Kawasan

Coming home last May, we decided to visit Kawasan Falls.
It's a 2-3 hour trip. If you're going by bus, the South Bus terminal is pretty easy to find. The bus fare ranges from P40 to P120. It's weird actually because the fare depends on the bus company. I mean, they could probably charge you P500 if you're ugly.



The one thing I learned? Don't bring all the groceries you purchased the day before unless you want to lose weight and have abs of steel.
When we got off the bus, the weather was as cold as Tagaytay. Anyway, locals flocked us offering to carry our stuff for P20.
We weren't carrying much (only a refrigerator's worth) so we politely declined their offer.
One old guy was still pestering us and continued to walk beside us.


We wanted to go to Fall 2. FYI, Kawasan has 3 falls. The first and nearest one is the largest. The others are a bit smaller.
It was a pretty uneventful 20 minute walk to Fall 2. We passed about 300 bridges. When we got to the
destination, the old guy that walked with us whipped out this piece of paper
stating that he had police clearance to collect P200 from us. What the fuck.
It's a good thing I know how to read though. It also said that IF he carried our stuff, we'd be obligated to
pay him. Since I wanted to develop abs of steel and he looked like he'd die if he carried our bags, we dodged
his extortionist ass. But we still ended up giving him P50 and some lunch. We're not that cruel. After paying the cottage guy (P300), we settled in for lunch.

Kawasan was a very beautiful place until I took another step and the once waist-deep water plunged into nothingness and my life flashed before me.
I knew I should have listened to my swimming instructor. After gulping down half of the waterfall, I clung to Marian (who was wearing a life jacket) with both legs. There were 50 peso life jackets available and I have no idea why I ignored those. Anyway,
we continued swimming in the ice cold waters - now a bit more braver with our very red life jackets.
Walking back, having my fair share of Kawasan swimming in my belly, I was surprised to find that I wasn't the least bit tired.
It was probably the cold water. Overall, it's a pretty cheap but awesome getaway.

(One of the millions of bridges in Kawasan. The guy with the white hat was our "tour guide". See? He is a frail and little old man. He'd die if he carried our stuff.)