So it’s summertime again and my family’s itching to go traveling. The question is: where? Easy – I’ve been meaning to check out Masungi Georeserve ESPECIALLY because it’s been bagging a series of awards in all the major tourism circuits globally (you can check out the news here)!

Quick background – what’s so special about Masungi Georeserve? Well, within the ~10km georeserve area lies a unique limestone formation (which they believe to have been in existence for close to 60 million years now!) as well as numerous rare plants and animals, many of which are endemic to the Philippines! Aside from these, Masungi Georeserve (very smartly) set up the trails in such a way that makes it very Instagram-friendly, perfect for the millennial travelers of today 😉

While this georeserve has been open since December 2015, this would be my first time to check it out so I was pretty psyched BUT I was also wondering what else we could do in the Rizal area. After all, we’d be traveling >2 hours to get to Masungi Georeserve (one way!), so to maximize our time, we wanted to check out other touristy places in the vicinity as well. Thankfully, I got some excellent recommendations. So after Masungi, we headed to Pico de Pino for a SUMPTUOUS Pinoy lunch, followed by an informative tour of Pililia Wind Farms, then finally dinner at Bulawan Restaurant

If you’re interested to follow the same itinerary, then you’re in luck – read on as I detail the whys and the hows of our Rizal day trip from Manila!

 

Table of Contents

• Masungi Georeserve
  • How to book a slot at Masungi Georeserve?
  • When’s the best time to go to Masungi Georeserve?
  • What’s the proper attire for Masungi?
  • What should you bring to Masungi?
  • What should you expect from a Masungi experience?
• Lunch at Pico de Pino
• Pililia Wind Farm
• Dinner at Bulawan Restaurant

Masungi Georeserve

How to book a slot at Masungi Georeserve?

Before we discuss HOW to book a slot, let’s discuss some basics first:

• Age limit: Guests need to be at least 13 years old (Discovery Trail) / 10 years old (Legacy Trail). Elderly members and folks with a fear of heights may join, and they can take alternative routes to the rope courses (essentially, they’ll walk instead of climb)
• Number of members in a group: Minimum of 7 members, and maximum of 14 members (maximum of 10 members for the Discovery Trail Night Hike)
  • If you have less than 7, fear not – you can still join either by paying for 7 people OR by signing up via Kilometer Zero PH, an accredited travel agency that handles shared tours for Masungi
  • If you have more than 14 (as was the case in our group), you’ll have to split up and book into different time slots (~30 mins difference)
• Trail types: They currently have different packages for you to choose from. For your convenience, I’ve laid it out in a nice and neat table. Otherwise, feel free to check out their website for ALL the details

Package	Duration	Cost	My thoughts:
Discovery Trail (Day hike)	~4 hours (end-to-end)	PHP 1,800 (weekends) / PHP 1,500 (weekdays)	Trail is lined with blocks of rocks so it isn’t a hike per se. However, there is a lot of ups and downs + a rock course, so a modicum of fitness WOULD help.
Discovery Trail (Night hike)	~4 hours (end-to-end)	PHP 1,800 (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays only)	Same path as the Day hike, but a lot more focus is given to night time flora and fauna which is pretty cool. PLUS, there’s a campfire w/ snacks at one of the rest stops
Discovery Trail + Silangan Lunch	~4 hours trek + ~1 hour lunch	PHP 2,650 (weekends) / PHP 2,350 (weekdays)	After your trek, you get to enjoy a seasonal menu inspired by the landscape at Silangan, where dishes are made from local produce. Likewise, you get to enjoy a wonderful view of Laguna Bay <- or so I’ve heard, I’ve personally never tried Silangan
Legacy Trail	~3.5 hours – 1 hour climb up – 45 mins restoration activity – 1 hour food and rest – 30 mins going down	PHP 1,000 (same price for weekends and weekdays)	Less of a hike and more of a conservation effort. Perfect for individuals interested in directly participating in reforestation

• Tour timing:
  • Day tours start as early as 5:30AM until 1:30PM (in 30 minute intervals)
  • Day-to-night tours (where you’re able to experience Masungi in daylight and nighttime) starts at around 2:30PM, with last entry at 1:30PM
  • Night tours start around 4:30PM to 5:30PM

Great, now that we’ve got the basics out of the way and you have a better idea of what to expect from Masungi, you can book either through:

• Booking via the Masungi website. Expect a confirmation with detailed instructions within 1 to 2 days via email
  • Choose the trail package your group prefers
  • Indicate the date schedule
  • Number of guests (as well as their names, contact info, birthday, and nationality)
  • Your contact information (where they’ll send proof of payment and instructions)
  • Payment
• Book via Kilometer Zero PH, an accredited travel agency that handles shared tours to Masungi. Their website’s not very sophisticated so I suggest you either call them up (+632 211-6454 | +63 917 857-8180), email them (tours@kilometerzeroph.com), or ping them on Facebook

When’s the best time to go Masungi?

I highly discourage you going during the rainy season (~late June to November), as it’s tricky to hike when the rain is pouring plus all the views are obscured! Do note that Masungi will cancel tours if the weather conditions are very bad. All in all, the uncertainty doesn’t seem worth it

Your best bet is to go during the summer time then (~December to mid-June). Personally, I think it would be better to go during the earlier summer months when it’s not yet as hot… But if you don’t have a choice and you’re going in May (like me!) then I suggest you get an early slot, so that you won’t be trekking with the sun at its noontime peak!

What’s the proper attire for Masungi?

While the Masungi trek isn’t a hike per se, they do advise that you wear comfortable hiking attire. I interpret this as:

• Leggings: that cover your entire leg – you don’t want insects to feast on your skin!
• DriFit or loose shirts
• Rubber shoes: while the trail itself is pretty nicely paved, there are parts where you may stumble; plus there are rope courses you have to traverse. Best to stick to rubber shoes or closed shoes (non-slip) to prevent any accidents or losses
• Light backpack to place your water jug, snacks and towel (the only essentials you need for the hike!)
• Cap (optional): Some people want to wear a cap to shade their head from the harsh unforgiving sun. Masungi does provide helmets for you though (required), in order to protect your noggin from bumping into the rocky overhead – so a cap isn’t needed per se (unless you want a layer of cloth between your head and the helmets that have been worn by countless other sweaty heads!)

Essentially, imagine yourself climbing up this rock and think – is my attire comfortable enough for this?

What should you bring to Masungi?

As per the official email sent to us by Masungi, and as verified by my personal experience – below are the MUST BRINGS

1. Proof of payment
2. Extra clothes and slippers: so you can change out of your sweaty clothes and rubber shoes after the trek
3. Water jug / tumblers: you can (re)fill your water at the first and last station. I brought 1L worth of water and I was running short of water by the tail end of the ~4 hour trek…
4. Snacks! Our Masungi tour guide generously gave us a lot of rest breaks (LOL we were a very slow group…. In fact the group behind us ended up overtaking us because our pace was too slow for them haha!). During these rest breaks, we ate the chocolates, Pringles, and chips that we brought along with us – SUSTENANCE!

Other items to bring (as recommended by moi)

1. Mosquito repellent: there are loads of insects
2. Sunblock: to protect your beautiful skin from the harsh rays of the sun
3. Towel to wipe your sweaty face and back after the hike
4. Light raincoat (if you’re going during the rainy season)

What should you expect from the Masungi experience?

We did the Discovery Trail (day hike) this time around, and it was essentially a ~4 hour long hike with a lot of ups and downs (plus throw in a cave and a couple of rope courses along the way). Overall, anyone can do it – so long as you don’t look down as you’re climbing the rope courses haha! But in terms of specific sites to expect, you have the following:

Silungan

After parking, a ranger will greet you and give you directions to get to the Silungan (briefing area). The walk to Silungan alone takes ~10-15 minutes already!

At Silungan, the following will occur:

1. You can rent a locker to stow away your things during the hike. I don’t remember how much the locker costs anymore, but the fee wasn’t exorbitant
2. Your guide will provide a briefing on the dos and dont’s while hiking, then present you with a certificate as thanks for your group’s contribution to their conservation efforts. In fact, the money you paid will directly pay for one tree that they’re planting. Supposedly, they’ll invite you back after ten years to see how much it’s grown
3. Take the time to go to the bathroom (there are loads of stairs to get to the bathroom. SO SAD!!!) The bathroom didn’t had water when we were there which was a bit disgusting. The water was back by the time we finished our hike though
4. Refill your water bottles before starting the hike

 

Sapot ni Rick

Enjoy this web-style viewing platform – hence the name sapot (which translates to web in English). Likewise, it has the name Rick attached to it because it was apparently discovered (or the brainchild of?) a ranger named Rick

 

Yungib ni Ruben

A nice cool rock formation where we rested for a bit and ate our snacks! It’s supposed to be a nice example of the karst landscape (they all just looked like rocks to me haha!)

 

Tatay

A natural rock formation that’s one of the highest peaks in the area. From here, you get a captivating view of your starting point and where the trail ends!

 

Nanay

Another peak that features five limestone rock peaks interconnected by bridges. You can have some really funky shots here – we tried to do a jump shot (and failed!)

 

Rope courses (e.g., Bayawak, Liwasan, Sawa)

I’m totally cheating because I didn’t actually remember the names of the rope courses as I was going through them – I was too busy calming my heart and double checking to make sure my foot was stepping onto rope and not thin air! HAHA! Anyway, it’s totally safe (I’m still alive aren’t I?) But here are some photos to alleviate your fears. At the very least, you get some pretty awesome IG photos!

 

Nature

We had an awesome guide (I think her name was Sheena/Sheila) who gamely explained to us the different trees, insects and animals we were passing through. I felt a bit bad for her as some of our family members don’t speak Filipino so she ended up explaining in Filipino then English! Kudos to her for her patience and ability to answer all our nitty gritty questions!

My personal fave? Seeing the shell of a cicada up close! Can you imagine these cicadas spend years on the ground, and emerge as nymphs after ~2 to 17 years depending on the species. As nymphs, they shed their exoskeleton and gain wings. You think it’s a happy ending right? Nooo, because after they finally gain wings, they only have one day to find a mate, lay eggs, then DIE! What a cruel cruel life…

 

Light snack

At the end of the hike, you’re rewarded with light snacks by Masungi (actually, it’s part of the fee you paid for haha!) at this really funky rocky area (really in-theme!)

How did the food stack up?

Start with the saba, which was DELICIOUS.

Followed by the tuna spread on bread + the dalandan juice – all of which were DELICIOUS.

You get the picture. If the light snacks are this great, I wonder how good the food at Silangan might be. Hmm, I’m tempted to go back just to try their restaurant next time.

Pico de Pino

After Masungi, we headed to Pico de Pino, which was roughly a ~30 minute drive. For privacy and stunning views, we rented a cottage for our group! You can do the same – a small cottage costs PHP 50, while a big cottage costs PHP 100. We were a group of 18, and were semi-comfortably seated in the big cottage (albeit we didn’t have enough space for all our dishes…)

Personally, I really loved the following dishes:

• Lumpiang Sariwa: the sauce was soo good, and the lumpia was chockfull of produce
• Crispy pork sisig
• Crispy pata

For full transparency, these were the dishes I wouldn’t order again:

• Special Bulalo: there was lots of meat which was awesome, but it was waaay too salty
• Kambing dishes – both adobo and kaldereta: So, this is their specialty but the dish serving was SO SMALL. Super not good value for money
• Halo-halo: It didn’t have anything in it. Super letdown. I’ll stick to Iceberg halo-halo then. Even Chowking halo-halo was preferable to this…

Sorry, I’m VERY particular about my food. If you’d love to hear more food commentary, you can follow me on Zomato (GoldieGoesGlobal) or you can check out the rest of my food blog posts 😉

Pililia Wind Farm

From here, we made our way to Pililia Wind Farm (roughly a ~1 hour drive) – just type it into Waze. It’s not far per se, but the roads are AWFUL from Pico de Pino. The roads are much better if you’re coming from Manila. I felt so bad for our car afterwards 🙁

Anyway, at Pililia Wind Farm, we got the chance to read up renewable energy (specifically wind energy), including how wind farms are constructed, how they worked and where the energy produced goes (hint: Metro Manila). Likewise, for every kwh produced by the wind farm, the local community gets PHP 1. I don’t know if this is a lot? But it’s still nice to hear that the community is benefiting from this!

While here, you can also pay PHP 10 to go up the viewing platform (which is really just a small hill). I highly suggest you do so because this is where you can get nice photos of the windmills and the Laguna Bay! Here’s a sneak peak of our photos – made more beautiful because we caught the sunset while there! Absolutely stunning!

Once you’re done at the Wind Farm, it’s time to make your way to the Pineapple Farm. Before we did so though, we bought some turon from the local vendor and it was JAWDROPPINGLY GOOD. I highly recommend you try it while you’re there (but I don’t know who that vendor was haha). Sadly, because of all our dilly-dallying, by the time we got to the Pineapple Farm, it was closed 😐 No pineapples for us then – bummer. Oh well, we were flooded by mangoes from our visit to SMV Mango Farm a few weeks prior anyway…

Bulawan Floating Restaurant

Before making our way back to Manila, we decided to have dinner at Bulawan Floating Restaurant first, as we were worried we’d be stuck in traffic and die of hunger before we got back to the metro. Unfortunately, I was still waay too full from Pico de Pino so I didn’t get to fully enjoy the meal. I really loved their grilled seafood platter and the laing though – would go back for those two dishes!

And that’s a wrap for a whole day adventure at Rizal! Who knew there was so much you could do there?! Well now, you and I do 😉 Thanks for reading!

 

If you’re looking for more Manila day trip ideas, check out my other related blog posts:

• Day trip from Manila: Mt. Pinatubo Tripinas review
• Day trip from Manila: SMV Mango Farm Resort review
• Day trip from Manila: Aqua Planet Review (To follow)
• Manila Chinatown Food Trip