Saturday, July 28, 2007

Marinduque: Hiking up Mt. Malindig in Marinduque

I climbed another mountain today. Mount Malindig is the highest peak in Marinduque. For a second climb, I was told, Malindig was something. And imagine, my first was also a Level 2. What a consoling thought for the blisters I got!

From the Buendia LRT Station, we took a Jac Liner bus to the Dalahican Port in Lucena, Quezon (PHP193). I was with Gideon Lasco and Sharif Gonzales. Sai Sicad followed, taking a bus from Cubao. Our bus arrived at the port just in time for the 2 a.m. departure of the ferry to the Balanacan Port in Mogpog, Marinduque (PHP125). But Sai arrived a minute late (we actually saw his tricycle arrive at the port as our ferry pushed away) so he had to take the 3 a.m. ferry to Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. So plans changed and we met up with him there.

We arrived in Balanacan at about 5:30 a.m. Vans were waiting outside and we took one to Sta. Cruz (PHP70) to meet up with Sai. At Sta. Cruz, we had breakfast at Rico's Inn and checked out the old church. The church and retablo was intact. From there, it was a jeep to Torrijos where we took a jam-packed tricycle (there were ten of us including the driver) to Brgy. Sahi in Buenavista, the jump off point for Mount Malindig. Just look for the tricycles to Malibago and ask the driver to take you further down the road to Sahi.

The forested volcano of Malindig, previously known as Marlanga, is located at the southern tip of Marinduque. The climb is usually 1 hour and 30 minutes. But with me around, it took 3 hours to get to the base camp which is about 900 meters above sea level. Unlike the Pico de Loro climb which was rainy, muddy but forested, the Malindig climb was scorching hot with no trees to give us any shade. but the views were fantastic such as the Tres Reyes Islands named after Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar.

We wanted to be back down before dark so that we could pass by the Malbog Sulfur Springs so I decided to stay behind at the base camp (to speed up things and to recharge) while the rest went up the summit which is 1,157 meters above sea level. There's no view up the summit since it's covered by thick forest growth. The best view is from the base camp where according to Gideon, you could see many the major mountains in Southern Luzon including those in Romblon, Mindoro, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon and the Bicol Region.

Our descent took just an hour. Back at the jump-off point, we took a tricycle to the springs in Malbog. We had to cross a small river to get to it. The group only stayed for a while since we wanted to be in Boac before it got really late.

On the way to Boac, we stopped at the town of Gasan for dinner. I was surprised to see some good places to eat. We picked an Italian sounding restaurant which did serve pasta and a variety of American and Filipino dishes. It was value for money since I got pasta for three (the menu says good for two) for just PHP70! Everything was so cheap. We also got ourselves some tuba to drink at the beach house.

For the night, we stayed at the private beach house of Lizel, Sharif's girlfriend. The last photos are some experiments I made with my camera. Those are night shots, quite dark when I took them, but with super long exposures. See the stars?

Part 2: Boac and its architectural heritage

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18 comments:

  1. Anonymous2.8.07

    Ivan, you remind me of one of my fave shows of all time: "Lonely Planet/Travel Guides". Buti ka pa kung saan saan ka na napapadpad.

    Punta ka naman dito sa Visayas o, hehehe!! :D

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  2. i may have to correct myself. mukhang hindi visible ang mountains of romblon sa basecamp. but if the peak were clear of trees we could have seen even mt. guiting-guiting. as for mayon, it's still debatable :D

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  3. Anonymous10.8.07

    Good day...
    Ang galing mo naman Ivan taga marinduque din ako at lagi ko read itong site mo.Ano kaya kung mag-karoon kaya ng Heritage advocay Seminar..then we could be partner.. From Transnational crime ako and I am a desk officer on Cultural property.

    Tess Villa
    Office of the Special Envoy on Transnational Crime

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Tess, how can I contact you. My e-mail is ivanhenares@yahoo.com

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  5. whoa, you can see the mountains of bicol? mayon is debatable, huh. i guess you'll just have to find the pointed one.

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  6. Anonymous27.10.07

    all i can say is "WOW"....i was born in marinduque but never had a chance to explore those places... hehe

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  7. hi! is it possible to climb mt. malindig and visit bathala cave at the same day? Also pwede ba bisitahin iyong 2 na un kung black saturday or easter sunday? Thanks!

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  8. hi, i'm from marindUque as well and a love reading your post,,eheh..keep me posted.thanks.

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  9. Wow...an galing mga shots...Kuhang kuha ang anggulo...

    Anyway, with regards don s question ni Mr. Toni, depende po sa inyo kung aaakyat kayo don ng black saturday or easter sunday kasi medyo madaming sabi sabi sa amin na masama diumanong pumunta don kapag may pangalan pa ang araw (Mahal na Araw). May mga pangitain diumano na hindi ordinaryo...Siguro makabubuting palipasin po muna ninyo ang Mahal ng Araw (wala namang masama kung maniniawala kita, wala namang mawawala). But then we encourage you of course na bumisita at damhin ang Ganda ng Marinduque. Indeed, Marinduque is one of the most gracious and msytical Province in the Nation...

    We encourage you also to visit ou site at www.sakamar.org (this is the official website of Samahang Kabataang Marinduque in the metro)

    See you in Marinduque this lenten season...

    -Romeo A. Mataac, Jr.
    Samahang Kabataang Marinduque
    www.sakamar.org
    sakamar.info@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Ms. Tess Villa,

    I read your comment in the post. You mentioned about Heritage Advocacy Seminar, napakaganda po nyan. Puede po kaming makatulong sa plano nyong iyan.

    BTW, we are group of Youth Marinduqueno in the Metro. We call our organization SAMAHANG KABATAANG MARINDUQUENO. One of our objectives is to help Marinduque in promoting its traditiond, culture and heritage...To learned more about our guild you can visit our site at www.sakamar.org, simple click here... or contact us via email sakamar.info@yahoo.com

    We're looking forward for your response...

    Bangon Ngani...Sulong Baya...


    -SAKAMAR Team
    SAMAHANG KABATAANG MARINDUQENO OFFICIAL WEBSITE
    sakamar.info@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. sir ask ko lng meron ba tayong tour guide sa mt. malindig? mgkano binabayad? sana ma iimprove pa ang mga mggnda sa marinduque. pag uwe ko marinduque, pla2no kami umakyat. tga sta. cruz ako sir.

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  12. ..gud day!! sarap naman po ng trip nyo! I'm just looking around the net, wanted to explore Marinduque even on images. After 9yrs.,last holy week lang ulit ako nkapunta don. We had ancestral house at Botilao,Sta.Cruz but unfortunately nasunog last 2003. But seeing your blogs makes me excited to go back and explore the place.. Viva Marinduque!

    ReplyDelete
  13. higlife19.12.09

    sir. taga marinduque din ako at nagpla2no kame mag climb after ng christmas ng kuya ko.. and after ko maakyat ang malindig gusto ko sana dalahin ang grupo ko dito sa holyweek. sir tnong ko lng may mga armed group ba d2??

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous31.8.11

    hindi po SAHI ung barangay kung asan ang mount Malindig,,,,Sihi po un,,,hindi Sahi...SIHI,BUENAVISTA MARINDUQUE,,,tga roon po ako hehehe

    ReplyDelete
  15. FYI:

    heritage mapping ongoing - sept to dec 2011.

    for more info - marinduque tour

    http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002026358415&ref=ts

    ReplyDelete
  16. I go to Marinduque every summer tlga together with friends for a mission pro I never had the chance to go to Mt. Malindig. Gustong-gusto ko tlga mpuntahan un..

    am going to Marinduque on the 15th of July and am planning to go to Mt. Malindig on the 20th of July... just wondering if it's the best month to go to dahil sa unpredictable weather..

    kktuwang basahin ang post na to pti ung mga comments...i have so much to tell about marinduque...

    sa brgy. katso sa talawan torrijos mduque kmi lagi pumupunta eh...lam nyo ba ung lugar na un?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous11.7.12

    tlgang maganda po smin lugar lalo na sa mount malindig;;;;;;;;;;;;;;hindi lang po yan punta kyo sa pulung lupa;;;;;don u makikita ang sandata nung unang panahon na gamit sa sa mga hapon;;;;;; proud po ako sa marinduque ilands i love it;;;;;; nakakamis tlga ang marinduque;;;;;;;;;thanks god bless

    ReplyDelete
  18. astig dyan. very friendly pa mga tao. ganda din ng pag welcome nila sa bisita. sa pamamagitan ng putong

    ReplyDelete

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