Adventure Time in Tanay

To kick start the year, I joined a climb to Mt. Daraitan in Tanay, Rizal with awesome people. I wanted to travel more this year as I realized I lagged last year (it's okay, I forgive you, self). Honestly, I was ill-prepared. I am on the internet day in and day out yet I haven't even tried to google what is in Daraitan.

We left Quezon City at past 2 a.m. A funny anecdote. So I was running late. Meet up was supposed to be at 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. and I arrived 5 minutes past 12. Thinking I was the only one the group was waiting for, upon getting off the cab, I immediately approached this group who were getting things into a white van. I asked them if they were the group I was supposed to be joining. They were puzzled. I said "Daraitan?"and one of them answered, "Seryoso?!" Apparently, they, too, were bound for Daraitan, pero wala na yata silang hinihintay na kasama. Thus, the puzzled reactions. Then I remembered to phone Joseph, which what I should've done the first moment I sat foot at the meeting place. They were inside the restaurant. It would've probably fun, too, if I joined the other group where I do not know any one. 😂

We arrived at Daraitan at around 4 in the morning. We rode a balsa to cross the river, and rode a tricycle to get to the jump-off. It was chilly. The goal is to catch the sunrise at the summit, so we had to climb at dawn. We were behind our planned schedule so we hurriedly ascended, rarely stopping to catch our breaths. We did achieve the goal.

Preview from one of the stops

We encountered this cold-blooded slimy fellow on our way to the summit.

And here it is! The much sought-after sea of clouds!

From the summit, you get a 360 degrees view of the surrounding mountains. From afar you can see the windmills of Pililia, Rizal and the Laguna de Bay. We stayed for a good hour or so at the summit. It would've been nice to wait until the clearing to get a view of the river hiding beneath the sea of clouds, but we had to descend before it gets too hot.

Clearing. The sea of clouds hide a river beneath.

Daraitan is known for its limestone formations

From the green clad mountains, a rush of aquamarine waters of the Tinipak River greeted us. Maraming naliligo sa ilog. Also, may canteen dito.

We didn't get to take a dip in the cool water because we chose to take a nap instead. Also, we decided to skip the caving part of the itinerary. We decided to go to Daranak Falls instead.

Abandonadong gawaan ng semento na akala mo kung ano

Di pa rin ako marunong lumangoy. Maybe I should add that up to my 2016 goals/bucket list.

From Tanay, we went to have dinner at Brad & Pitt's Rib Shack in Marikina, and some beers at Cubao Ex.