Daraitan Conquest

Enero beinte otso dos mil sais. Pasado alas-sais na ng dumating kami sa aming tagpuan, larawan ng gunita at pangarap, duon lahat nag simula, mangarap at tumula. Lumilipas ang panahon kasabay ng pag andar ng oras ay ang pagsikat ng araw na unti unti naring nakakasunog ng balat at nagsasabog ng kaliwanagan. Sa wakas dumating na si Marimar na di man lang gumamit ng sobra pasa ( Over Pass ) na nagpapakita lang na di siya sumusunod sa batas pantrapiko na kung babasahin mo ay matatakot ka sapagkat ito ay nakamamatay ( MALING TAWIRAN NAKAMAMATAY ) o di kayat sadya lang na malaki pa ang kanyang muta sa kanyang mga mata dahilan para matakpan ito't di nya mabasa. Lulan ng isang pampasaherong bus na ordinaryo kami ay nakarating sa aming unang destinasyon at sumakay ng sasakyan na pinamagatang tanay - crossing .

Kaybilis dumaloy ng oras, Maya maya lang ay dumating na kami sa Tanay Rizal, ngunit sa kadahilanang sadyang kailangang maghintay para sa ibang manlalakbay kami ay naghintay pa ng mga ilang oras hanngang sa mapuno ang aming sasakyan papunta sa lugar na pangako. (pinangako ko sa sarili ko na pupuntahan ko ang lugar na iyon) Maya maya pa ay umaalagwa na ang sasakyan lulan ang higit sa trentang manlalakbay, habang umaandar ang sasakyan ay dahan dahan ding napapawi ang inis ni kasamang Marie na pinasama ng pambubuyo ni kasamang Nik. Maya mya pa ay dumating na kami at dito kailang na naming gamitin ang aming mga paa sa paglalakbay ngunit bago ang lahat kailangan tawirin muna namin ang ilog na kay bilis ng agos.

Pagkatapos naming itaya ang aming buhay sa pagtawid ng rumaragasang ilog ay naglakad kami papunta sa Punong Barangay para mag parehistro at ipaalam sa kanila na bukod sa ibang mga taong nasa kanilang lupain ay magdagdag pa siya ng anim na makukulit na nilalang.

Seriously Daraitan is a cool place. Its low on budget, which means you dont have to bring that much money (TRANSPORTATION costs - Crossing to Tanay 50 pesos, Tanay to Daraitan 50 pesos and i think the bangka ride is 5 or 10 pesos each. Plus the registration fee at Daraitan's Baranggay hall, will only cost you 20 bucks.) small price to pay for a very wonderful experience. Plus its very accessible and the hike is not that hard, well for most of us. Specially if you have someone like Roger to carry your things and Marie seems not bothered of the muddy terrain, it seems like it comes natural for her to do these kinda things(maybe being small helps you from this kind of things or shes from the mountain Joke hehehe ). One of the good thing about this trip aside from the fact that I get to spend it with my GF Mitch is that we managed to meet some mountaineers that helped and assist us thru the hike. ( btw sorry for your cell sir jojo) plus the fact that in my tribe we are all firstimer in DARAITAN they are a big help to us by leading the way to the camping site.

Well it took as more time to get there than it should but lets blame it on something, the muddy trail did'nt help either but its quite fun walking in the water, its quite refreshing to know that there is water everywhere and there is a slighter chance of us getting dehydrated. But it has made the rock very slippy and we have Marimar to prove that who suffer very dearly.

What really amuses me is the fact that eventhough the river is raging wildly it is still very tempting. Seems like it is inviting you to swim or to take a dip, sad to say we arrived at the campsite late and its not worth taking the risk of dipping aside from the fact that the current of the river is not manageable, we settle to wait for tomorow and just prepare dinner. Well its a good thing that there is a small creek flowing near are campsite, we used it to wash things specially the kitchen utensils. At nightime we managed to set a bonfire thanks to the help of the denatured alcohol and the efforts of Roger and Nik and to Mitch for maintaining the fire from burning. MARSHMALLOW _ _ _

We woke up around 6 a.m. and theres one thing in our mind and that is breakfast. After me and Roger fetch some water I go straight to the river to take a dip and while the girls are preparing the breakfast the two guys managed to take a dip, we come to a conclusion that its better to tie a rope to a branch of a nearby tree and hold to it and let the current push you (just like going with the flow). Well its been a fun climb and I'm looking forward on doing it again preferably with the same company but what Ramiram Wa and Mitch used to say " the more the Manier"

Here are some pictures of DARAITAN, hope it will encourage people to go and try the fruits of DARAITAN, Tanay, Rizal. Thanks to tungkod for assisting me and Roger.