First Climb: Mt. Manabu

We finally decided to face our fears of heights and climbed Mt. Manabu (or Manabo) which is located in Sto. Tomas, Batangas. We did not expect it to be that hard because we read on the internet that it's one of the easiest mountains to climb in the Philippines. Maybe it's due to the bad weather the night before, the trail was really muddy, and the lack of trekking gears that made it difficult, each step is a possibility to trip.

The Cross at the Summit of Mt. Manabu

From Alabang, we hopped on a bus going to Lipa City and dropped off at the end of the Star Tollway. The fare was Php 94 and travel time was around 45 minutes. Then we boarded 2 jeepneys to reach Fiesta Mall where we ate breakfast. After breakfast, we rode a tricycle and asked the driver to drop us at the jump-off point, which is located at Brgy. Sta. Cruz, Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

The famous Batangas Lomi, yum!

Bihon. P30

Registration at the Jump-off. P20

Pretty flowers everywhere

Reila

It was a total adventure, we did not have any guide or map, we only followed the signs and our instincts. Going up was the hardest, being the novice that we are, it took us 4 hours to climb a 1-2 hour trek. We took the longer Grotto trail because the other one (the Mang Perying's trail), though shorter, is steeper. The feeling of getting to the peak and looking down was so surreal. It's nature tripping at its finest. On our descend we took the Mang Perying's trail which is more challenging, most of us tripped along the way.

You'll meet a lot of these signs

The ten-peso Buko

The Grotto

wohoo!

The descend

The survival sticks :))

Trek food

Extra Challenge

It was one of the most challenging trips we had but we definitely enjoyed it. One of our buddies said that it's kinda traumatic to fall and hit your back real hard but it's part of the experience. We are thankful that we made it out unscathed. We might rest for a while though and save up to buy trekking gears before the next climb.