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| Daranak falls |
Finally I get to see the breathtaking Daranak Falls!
My hubby and I, together with my brother, decided to ride our way to Tanay, Rizal. My hubby had been adamant on taking me there via a motorcycle ride for ages as he wanted to share its magic with me. We asked my brother to come along with us as I knew he wanted to take his bike for a spin, as well.
So early last Saturday morning, we left Valenzuela City to embark on my longest motorcycle ride ever.
Since we left about 5.30 in the morning, we didn't encounter any major traffic jam along Mindanao Avenue and Katipunan Road. Probably because it was the start of a long weekend, too, and people were still sleeping in.
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| Traffic was really light on our way to Daranak falls in Tanay, Rizal. |
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| Hubby was happy to bank along the curved road with me. |
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| I think from Cogeo, this sign will guide motorists on which way to go. |
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| We decided to have breakfast first. Hubby and I only had coffee before leaving and we were already hungry! |
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Along the road of Tanay, Rizal, this hard-to-miss sign will guide you on where to go.
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I got excited after seeing that sign. It was a short ride after turning right and the tree-lined concrete road made the journey even more pleasant.
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| It was a long and winding road, but not boring at all. |
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| We passed by this sign on our way and decided to explore it on our way back home. |
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Kudos to the locals for putting up several reminders like this.
Motorists can get overwhelmed with the smooth ride and might speed up. |
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| More reminders! |
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| This is where we paid our entrance fees. This kiosk is located at the right fronting the parking lot for cars. |
The parking area for motorcycles was further ahead where the space is narrower. We quickly chose a shaded area and proceeded to the kiosk to pay 50 pesos each. In my previous post, I was able to upload an image containing the fees. Both adults and children pay the same amount and a picnic table will cost 200 pesos while a shed will cost a hundred more. Individuals who come for photo-shoots need to shell out 1,500 pesos. You may visit that post here for more details.
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| Wow, tourists would even be issued receipts! Impressive! |
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| Yes, we're finally here! |
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| Balancing rocks welcome you to Daranak falls. And, they aren't glued. For real. |
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| Proof that the rocks weren't glued. We saw a staff building one! |
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| A picnic shed. |
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| There's an area for washing. |
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Clean toilets are available, though they are quite tight for someone as healthy as me.
And that's hubby over there having a chat with the caretaker.
And oh, you'll need to pay 5 pesos every time you use the bathroom. |
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There's even a "locker" for those who don't want to rent a table and have nowhere to leave their belongings.
But since it's a cabinet, which exposes all shelves, it's good to remember not to leave any valuables behind. |
Daranak falls is quite organized with all the facilities available. At least we know the fees they charged are used to improve the place. Way to go, LGU of Rizal!
After changing quickly and depositing our stuff in the "locker", a staff locked it and kept the key with him. So we sped off to the falls. I can't wait to see it!
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| OMG! And we got the place all to ourselves, sans the onlookers sitting by the rocks. |
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| Daranak falls with all it's splendor and glory. The staff says this place can get packed during the summer. |
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The water can get very chilly especially this early. It was only 8.30 in the morning.
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| A smaller waterfall. |
There's another waterfall on the right side. But the only way to reach it is to get through the slippery rocks on the right. Extreme caution must be taken. Better to wear trekking sandals, though I was able to feel the surface off the rocks and judge how slippery it is with my bare feet.
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| The smaller waterfall up close. |
We had fun lying down beneath the raging but soft waterfalls. It's like having a massage! But, I had sore muscles until three days later!
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| Another waterfall, glee! |
That smaller waterfall leads to another waterfall, but bigger. This one's just in front of the main falls. And that protruding rock is good jump-off spot!
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| A view of the stream from the waterfalls. That bridge leads to another waterfall, Batlag falls. |
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| The way to Batlag falls. |
Indeed, the water from Batlag falls go down to Daranak falls. And the only way to Batlag falls is to pass by the entrance to Daranak falls, meaning adults pay 150 in all and children 100 pesos. In short, we weren't able to see the place as we had limited budget. Plus, we decided to enjoy Daranak falls some more. After all, more people are coming and we plan to leave the moment it gets crowded.
Remember the sign pointing to a cave? We checked it out before going home. But, just a warning, it was a good 15-20 minute of rough roads as only about 20% of the path is concrete. For motorcycle riders, it was really uncomfortable. And hubby kept on fussing about his tires..
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| Sharp stones and dirt made the ride uncomfortable. |
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| Small signs will you guide on your way. |
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| Oops, what happened to the sign? |
There were signs but we had to stop and ask for directions about three times.
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| After several "malapit na yun", we finally found the Calinawan cave. |
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| A small sign board informed us how much we need to shell out. |
I am claustrophobic so I am not sure what made me search for the Calinawan cave. Hubby and my brother weren't thrilled to go down, either. Maybe I just wanted to discover something. But since I have low tolerance for tight spaces, we just took pictures of the entrance and left.
It was already past 12 noon so we returned to Mommy Flor's kitchenette and had lunch. She was happy to see us again as she recognized we were in her kitchenette earlier in the morning. She told us there's another waterfalls in Rizal called Daraitan falls. She even gave us her number so we can call her up to order some food and it'll be ready by the time we arrive. Our next adventure's settled then.
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| The photo says it all. |
Well, it was a well-spent Saturday. Surprisingly, I enjoyed the motorcyle ride. And as hubby described Daranak falls, it was magical. And we'll probably return to Tanay, Rizal to see Daraitan falls :)
But if you are a beach person, you can probably try Anawangin Cove or Coron, Palawan. Just be careful when you are wading in the beach and don't step on rocks.
