We spent quite some time at the flat rocks enjoying the view before finally turning and heading back. We reached the road once again, and from there it was about 4 kilometers uphill to reach the next trail, to the Mudsprings. It was a very tiring climb that pointed out to us just how out of shape we were! Next time, we will take advantage of the habal-habal rides offered. They charge 70 pesos per head to bring you to the trails of your choice so you can save your energy for the trails instead of walking up the long road. But even though we were exhausted by the time we finally reached the Mudsprings trail, it was so worth it!
The trail to the Mudsprings was a bit longer than the river trail, around 700 meters. It was a rocky trail that led to a totally beautiful and unique destination! Volcanic heat had created a mud pot here, a type of hot spring that causes clay to mix with water and form mud that is approximately 80 degrees Celsius. Don’t worry, the mudspring is safely behind a fence so you don’t have to worry about getting too near and burning yourself.
The mudspring looked like something out of the movie Silent Hill with the steam pouring out everywhere, it was truly amazing to behold! We stood in awe for a while, letting the warm steam mist over us before we traversed a little off trail to sit by the water and have our picnic lunch. Amazingly, even though this water was so near to the hot spring, the river water over here was cold to the touch and there were even crabs, turtles, and frogs living in it!
After enjoying our packed lunch, it was time to head back down the mountain. We’d walked about 6 kilometers uphill already, and were exhausted, so we decided to take a habal-habal back down and our sore feet made us more than happy to pay the 140 pesos for us to be brought down to our own motorcycle. From there, we drove around Los Banos for a while in search of a room for the night. There are a ton of resorts in the area, so it was easy to find something in our budget and we rented a 12-hour room with aircon for just 700 pesos.Â
After deciding where to stay for the night, we figured we had earned ourselves a decent coffee break after all that walking and stopped at Tabelle Diner Cafe for some frappes and nachos, which were quite delicious, plus they had some spectacular cheesecake that we just couldn’t pass up.
After this delicious side trip, we went back to the hotel and slept blissfully through the night. Having spent just a total of 1005 pesos for the entire trip, we were very happy with ourselves for managing to stay within our budget and we were super pleased by the wonderful hiking opportunity we had to explore some of the Philippine’s natural beauty. It was the perfect Valentine’s Day getaway for us, and we can’t wait for our next opportunity to travel out of the city!
David and Abby are the Writers In Tandem! Follow us on our adventures at:
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Blog: https://www.writersintandem.blog.com
