Always Wandering

Talamitam has a cuteness level of 5 with all the pairs of neighing horses, curious cows, photogenic carabaos and charming baby goats. Oh wait, this isn’t a farm.

Mt. Talamitam is an easy dayhike like her sister Mt. Batulao. Legend has it that a giant once lorded the plains. He had one foot in Batulao, and the other at Talamitam. Or so the story goes from an enthusiastic and chatty (slash intoxicated) local official. The trail starts from the barangay hall with a ten-minute walk through houses and concrete paths until a footbridge is crossed. From there, the trail transforms to a relaxing walk through partially covered paths. A clearing is reached after about twenty minutes; it offers an unobstructed view of the peaks of Batulao. Moving forward, the bare slopes transform to neatly lined rows of seedlings. It becomes open afterwards as one passes through fields and a “golf course”. There is absence of shade and trees throughout the rest of the hike.

There are two paths going up to the summit; one with a steep assault, the other with a more gradual version. We took the steep route going up and the gradual one on the way down. The steep route was a good hundred or so meters of near-90 degree portions. The gradual one was the path taken by an ice cream peddler who comically came out of the blue with his flavored popsies.

After the customary pictorial, the trek back lasted about 45 minutes until we reached the river.

Our schedule as it is:

07:00 Depart for Bayabasan, Batangas (take any Nasugbu- or Balayan-bound bus, Php124.00 via BSC Bus Lines located at the back of McDonald’s MRT Taft)
09:00 ETA Bayabasan/Sampaloc
09:10 Register (Php25.00)
09:30 Start trek
11:30 ETA summit
12:30 Start descent
13:15 ETA river
13:30 End of trek; wash up
16:00 Depart for Tagaytay/Metro Manila (Php102.00)