Directions on How To Get To Mt. Manalmon By Car:
Directions going to Manalmon is the same as going to Biak na Bato National Park, since the former is part of the park – except for the part going to Sibul (going to Manalmon, you will have to turn left at that junction, and right for Biak na Bato Park. You will see that below). The easiest way is to take the NLEX from Balintawak. Exit at Sta. Rita and turn right, plying the route toward Plaridel, San Ildefonso and San Miguel. The entire AH26 highway is a good 30 kilometers or so. Just go straight through this route. A few kilometers past the San Miguel arch, there will be a fork with a watchtower at the center. Turn right.
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| San Miguel Arch |
Go straight till you reach a fork by the Total Gas Station/ tricycle toda. Turn right.
This leads to Brgy. Sibul. You will see Mt. Manalmon and Mt. Gola by the horizon after a few kilometers and a sign pointing to Sibul and Biak-na-Bato. Take the left going to Sibul.
You will reach an intersection by the end of the road (by the marketplace/ tricycle toda). Turn right.
A few meters down the road you will see the Rotary Club/ Zone 3 sign at an intersection. Make a left. This brings you to a dirt road that leads straight to Sitio Madlum.
You will see a fork with the “Welcome Madlum Caves” sign. Take the right, and after about 300 meters, you should be at the parking area by the river.
Onward from the registration, you will proceed with the trek in this fashion:
1. Station of the Cross
2. Madlum Cave and boulders
3. Cross Madlum River on foot
4. Flatlands
5. Crossing shallow stream
6. Flatlands to two peaks
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| Stations of the Cross near the sari-sari store, with a modest chapel along the way |
Parking
Don’t expect parking space to be tip-top. There aren’t lamp posts during the night. The soil is rather soft and loose especially right by the river. We brought a 4 x 2 truck with all-terrain tires and yet we almost got stuck in the soil. That’s how bad it is when it rains.
If you’re going on a rainy day, you probably want to consider parking near the Welcome sign, before the road slopes down to the river, then just take a walk (we did this when we had our prenup shoot). The road to the river is very narrow, just enough to accommodate one vehicle going to and one vehicle from the river.
Fees and food
From the parking area, you have a choice to take the Monkey Bridge (free) to the registration table from the land across the river, or take the balsa/ bamboo raft (P10 per head). Registration is P5/ head. Tour guide is customary and compulsory (P300/ head for a group of 5; P500 for more).
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| Spectators watch as a girl crosses the monkey bridge. Two manned balsas also are on standby apart from a local at the end of the bridge for safety. |
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| That white marble rock is where you will wait for your balsa ride. It’s just a few feet away from the parking lot. |
There’s no fee for setting up camp, but your guide would also have to stay with you, so that means you need to pay an overnight guide rate.
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| Sari-sari store has table and bench, smokes, cooked food, instant coffee – the works. |
There’s a small sari-sari store at the foot of the Stations of the Cross that sells soda, mineral water and cooked food. Goods are a bit expensive, but it’s the only store in the area (a plate of home cooked pancit bihon with no meat sells at P25; small soda is P20 per bottle; quek-quek is P15 per piece).
And stuff.
We met several mountaineers along the way and I love how each time they’d giddily greet you with a “Good Morning po!” I figured this was an unwritten custom in mountaineering. So I did it too. Feels nice, actually 🙂
The way up can be humid. Majority of the mountaineers we came across with on the way up and down wore shorts and dry-fit tops. Only a meager 3 out of uhm, 30 or so, wore pants.
And, please, don’t trust Tribu Mangyans for this trek. Didn’t do me good. The more spikes you have on your soles, the better – especially when it’s the rainy season.
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| These mountaineers know their stuff. Look at ’em bring down their clutter in a bag. Hooray for that. |
Whatever you bring up, you bring down. That includes water bottles and cigarette butts. I didn’t know this back when we had our prenup and like an idiot, threw one butt up the boulders, which our photographer/ mountaineer Marco, immediately picked up. When I remember that, I get ashamed of myself. We all start from somewhere and that became the starting point for me to abide by the “Take and leave nothing but footprints and photos” rule in mountaineering.
