From Mount Marami to Pantihan Falls to Intramuros and How I Started My 2016 Wanders

I officially started my 2016 escapade with a climb and a sweet escape to Pantihan Falls in Cavite on January 6th and a visit to Intramuros the following day. (This is my first blog post for 2016.)

Amos and I at Intramuros.

The Mount Marami Climb 
Instead of the usual “beachcapade” that I normally do to officially commence my “wanders,” I, instead, climbed Mount Marami at Maragondon, Cavite. With my recent movement here in Makati from Baguio, climbing became favorable to me and, at the same time, I’ve met several climbers and travelers I can join anytime as long as travel dates do not conflict with my work schedule. Anyway, just like my other climbs in CALABARZON region, I was also with “stranger friends” when I climbed Mount Marami. To date, our Mount Marami climb is “the longest” climb I ever had and also the “most tiring” one. Imagine this: it took us approximately five hours to reach Mount Marami’s peak and the famous Silyang Bato.

Yours Truly at Silyang Bato. With a bit of encouragement from my new found friends, I conquered my fear, Rock on! Photo credit: Paula.

Of course, good things happen when you travel with awesome stranger friends. In this photo: BJ, Raymond, Rain, Ria, Paula and Yours Truly. Thank you guys for the company. Photo credit: Rain.

The Pantihan Falls Escapade 
After climbing Mount Marami and because we still had ample time, our group decided to visit Pantihan Falls. Our guide recommended us the place and, to date, we were the first group of travelers/climbers to visit the falls other than the locals of the place which, unfortunately, I couldn’t recall the name. Yup, we’ve made history! Pantihan Falls was absolutely amazing and it’s perfect for diving.

At Pantihan Falls.

The explorers: BJ, Raymond, Ria, Rain, Yours Truly and Paula.

"Ang lalim daw!" Hahaha! Pantihan Falls is absolutely perfect for swimming after a tiring climb.

Intramuros Escapade
Of course, I don’t want to start my 2016 escapade without my long-time travel buddies Amos and Tere, so the following day I joined them in Intramuros. That was our first ‘work-out escapade” together which I find cool because I've never "liked" travelling within NCR. I prefer a great escapade to "somewhere" isolated to highly urbanized areas.

The Manila Cathedral.

At the Manila Cathedral with some Russian back packers.

Theresa and I. This is my favorite spot in the walled city.

Watch out for the detailed blog entry for each escapade. I'm too sleepy now and internet is wonky.