Wherever My Feet Goes: August 2007

What would you do on a Saturday when going to the mall is boring and television shows are crap? I don’t usually work on this day of the week but in the past two months, I’ve been staying in the hard disk drive factory longer that I should be.

With the upcoming Monday (Aug-27) declared as a holiday, I thought it was a great idea to push my wish of seeing the falls in Southern Luzon famous for its chilling waters—the Taytay Falls in Majayjay, Laguna.

I first heard about Majayjay during my first and brief stint as a mountaineer. That was around 2004 when blogging was yet to snowball into a big phenomenon. I was joined with fellow officemates who’ve been conquering mountains longer than I expected.

I literally had been on the peaks of Mount Maculot in Cuenca and Mount Daguldol in San Juan, both in the province of Batangas. Maculot is the mountain just across the sea where Taal sits, if one is to view from the fine landscape of Tagaytay. While the mountain of Daguldol is famous for being a not so easy trek, it is a good start for blooming mountaineers. Ray, one of the active climbers in our company, shared to me a piece of information about Mount Banahaw and the Falls of Taytay in the town of Majayjay.

I was enthralled by the idea of a falls whose waters come from the serenity of the mountain. The water was told to chill ones body as if the water just came out of a freezer.

With everyone else had their weekend schedule setup, I was joined in
with Pizza. I only have one purpose in mind, to shoot Majayjay falls and create beautiful photographs.

Getting there

I started having thoughts about the trip for one week, but I only have my senses focused on it the day before I basked outside the comfort of my shared-rented home in Laguna Belair.

We didn’t have the slightest idea of how to get there, and the only option available is of course through public transportation.

Since our take off started from Sta. Rosa, we boarded a van headed to Sta. Cruz. If we’ll be coming from Metro Manila, we just have to ride a bus bound for the same destination. They are usually found in the terminals in Cubao, and Buendia near LRT.

The first ride was the longest of the entire travel. We passed by the towns of Calamba, Los Baños, Bay, Victoria, Calauan, Lumbao in a hour and half of light traffic on a Saturday morning. All that I can do is stare through the tinted windows as we pass by each town, one at a time. We arrived in Sta. Cruz and ate our brunch.

Sta. Cruz is like a meeting place of public vehicles from across all destinations coming from it. A jeepney ride to Majayjay town was all we took to get us near the falls. Dropping off from the jeepney terminal in Majayjay town, one more ride and I can already see my body splashed by the cold showers of the falls.

However, my excitement was silenced and delayed when I learned from the kundoktor, that we have to wait for at least another hour because we just missed the recent trip. Jeepneys going to Taytay only take off every hour, or unless the demand is sufficient enough to force a driver to put his feet onto the gas pedal and pull away.

So we waited. Since we just decided to witness the falls several hours before, we didn’t prepare food. The only edible thing we brought is a bread pan alongside tripod, digital cameras and a pair of swimming shorts. Good thing there is a turo-turo in the terminal and Pizza bought a regular meal of two pieces of fried chicken parts and a bottled water.

When the jeep was already half full, the driver decided to jumpstart the engine and rolled off. We were joined in with three guys carrying large bags that appeared like they’ll be climbing the mountain of Banahaw, which later I learned that they will just be camping somewhere near the falls.

15-Minute Walk to the Falls

As soon as I put my feet back on the ground, I found myself standing in the soil of Barangay Taytay of Majayjay, Laguna. Visitors are required to register in the books of the barangay office with a corresponding fee of 20 pesos for day trekker and 40 pesos for those who will be pitching their tents. We paid that part and immediately walked into the site.

It will probably need 10 minutes of slightly brisked walking to start hearing the sound made by the splashing waters and at least 15 minutes to finally embrace the sight of the beautiful falls.

The ground was also wet, a proof that a heavy downpour just hit the place the night before. And this was a good sign that the falls will be quite wider and stronger.

A Rare Opportunity: Lunch near the Falls

The moment we saw the falls, I spared no time clutching the camera’s body and started pressing the shutter button continuously. But our stomach was wailing and we fed ourselves right in front of an astounding background.

We finished up and kept our garbage in our bags, in the interest of preserving the environment. I just find it sad that some plastics, bottles, and other wastes were scattered around. It’s a good thing we found out there are people tasked to oversee the place and see to it that human residual are put into their proper place.

Shooting Endlessly

I gazed around the falls. Watched the people already there swimming, eating and having fun on their own. We found a place near and there I setup my tripod for a seemingly endless picture taking. I even didn’t mind the cold moisture around the falls that could bring disaster to my precious D40. All my mind was thinking is how to get that perfect picture of the falls and awesome scenes that can be framed into a digital jpeg file.

Part of my vision of learning the art of digital photography is to expose myself to nature and produce pictures I would be proud of. I treat my creation not as likely as I would with my day job, but would be like a measure of how much love I put into the art. And hey, I’m still a budding shutterbug anyway.

The Description is True

The day wouldn’t be completed without a swim in the cold water and touch the raging waves of water falling straight from somewhere the top of Mount Banahaw. I was planning to put the bottled mineral water we brought along and submerged it in the basin where the water is temporarily held to test whether the water is freezing cold.

I forgot to do that part when I finally wade my feet and in the direction towards the falls. The metaphor that the water of Taytay falls is as cold as that coming from your refrigerator proved to be true after all. I didn't last more than 20 minutes and when I get myself near the rampaging buckets of clear water, I decided to rise out of it and back to where Pizza is.

The basin has many rocks, huge and small. Care is a must at all times when bathing. One accidental slip could lead to serious injury.

From Majayjay and Back

After a few hours of shooting and brief swim, it was 230 pm and we realized it's time to go back. I shoot a couple of pictures more before, packed our things, changed clothes and headed for our journey back to Laguna Belair. We didn't want to trouble ourselves going home because the last jeepney trip back to Majayjay town leaves at 5pm.

Along the way, we bought a pair of Suha, a giant citrus that abounds the place. I expected that the fruit will taste sour but the ones that they plant and harvest here are actually sweet. We feasted our hungry stomach on our way back to Sta. Cruz.

It was also an opportunity to take a hold and see the Church of Majayjay in full. The church is huge and really old, it has been standing since the 17th century and has overcome the ages.