Exploring Philippines 40 - Siniloan, Laguna (Post 3 - Buruwisan Falls)

Upon setting foot at Buruwisan falls, the very first thing that you'll notice are the colorful tents of campers (if there are any) across the river and several cottages on the other side of the river. If you plan to stay overnight and you don't have a tent, these cottages can be rented for a modest price. Actually, campers and mountaineers frequent this place and some of them will actually stay for a couple of days. Anyone is free to put up his own tent and there are no fees being collected here except of course for the barangay fee which we paid prior to the start of the hike.

If you plan to stay for another day (which is advisable in order to fully explore the place), you can bring your own cooking paraphernalia. Some ready to eat stuff to last for a couple of days would be good and in case you run out of food, there's a resident here that can actually cook for you or they may include you in the preparation of their meal (for a modest price, again.) Water is no problem here not because there's plenty of water in the river or in the falls but there's a free flowing clean water in a pipe which was put up by the local community. This water tastes much better than that of bottled mineral water.  With regard to the call of nature, there's a community toilet which is being maintained by the residents here and you'll be charge by some amount for your every visit to this relief station.

Since I had mud in my shoes, the very first thing I did was to soak my shoes on the river and tried to get rid the mud. If you are not aware of the falls, the river looks ordinary and you can cross the river with no effort at all and your shorts will not even get wet. Since the water is flowing, one can simply take a dip or bathe in any part of the river. And both the locals and campers here can freely wash their clothes and other stuff in the river without much worry.

Just several steps away from the cottages lies the Buruwisan falls. From our vantage point, it was not much of a sight for a falls because we can only see the edge of the river where the water drops to the pool below. What was breathtaking is the very sight below. Even though I have problems with heights, my excitement of the place brushed away my acrophobia.

We walked downhill again. The path was slippery because of sharp pebbles and we had to find a good grip on the twigs and vines just to keep us going. In less than ten minutes, we landed on another river and part of its water comes from the river above which we had just visited.