The Journey to 100 Mountains (Part 3 of 6)

This batch of 10 mountains will bring you to the icy peaks of Japanese central alps, the hidden treasure of Davao Oriental, Cebu's popular peak and various mountains of Luzon.

70 down, 30 more to go!

I hope my knees would still hold up until then.

#61: Mt. Tenglawan (1,943 MASL) | Bakun, Benguet

It was June 12, and I was actually holding up a Philippine flag there. 

As part of the touted Bakun Trio, Mt. Tenglawan is known for its Carrot Peak. An imposing monolithic rock outcrop few meters from the summit. The trail towards this mountain will lead you to communities nestled at the mountain side, offering you views of vibrant green rice terraces as well as imposing waterfalls during rainy season (we climbed this in June by the way). Doing the Bakun Trio (Kabunian, Tenglawan and Lubo) has been popular among mountaineers in the advent of easier access to rentable transport. But in our case, we chose to travel to this area via local transport – which can only be accessed via public bus in La Trinidad only once a day (bus leaves at 6am). Travel time to Bakun Poblacion can range from 6 to 10 hours, depending on road situation – parts of the route are prone to landslides and can impede transportation and can sometimes force you to walk for the rest of the way, which happened in our case.

Dumaran, Palawan

The municipality of Dumaran is located northwest of Puerto Princesa. Oddly, this municiaplity only covers half of Dumaran Island (the other half is under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Araceli) while some barangays are located at the mainland Palawan. 

Tagged as the world's best Island (Travel + Leisure Magazine 2016), the province has a lot, lot more to offer aside from the popular destinations such as Coron, El Nido and Puerto Princesa. This is the third time that I was back in Palawan - where we went to San Vicente and Port Barton (maybe I'll write something for this) in 2015 and in 2016 we basked at the beaches and islands in the southern tip of the province, Balabac (a blog entry for that trip can be found here). 

So let me share three of my favorite shots from one of the not-known-now-but-soon-on-the-rise destinations in Palawan: Dumaran. 

#1. Beach-all-you-can 

Void of tourist traffic, you can enjoy this very long stretch of white sand beach all to yourself provided that you have enough gear for beach camping. There are no resorts or any facilities for tourists here as of the moment so manage your expectations, this is not El Nido. 

Maraneg Beach can be found at the southern part of the Island

In Photos - 2016

Looking at my photo portfolio for the year 2016, I just have to think back and be grateful for the opportunity to venture into some places - beautiful places - here in the Philippines and overseas. Mountains, islands and destinations that I have been looking forward to setting my foot into. Particularly Mt. Mayon, Mt. Fuji and Tokyo! 

Oh, Japan. I can recall that during high school I was just wondering if I will ever travel to the land of the rising sun. Well, cliche as it may be but dreams sure come true - and much more. Never have I thought that I would reach the summit of Mt. Fuji! 

Anyway, that was just a part of my 2016. It may as well be the highlight but let me share to you some interesting stories from that year. 

#1. Sky, 3 years old

Sky and the team traversing the grassy area towards Mayon, April 2016