MT. GULUGOD BABOY: OUR MOTHER MOUNTAIN

We started the trip at South Station in Alabang, bus ride going to Batangas Grand Central Terminal in Batangas City. Fare is Php 127.00. For a shorter trip, get to a bus via ACTEX road since it wont pass major town roads anymore.

It will take around 1 to 1.5 hours from Alabang. Look for Batangas to Mabini jeepney. Just tell the driver to drop you off at the tricycle terminal that will take you to Philpan Resort/Gulugod Baboy. It took us almost an hour before the jeep left the terminal since they need to fill in every slots. Fare is Php 37.00. Some would offer you Php 100-150 each if you're on a group of 8-10, that will take you direct to Philpan already.

In our case, since were just four, we waited until the jeep was fully loaded. The trip took us an hour from Batangas Terminal to Poblacion, Mabini. We then rode a tricycle for Php 40/head going to Philpan Resort.

At Philpan, you need to pay Php 35.00 to a registration booth and log your names and contacts. This is being supervised by their local barangay. They will give you a ticket, be sure to keep them. It has contact number you can call/text should there be any emergencies along the way.

Before going up, we took lunch in one of their kubo and shared our kanya-kanyang baon...

They also offer guides for Php 500 and some boat rentals and trips in nearby islands. For first timer I suggest to get one. Though there are trails already, you can save a lot of time figuring out the correct trails to follow.

For all of us, the first step going up in a concrete pavement was the hardest especially we hiked up 2:00 in the afternoon.

As expected, team pahinga started its journey.. It took us 3 hours to get to the peak.. while others can do it in just less than two hours... Since all of us are first time hikers, just imagine the struggles, the complains and the endless question we gave to our guide.. "Kuya malayo pa ba? Kuya may kalahati na ba tayo? Ha? 1/4 palang? Kuya malayo pa ba?"... hehehehe...

Going up you can see also houses that sells halo-halo, ice-candies and some refreshment. We also met some friendly kids, friendly dogs and friendly cows haha!

We decided to go down early to avoid any further rain that morning. Going down was much easier compared to hiking up.. It was slippery though and all of us had our own slip experiences... It only took us almost 2 hours to get back to the starting point...