Daranak, Batlag, and Hinulugang Taktak are all found in the province of Rizal. They are very accessible from Manila (less than 2 hours). Take a jeep or FX from Edsa Central to Tanay (60 pesos). From Tanay market, there are lots of tricycle for the falls (300 pesos). There is a 20 peso entrance fee for Daranak Falls.
Hinulugang Taktak is in Antipolo and the jeep/FX bound for Tanay passes by Antipolo.
All of us are excited to take photos of both falls. The photos from several blogs show how picturesque the place is. But we were in for a surprise that day. :)
The place was packed (although it was a Monday, twas also an official holiday). To say that the place was crowded would be a great understatement. You can't take a shot of the scenery without people in them, not near the falls, not even in the river downstream from the falls. And with the huge crowd comes the mountains of garbage, literally in every nook and cranny.
(downstream from Daranak Falls)Since its summer, the water in the falls is considerably thinner. The catch basin was still deep enough though for a nice swim.
Just a short walk from Daranak is Batlag Falls. The falls is located in a private property so you have to pay another 20 pesos for the entrance fee. The folks at the gate tried to squeeze a few more bucks from us seeing that we were all carrying cameras and tripods. They reason we have to have an "exclusive booking" of the place if we want to take photos there.
They finally let us in after hearing the ".. falls is beyond the commerce of men..." and "... do you have barangay permit to charge entrance fees?.." and "do you also charge folks with cellphone camera for photos?" talk from our group. :)
Just a short walk from Daranak is Batlag Falls. The falls is located in a private property so you have to pay another 20 pesos for the entrance fee. The folks at the gate tried to squeeze a few more bucks from us seeing that we were all carrying cameras and tripods. They reason we have to have an "exclusive booking" of the place if we want to take photos there.
They finally let us in after hearing the ".. falls is beyond the commerce of men..." and "... do you have barangay permit to charge entrance fees?.." and "do you also charge folks with cellphone camera for photos?" talk from our group. :)
(Batlag falls)Just like in Daranak Falls, the place was packed to the hilt. And of course the garbage was every where. I also saw a road being built to provide an easier access to the place (right now you have to go through Daranak in order to reach Batlag). More people, more garbage.
I find Batlag a little bit better than Daranak. There are more trees for shade and there are lots of small pools downstream.
(one of the pools downstream from Batlag)More photos of my Tanay trip here.
And they charge a pretty hefty amount for you to exclusively shoot Batlag! Next time, wala nang tao!
ReplyDeletewhile it's nice to see people enjoying their nature interaction, the sight of garbage really stinks, literally. sana naman, people will take out what they bring in to preserve the beauty of the place. anyway, nice takes, bai. active ang mga flickrstaindios ah!
ReplyDelete@cedsaid - oo nga bro ang mahal. buti na lang naka lusot kami :) thanks bro!
ReplyDelete@oggie - Garbage was everywhere bai! We even trekked further upstream and still there are lots of it. Im glad that people interact with nature, in fact I advocate it. But I hope that people learn how to enjoy nature without destroying it bit by bit. thanks bai!
hi po punta po kami sa daranak sana maganda pa din ayoko madissapoint sa birthday ko hehehe
ReplyDeletehi po...san poh ung sinasabi nyong falls bteer than daranak falls and batlag?...you can pm me winzkie_d_pooh@yahoo.com...thankz poh...balak poh kc sana namin sa daranak e kaso prang marumi na nga raw so san poh kaya maganda?...thankz...
ReplyDeletewinnie
hi! does anyone know if they are open even on sundays??
ReplyDeletehi :)) just went to daranak and batlag just last friday. and its just better than what ive read with your comments.. no garbage and extra fees.. i hope you get to visit them again and see all the changes :))
ReplyDelete