A day in Mt. Talamitam
Never had I imagine to climb a mountain but I’m thankful that I did.
Between the two of us, Dee is more fond to mountain climbing. For 3 years, he has been trying to convince me to try it, even just for once. I’m not comfortable with the idea of hiking.
“It’s a waste of time and energy.” I always thought. Imagine, you’ll wear out yourself just to see the city’s top view. To make it worse, you’ll hike under the scorching heat of sun with limited water and food.
Despite these fears, I am at the same time curios what it’s like up there. There are few instances when I can’t help but ask Dee few hiking related questions so that I can somehow understand the pleasure of this tiresome activity. Surprisingly, few of my friends also share the same kind of curiosity. There are days spent talking about this activity. When I felt that it was already the right time for us to experience it firsthand, we asked Dee to accompany us and he is more than willing to help.
There are less than 10 mountains near the metro which is beginner friendly. I initially liked Mt. Batulao because of its cool breeze and magnificent terrain but due to its ongoing issue, I opted for its younger sister – Mt. Talamitam. This offers the same terrain like Mt. Batulao.
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About Mt. Talamitam
Nasugbu, Batangas Philippines
Sitio Bayabasan, Brgy. Aga, Nasugbu (KM. 83)
1 day / 1.5-2.2 hours
Minor climb, Difficulty 3/9, Trail class 1-3 with steep assault (100m)
The same terrain of Mt. Batulao gives rise to its ‘younger sister’, Mt. Talamitam, on another side of Nasugbu, Batangas. Although it lacks the cool breezes and grand landscapes of Batulao, it is a surprisingly wondrous mountain on its own right, with verdant cogon grass during the rainy season, and a challenging, 60-degree trail before the peak.
My Experience
Disclaimer: I’m not a professional mountain climber but I’m sharing my experience from a newbie perspective. I wanted to tell you how I did it and how you can learn from my experience.
We arrived around 8 in the morning at Sitio Bayabasan in Nasugbu, Batangas. We registered and paid Php 40.00 per head. The registration station can be easily seen since it’s right beside the main road.
If you want to eat first, a sari sari store with home cooked meals and breakfast is available here. There’s a decent public rest room as well. Peeing costs Php 3.00 and taking a bath costs Php 20.00.
Tour guide is not mandatory but we preferred to get one. Even if Dee has climbed this mountain before, 4 years have already passed and he does not remember the trail anymore . By the way, we are five in the group and four of us have never climb any mountains before. While we are waiting for the tour guide, Dee explained the mountaineer’s creed: “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints, kill nothing but time.”
When we started our trek, I felt a different kind of excitement and fear. Excited for the adventure ahead of us and fear if I can reach the summit safely.
The trail has two distinguishable parts – rain forest and grassland. It begins with muddy uphill slopes which are covered by tall forest trees. The rain last night made the trek more slippery and challenging. I was lucky to wear hike boots instead of sandals. This has given me a better grip to the ground.
As we go deeper into the forest, I cautiously walked and keenly observed the surroundings because I’m scared that a snake may appear in front of us. But, our tour guide reassured that snakes usually stay away from human trail.
At the forest’s end, we saw stretches of grassland all the way to its peak. I felt a little sense of fulfillment as I saw the breathtaking landscape of Mt. Batulao. Its scenic green and brown terrain with hints of clouds is truly captivating. This is far better than any postcards or even its photos in the web. If it’s that beautiful right here, how much more if we reached the summit? So we were all excited to continue the trek.
Based on my research, this is the most strenuous part of the trail. Why?
Because this is mostly flat grasslands, there are limited or no shade at all. Which means, we will be walking under the scorching heat of sun
On top of that, 100m trail near its summit is 60 degrees assault
Fortunately, the weather was calm and partly cloudy which made the breeze a lot similar to Tagaytay’s. You may think that our climb fell into the right time. But no, it’s equally exhausting with less sun and humidity. We stopped every now and then especially when were mesmerized by the beautiful sceneries. We wanted to cherish every single detail of our climb – everything is a photo opportunity.
As we get nearer, the 60 degrees assault literally got tougher one step at a time. At one point, I thought I could not make it. I was falling behind our group. I wanted to stop and go back to the grassland. And when I look back, it seems more difficult to go down than to climb up. The elevation is so high and I felt a hint of dizziness if I continue looking back. “No. I must not give up”. I told myself.
The thought of reaching the summit and having friends with me kept me going. Every time we laughed, joked around, did silly things, almost fell into mud, paused for picture taking and laughed again, we, for a while, forgot the exhaustion and didn’t realize that we are almost on top.
Then, that was it. One step away from the peak, I paused and thanked God for letting me experience this and for “almost” reaching the summit safely. I prepared myself on what’s in store for me.
As I reached the top, it was then that I realized the pleasures of mountain climbing. No words can completely explain how it was like up there. Beautiful is indeed an understatement to describe the 360 degrees landscape.
Mt. Talamitam, is my first love. And I know, it would not be the last.
How to get there
From Cubao
You can ride San Agustin Transit that’s bound to Nasugbu. And they’ll drop you off in KM 83.
Fare: Php 150.00
Sample Itinerary
05:00 AM – Estimated time of departure from Cubao Terminal
07:00 AM – Estimated time of arrival in Sitio Bayabasan, KM 83
07:20 AM – Registration
07:30 AM – Estimated time of ascend
10:30 AM – Estimated time to reach the summit. Lunch time
12:00 NN – Estimated time to descend
02:30 PM – Estimated time to reach the registration area
* You can go back to Manila or,
* Side trip to Tagaytay
Budget Breakdown
Bus ride (Cubao – KM 83) – Php 150.00
Registration fee – Php 40.00
Tour guide* – Php 125.00 (600/4 heads)
Bus ride (KM 83 – Cubao) – Php 150.00
Total: Php 465
How about you?
Have you also climbed Mt. Talamitam before?
How was your experience?
I’d love to hear about it.
Feel free to leave a comment below.
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