Lakbay Gala

Since we're both enthusiastic about climbing mountains, we have decided to venture into a business which involves our hobby. We have created a Facebook group entitled Lakbay Gala, which aims to provide budget- friendly travel and tours to cater different leisure- may it be beaches, trekking, spelunking, rock climbing and other outdoor activities. We've been adding friends to the group and inviting them to our future events. We have posted 2 hiking events- Mt. Maranat and MakTrav which we hope both would be a success. You may visit our group page on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1527693504125651/  or contact the blogger for events and inquiries.

As adventurers with a passion and appetite for challenges, we constantly try to push our skills and abilities to the limit to see how far it would take us. We were always planning of climbing the tallest mountains in the Philippines and eventually make it to Everest. But for now, we were planning of finishing all mountains in Rizal before moving on to mountains in nearby provinces.  And so we brewed up a plan for our first twin dayhike- Mt. Sembrano and Mt. Tagapo.  We left after lunch and headed to Tanay Market to buy supplies. We arrived at the jump off at 4pm- perfect for a night hike which is also a part of our challenge. We started the assault with heavy bags, and just as before we had to stop every once in a while to catch our breaths. After all the starts and stops we were able to summit and camp for the night.  Early in the morning after a few pandesal we headed out to Mt. Tagapo. We had to travel an hour from Tanay to Binangonan to reach Talim Island, th...

We have been doing this mountain climbing as a routine. We have been hiking weekly and not long after our return from Boracay, we made it to Mt. Sembrano with a former schoolmate and her son. She hasn't been climbing for a long time and so we suggested hiking instead of the regular drinking-and-chatting-hanging-out-activity. It was a coincidence that the Mountaineering Community has organized a 2 day National Mountain Cleanup Day so it was that our hike was in line with the activity. We joined and had our ID but we can't make it on time because of my work. The meetup was at Lucky Gold Plaza in Lifehomes. We had to travel 2 hours from Pasig to Tanay, and bought supplies when we got there. Our plan was to summit before the night falls, but we were frustrated. Mt. Sembrano was a CHALLENGE. From the drop off is already a steep assault. After the concrete pavement starts the rocky trail which will be encountered until a few meters to the summit. We started the hike at arou...

And so after a week, we were already planning for our next climb. I took 2 days off from work to go to Boracay; but since we couldn't resist the call of the mountains we looked for a mountain near Aklan where we could go for an overnight or at least a day hike. We can't afford to go to Mt. Madjaas just yet so we decided to explore this mountain near the place where we're staying. From what we've heard it's a part of the Panay Peninsula Mountain Range and relatively unexplored since it's a private land. But we were able to acquire a permit to hike and had a guide to help us along the way. The trail I would say is not difficult. Mostly grasslands to the assault; no steep path nor challenging rocky track. The trail isn't established that we got lost twice. From time to time our guide had to cut trees blocking our path. The route is a thick forest, where different flora and fauna thrive. What set the mountain apart from the others is the presence of ...

Since we were still waiting for another climbing invitation, we decided to do a side hustle -paracords and loombands. Paracords are the hype nowadays, especially in the climbing community. And because we are both artistic (ehem), we tried making our own bracelets out of shoe strings. Since we are still on the lookout for Paracords, we decided to try loom bands first. We bought the loombands from Pasig Market for 200php. The seller is actually giving the item for 350php, but we got it discounted; thanks to my partner's haggling skill. We tried to make bracelets with assorted design, some of which are similar with Paracords. And so if you're interested having one (Paracords or loom bands), you may contact the blogger and we'll have it done and delivered to you. These are just a few of the designs, I'll be posting more once I've had them finished.

Our first attempt to mountaineering together is trekking Mt. Romelo in Siniloan, Laguna. Since the place is just near the city, we booked our weekend for a mountain adventure. My partner has been climbing mountains and this would be our very first time doing this together. We're supposed to be spending the long holiday at Borawan and Dampalitan island in Quezon, unfortunately though we were not able to pursue due to unforeseeable reasons I do not want to discuss. So we planned (for a night) to head out to Laguna and traverse the mountain of Romelo. We were inviting friends to tag along, but they declined the invitation (though free). After a series of convincing and talking, we ended up trio. We prepped at around 6AM and left an hour after. The jeep took us an hour and a half to Tanay Market. From there we bought our supplies. We planned to stay overnight so we bought food just enough for 1 day and 1 night. Oh, and not to mention 1 gallon of water too, aside from 3 bottled wat...