Saturday, November 10, 2012

Exploring Philippines 95 - Montalban, Rizal (Post 3 - Montalban River)

The moment we had our fill with the vicinity of the dam, we climbed up and continued our journey towards the upper part of this place.  We passed through a channel, still on the side of the mountain, which connects to the abandoned watch tower of the dam.  Some locals managed to build their houses and tucked them on the sides of the mountains and personally, I viewed that one as an eyesore to the visiting tourists aside from being illegal and improper.  I hope that the local officials will not tolerate such acts and direct these people to find a more suitable place to build their houses.

Anyway, the moment we approached the still waters of the dam, cottages were waiting for visitors and bamboo rafts were silently feeling the coldness of the river.  We were approached by the locals, offering the cottages for some modest amount but we were on the move.  We asked for a rent of the bamboo raft and its cost was 100 pesos for a three hour ride.  It would be fun riding a bamboo raft and it would be an added for Ayo and Jay but the three of us were apprehensive because we had some gadgets to protect against getting wet. Instead of riding the bamboo raft and cruise on the river, with the raft still tied on the peg, we just asked for a quick ride and took pictures of one another as a souvenir.  The gigantic mountains on the background provide a good backdrop for our photo ops.

After covering some more distance from the cottages near the dam, we stopped and continued to take more photos.  We planned to follow the path of the river upstream but when we asked some locals what lies ahead, they simply lament that what we were seeing that time will still be the same scenario that awaits us upstream.  We inquired about some other worthy offering of this place, like a waterfalls perhaps, and we were glad when they directed us on the adjacent part of the mountain.











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