shooting the rapids...pagsanjan falls

I lived a third of my lifetime in and around Laguna but I have never been to the world renowned Pagsanjan Falls. I was short of falling off my seat when sis extended the invitation to come. The objective was to guide two of her Korean English students, Brad and Angela (Park Inkyu and Choi Hyun Mi), to the area for the weekend and to see them off for their exit from the country (via Clark).

I literally ran from the house to the airport. Earlier, our Entrepreneur class had an excursion in Bohol. We almost didn't make it to the Pier in time for our ferry trip back to Cebu. A hearse marched before us in Panglao and the wait almost took forever (or it seemed).

The flight going to Manila was uneventful. I was met at the airport by sis and niece Lyla. It was a long way to Pasig but I opted to stay there if only to reunite with cousins and nieces whom I have seen last in 2000 when lolo passed away. The driver attempted to quiz us of our familiarity with the area. I kept mum the whole time as Pasig has never been a part of my homes away from home back in college. God is good! We arrived safely but clearly taken advantaged of.

On my first morning there, we left with Fatima who dropped us at the mall on her way to the office. We took the MRT (my first ride-it was still under construction when I left Luzon for good) in going to sis' Hotel in Ermita. They (sis and her two Korean ESL Students Angela and Brad) were already set to go. We took a taxi to Buendia for the Southbound buses. The airconditioned trip to Los Baños cost Php 80.00.

Except for the Robinson's Mall in front of the Catholic Church, everything looked pretty much the same in Los Baños.

We went directly to ACCI Dorm (inside the UPLB Campus) and checked in for a night's stay before taking a jeep going to South Supermarket where Ate Jenn (the same who adopted me during my stint at CMI in San Pablo) agreed to meet us.

Going to Pagsanjan wasnt difficult. The resorts that offer "shooting the rapids" excursions were only a short walk away from the hi-way. At the town center, PUJs can be hailed right in front of the Jollibee store where we had a rather heavy lunch.

The rates presented to us were the same as published in the town's tourism website.

With our (ate jenn's and mine) combined weight, our bangkeros were quite challenged in navigating the bangka, especially upstream.

There are two stops upstream for meals where vendors would ply their wares and convince the tourist to part with their money playing on

There was nothing special about the falls itself. The amazing part though is that one needs to ride a small boat upstream to get to it. The boulders fazed me so much; it renewed my amazement to the creator who so designed it.

Almost back at the resort and about to disembark, I sat back right in when I felt a cramp as big as my fist on my left leg. It must have been the cold (we didn't bring a change of clothing) and our sitting position that didn't allow much leg movement that caused it.