Trekking Up Masungi Georeserve

I was planning on a long vacation to Bacolod when a friend said, "We have a hike up Masungi on the 26th! We've waited four months for this reservation to happen!" That's when I had to book a flight back earlier than should. Apparently all of us forgot about the reservation save for that one friend...who was also responsible for booking us all. Haha! She must've reminded us a couple dozen times not to make any plans on that day, but because of months of idle wait we constantly strayed from the thought. I mean, seriously, we booked February for a June slot. Although there is a higher chance for you to experience Masungi sooner if you book for a trek on a weekday, it's the weekends that are fully booked for months on end. They limit the tours to eighteen a day, which is why it took forever, considering the popularity of the place and the weekend-adventure trend going on.

I'll give a brief walk-through of the hike. To begin with, expect a lot of steps to be made. My friend recorded a total of 14,100+ steps after the trail, which took us five hours to complete because we weren't exactly built nor made any preparations for this endurance test. They say three hours should be ample time to finish the course, but having to wait for so long it'd be a shame to take the view and photo opportunities for granted. Also, what I meant with course is that the trek is in a loop, so once you begin the only way to exit is to go through all of the point-of-interests. It's not a linear trail that once you reach the end point you have to about-face and retrace your steps back in order to make your way out. And as the guide said, "Take your time to enjoy the view." 

The trek begins with a short gravel incline to the Silungan or briefing cottage from the parking lot. The guide said the moment you enter the Silungan, there's no turning back...you can, but you'd have to pay full price by then. 

It was there when we realized that they have an effective system of making the tour group feel like they have the place exclusive to themselves as the guides constantly radio each other the distance and progress of each group as cues whether the next one could proceed. This is great especially with photo ops as it doesn't feel crowded in one area at a time...just hope that the group before you is considerate enough to not take too much time at one place that you end up getting stuck in your progress. Thus, the perk of being the last group of the day means you can just leisurely make your way without the guide discretely pressure you to get a move on because people are waiting behind.  

Before the official trek begins, there is a short briefing on the place, the dos and don'ts. It's the basic respect-nature-and-appreciate-it reminder. At the start we were asked, "Why did you decide to come to Masungi Georeserve?" to which I simply pointed to my friend and answered, "Because of her." She was actually surprised that most of us pointed to her, feeling "forced" into the occasion due to her peer pressure. Kidding aside, we did want to go...because we already paid a down payment, plus, #travelgoals. 

This is the short gravel incline from the parking lot to the briefing area I was talking about.

I asked the manager any interesting stories about engkantos on the reseve,
to which she simply pointed at one of the guides and said, "He's the only engkanto around."
They all denied any paranormal experiences on the place.

Small Titan Arums could be found blooming in the area. So when you smell like
there's bat piss or a dead rat at some point during the trek, it's probably because
of this exotic corpse scented flower. We saw one, and smelled about four on the trek.

This is the Silungan. Your first and only stop for a potty break. This is where
you'll get briefed and get to choose your helmet and bag. The next toilet break
will be granted at the end of the course.

Firstly, here are the basic notes:

*You will be provided with two bottles of 500mL water, a sturdy drawstring backpack, a helmet, raincoat (only if it threatens to rain,) and snacks─but only at the end of the course. You can opt to leave one bottle behind to lessen your load, and get the bottle you left when you return to the silungan. 

*They don't allow you to leave anything in the briefing area for storage, so either leave heavy objects in your car or be forced to carry the burden of any unnecessary weight throughout the trek. 

*You can only reach them and make reservations through email. Why? Because there is no cellphone signal in the area, which is a good thing as it forces you to distant yourself from connectivity. No ATM updates along the way. 

*You have to make a 50% (Php700.00) down payment for the reservation slot and pay the remaining Php700 right after the briefing at Silungan. A total of Php 1,400.00 for the trek. 

*To get there, you'll need a car because there was no commute anywhere for kilometers in sight.

*There needs to be a minimum of seven people per group, while the maximum number of people they could accommodate in a group is fifteen. If you're more than fifteen, you'd have to split yourselves in two.

*The rocks are sharp, and helmets should be constantly attached to your head as I must've heard my helmet knock on the rocks about five times that day. 

*Wear closed shoes, as again, the rocks are sharp and the last thing you'd want to happen is lose your toenail along the way. And don't worry as you won't get mud on them as the entire course is made out of cemented steps if not natural rock.

It's also an interesting fact that they found shells around the reserve, same ones they use as wall decor for the girls' CR. The guide said that the reserve was concluded to be underwater a long prehistoric time ago. Another beautiful thing about the reserve is that it was stripped down of trees years ago due to illegal logging, but restoration and conservation efforts paved way to what is now being enjoyed by many. It's a government-private joint ownership if you're asking...by DENR and Blue Star something if I recall correctly. 

It's cemented steps throughout, so there's no issue
with getting mud on your precious shoes.

The Lambat

For me, the hardest and most tiring part of the entire hike was the first part. Because. Stairs. I hate stairs. It's a non-stop climb up several steps that I would have gotten cramps if it was any longer. I'd approximate it to about two hundred steps of almost continuous incline before getting to the first stop. One of the best thing I heard from the start is, "We've reached the Lambat."

The Lambat is a fairly easy climb, if you ever had any fun childhood memories on the playground. Just remember, use your legs to carry your weight and not your arms up the rope. And don't forget to look back and look down when you reach the top because the view is beautiful. You can even see the Silungan at a distance. 

From there, it's a short way up the Sapot or spider web made out of sturdy cables. The Sapot is the most picturesque spot for that selfie, but photos are best taken at a distance to fully see the magnitude of the view. The limestone rocks jutting out the reserve reminds me of El Nido, except that the sea is made out of lush forest greens. This is where we probably stayed the longest. For nature appreciation─and photos of course. 

The Sapot

Hanging bridge. It was real bouncy when I strode back and forth alone. Loved it!
I felt like a kid on this bridge.

The face of, "What am I doing with my life?" and "Why is this happening to me?"

Just when you think you can sit still and recuperate for the next hour, the guide tells you to get up because you are yet to make your way through the highest points. Three more high points to be exact. 

The next spot is where my friends' (who were afraid of heights) bravery was tested. Actually, there wasn't much choice...they had to do it because there was no way down but WAAAAAAAAAAY down. I have to admit, even my knees felt weak on the first few descents. The sight was a dizzying height because seriously, we were so high up!! In my head, I kept repeating to myself, "When will this torture end???" because it was also really tiring on top of the nauseating drop. 

Patak is what they call this area. Didn't have time to sit
around there though...

When you see this, brace yourself. This is the prelude to a fall.

"Kuya, mauna ka na!" I was second to the last to descend.

If you think that's scary, it's much worse in real life.
But the feeling of making it is awesome.

The Duyan. A perfect representation of the moment. A combination
of relief that you made it, exhaustion, and grrrr because it started raining.

  

To make matters worse for us, it started raining when we reached the Duyan. It is actually the core reason why we wanted to go to Masungi in the first place, to lie on a giant hammock suspended high up in the air, reaching from one cliff to another, and just take in the view with good friends. All that expectation came to a freezing downpour when everything was covered in rain clouds and we were stuck sulking in our raincoats. The supposed #squadgoals photo turned into this struggle to keep ourselves dry because it was pouring and we were in the middle of a shadeless net. All the raindrops were ours for the taking. But on the bright side, the rain refreshed us that we were energized by the time we moved pass the duyan. 

After the Duyan is where you head up to Nanay and Tatay, two of the highest point in the reserve. The view could have been breathtakingly spectacular...if only I had seen what was beneath all the mist and rain. -_-

Tatay...or is it Nanay? Anyway, it's high.

One of the last stops for a group photo before the end of the trek.

That face of, I-can't-wait-to-eat-and-pee-and-sit-and-dry-myself-up.

It only took a few hops after crossing the suspended zebra bridge before we reached salvation. Food. Toilet. Roofing. Chairs. 

You can see the Sierra Madre at a far distance from several points in the reserve.

The toilets are clean and the water really cold. How I wanted to shower there.
Of course, this is the boy's CR as taken by my brother, I wasn't able to take a
photo of the girls' CR though. Almost the same, except for the seashell wall.

Take time to stand still at the parking lot and gaze the chaos of where you
came from. Smog and pollution never cease to loom the skyline of the metro.

Would I do it again?

Yes.

In a heartbeat.

Or two.