Pagsanjan Falls, Philippines {Deetour}

Sometime this week, my Facebook reminded me that on this day two years ago, I was vacationing in the Pagsanjan Falls in the Philippines and had not even blogged about it because of reasons.

So my Travel Tuesdays have become Throwback Tuesdays, have you noticed?

Anyway. This Throwback Travel Tuesday is about my trip to Pagsanjan Falls.

Short description from Wikipedia:

Pagsanjan Falls also known as Cavinti Falls (indigenous name: Magdapio Falls) is one of the most famous waterfalls in the Philippines. Located in the province of Laguna, the falls is one of the major tourist attractions of the region. The three-drop waterfall is reached by a river trip on dugout canoe, known locally as Shooting the rapids, originating from the municipality of Pagsanjan. The falls can also be reached from the top by a short hike from Cavinti. The boat ride has been an attraction since the Spanish Colonial Era with the oldest written account in 1894. The town of Pagsanjan lies at the confluence of two rivers, the Balanac River and the Bumbungan River (also known as the Pagsanjan River).

My friends (now flatmates) Dred and Jemma were also on vacation in the Philippines, then, so we decided to go with Bel, a Singaporean colleague who was also on business trip in Manila.

This wasn’t my first time to Pagsanjan Falls, by the way, but I was excited to go back so I could take pictures, because the last time I had gone (which was 10 years before), I hadn’t been able to.

This isn’t going to be an informative post. This happened two years ago, so I obviously don’t remember where we bought tickets, how much it cost, etc. I’m sure there are other blogs if you need that kind of information.

But I’m here to hopefully intrigue you enough to go. It was a fun experience, both times, though the first time, I was more impressed, because isn’t it that way usually? It’s totally worth taking the trip, if you’re ever in Manila. I mean, look at that view.

The first time I went, there was a foreigner on another boat beside me who stretched backwards, looked up towards the sky and yelled: “I have no stress!!!”

And that was just during the ride there. He hadn’t even reached Pagsanjan Falls yet!

The boat ride (aka shooting the rapids) is not that long, and you won’t even get tired because you don’t need to paddle yourself over – that’s the job of the guys hired to do it.

Me and Jemma and a rainbow

No, that isn’t Pagsanjan Falls yet, just tiny baby falls along the way.

It isn’t always smooth sailing on the way, by the way. Sometimes there are rocks, so you have to step out of the boat while they maneuver it through. The first time I went over a decade ago, they would actually pick the boat up with us in it and carry it over!