Brief info on Luisiana, Laguna
Luisiana is a fourth class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 20,148 people.[3] Locals call the town 'Little Baguio of Laguna' because of its high elevation and cooler climate like the City of Baguio. (credits from wikipedia)
One day while browsing Facebook posts I stumble upon a beautiful pictures of falls. I got curious of where can I find the place so I browsed a little more. Then I learned that the location is near Manila so search of how to get there. I learned that it's in Laguna but the town Luisiana is not familiar to me. I search the net for ways on how to get there, what to expect going there, what to bring and the safety of the place especially for solo backpacker. I have been to Laguna many times but the town referred to as the place of the majestic falls wasn't heard even before. Armed with braveness and determination, I preferred a solo trip not because its near but because my work schedule doesn't fall on a Monday-Friday so a company wasn't necessary. I gave myself a week to prefer for it, luckily one of my friend ask me to join for an adventure so I responded to his invitation and asked where might be the destination is? He said there wasn't a definite place yet but if I wanted I can suggest where to. I asked him to search Hulugan Falls and its a coincidence that he have seen it also in social media. The place is tagged as an "emerging local destination" for tourist who wanted a near getaway to escape busy life in the metro.
We agreed on the place and headed our way there one gloomy day in November of 2015. The place was somewhat known for tourist for two months but local residents of San Salvador, the Barangay where the falls is located had there weekly and holiday trips outings for ages (its just that it wasn't yet popularly published in different social media sites).
How to get there
From Manila, ride a bus bounded for Sta. Cruz. Tell the conductor to drop you off to Pagsawitan jeepney terminal where jeepneys routed for Lucban, Quezon is located. When your there, ask the driver or the dispatcher if they will be passing trough Luisiana and tell the driver to drop you off to San Salvador. The place is 45 minutes to an hour away from the Santa Cruz jeepney terminal. You will not be lost because the entrance to the barangay has an arc signage of "Welcome to San Salvador". There is also a tarpulin with signage and pictures of Hulugan Falls.
(Disclaimer: this trip is easy for adventurous people, hikers but difficult for city dwellers who are used to riding vehicles even on a short distances)
- Ride a bus from Buendia or Cubao (if you're from Manila) going to Sta.Cruz, Laguna alight toPagsawitan jeepney terminal
- From Sta. Cruz, ride a jeepney bounded for Lucban/Luisiana, alight at San Salvador (ask the driver or conductor to drop you at San Salvador)
- from the where you alighted go to the waiting shed for a tour guide, ride tricycle going to Barangay Captain's house. (Pay the entrance fee to the falls)
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| Pansawitan Jeepney terminal |
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| Just before you alight from your jeepney ride a tarpulin signage is seen leading you to where the Barangay Captain's house is located. This is near a waiting shed where trekking guides are assigned to assist tourist going to the Falls. |
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| Habal-habal ride going to Barangay Captain's house where you will pay the entrance to the place
What to bring?
- bring an extra clothes , medication, alcohol, bandaid and toiletries - bring trail foods (candies, jelly ace, nuts, chocolate (m&m, cloud9), chips, etc.) - water and food (you'll get hungry for sure. the place is good for picnic) - bring cash, there is no atm machine in the area. |
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| roadway to the Falls |
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| Posing with our tour guide Kuya James before trekking to the falls |
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| Our very accommodating tour guide"Kuya James" who also volunteered to carry my backpack during the trek |
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| Our journey to the Falls |
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| capturing more pictures to commemorate our adventure |
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| short stop during the tiring trek (Take note: not advisable to use slippers during the trek especially when raining because the path leading to the falls was so muddy and slippery) |
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| the steep pathways descending to the falls. |
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| ascending from the falls is equally difficult because its deep and steep |
What to expect during this trip?
- Before descending to the falls, expect a slips and fall especially if its raining and the road and pathways are wet. The road leading to the falls is not yet paved, so you will be muddied along the way.
- Trekking is difficult when you're wearing slippers so better use a pair of comfortable shoes. Take note the pathways descending to the falls is very steep so don't expect an easy trip.
- Once you're on the falls you will get wet no matter how, so waterproof your things before descending.
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| first glance of the majestic hidden beauty. a photo-op is inevitable |
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| capturing the craziness and smiles of my travel buddies |
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| first pose at the site with our muddy shoes |
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| falling for the beauty of place |
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| taken from the cave near the falls |
Fees:
Bus Fare (back and forth) 260.00
Jeepney from Pagsawitan to San Salvador (back and forth) 60.00
Tricycle to Kap's house (back and forth) 20.00
Entrance 15.00
Tour guide (600 / 4pax) 150.00 each
Shower 15.00
We are lucky they assigned a very generous guide during this trip. He let us take a shower at their house, serve hot coffee, bread and espasol and all of it are complimentary, he even made sure that we catch the last trip to Santa Cruz (we got there in San Salvador at 3 PM in the afternoon and reached the falls passed 4 PM. We ascended almost 6 PM, cleaned up at Kuya James house, we finished 7 PM. We almost miss the last jeepney trip in the area.)
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