan, tinamad na kaming mag-pitch ng tent, kaya sa cottage lang kaming mga boys natulog. Camping style is highly recommended, there's no such thing as fancy facilities. Hikers should bring a tent or rent a cottage. At the camp site, you have a lot of clean water and wash room. Stores are also available, but please don't expect that they'll sell starbucks coffee - if you know what I mean.

The next day, the weather was still in the bad mood. First thing we did was prepared coffee and our breakfast. Tagal din naming nag-antay sa weather na maging okay, but it didn't came. Nakapag-hugas na kami ng mga gamit namin, pati malinis, na-hugasan narin namin pero walang tigil ang pag-buhos ng ulan. Akala namin nung mag-appear yung Rainbow bubuti na, pero hindi parin. So we proceeded to another gorgeous spot.

After breakfast at makapag-hugas ng plato, since the weather was already good we proceeded to another part of Tinipak River – seeing the gorgeous rock formations. It’s just few meters from the campsite but the trail is really steep and hikers should take care. Ngayong araw ay maulan, maputik, mabasa at madulas kaya challenging ang pag-baba sa mga bato. Tanging mga improvised ladder na gawa sa mga kahoy  ang kakapitan.

Here are some photos taken by the river:

Photo on the right was taken from one point by Tinipak River, as what you can see, limestone rock formation is really good. Ang tubig na umaagos ilog ay malamig, malinis at ang lasgaslas nito’y napaka-relaxing sa aking pandinig.

Nakakalungkot lang talaga dahil may mga taong walang alam kundi sirain ang natural na ganda ng kalikasan sa pamamagitan ng pag-susulat sa mga ito. Naitanong ko sa aming guide kung sino ang may sala,  sabi nya nilagay daw ito ng mga miyembro ng isang relihiyon o kongregasyon. Well, hindi naman bago sakin ang mga eksenang ganun, dahil sa Mt. Banahaw, Mt. Batulao, at Mt. Maculot marami ring ganito. Sabayan pa ng ibang mga hikers at piknikeers na walang iniisip kundi makakuha lang ng mga magagandang larawan at hindi na inisip ang kalagayan ng kalikasan. Sana maisip ng baranggay na mag-conduct ng simenar sa mga guides.

We left the area at 1PM. The weather wasn’t fine yet but much better compared during our ascend. This time, we saw the beauty of that area has to offer. Kahit maputik at naiiwan-iwan ang tsinelas ko sa putik okay lang, it’s really worth it! By the way, on the trail there’s a part where locals obliged us to pay for an additional 30 pesos per head for an Environmental Fee. Before leaving the Baranggay Hall in Daraitan, councillors already set our expectations that someone might collect additional fees – so yun na nga sya. Isa pa ito sa mga nag-papa-kulot ng buhok ko eh. Anu to? More FEES, More chances of Winning?

Nagkaroon kaming chance maka-usap ang isa sa mga taong yun, nag-paliwanag naman sya kahit hindi namin tinanong, defensive masyado si Sir diba? Dapat daw, isa lang talaga ang sumisingil ng fee nayun at SILA daw dapat at hindi ang Brgy. Daraitan. Just to give you info, that exact area is already part of General Nakar, province of Quezon, so anu to territorial dispute? Kahit magastos, wala kaming magawa kundi mag-bayad, ginusto namin yun diba; pero ang masakit sa tenga ko, eh yung mag-sasalita sila against one another. Haaayyysss. Ganun talaga pag usapang pera.

 

Another part of the trail would be the short distance river crossing and hopping on and off the boulders. So, hikers should be very keen to avoid accident. But according to our guide, every summer these parts wouldn’t be a challenge because the water level is low.

2PM, we’re already at the Baranggay Hall of Daraitan. At the Baranggay Hall, hikers can take a bath but we opted to do it at LOME House. Natuwa kasi kami sa spelling ng LOME nila, dapat daw LOMI yun, e namali lang daw talaga ang pag-kakasulat, sayang naman effort kaya pinanindigan nalang daw nila. Anyways, aside from shower you can also order lutong bahay – bonga sila Mam no? Nailuluto nila ang bahay? Anyways, before leaving Daraitan, we logged out at the Brgy. Hall first and we were able to met other hikers. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the trip back to Tanay, so we waited until 5PM, naki-sakay kami dun sa jeep nung ibang group. In total, there were three groups in that jeep.

 For this event, I spent 500 pesos. With that amount I recommend that you guys try it! The experience we got is pretty much unforgettable.