Palaya Natural Farm

 

 Palaya Natural Farm is a 68-hectare farmland located at Barangay Cayabu, Tanay Rizal, Philippines. You'll see a lot of dragonfruits here. My friend went here for an overnight and that was probably one of the most unforgettable trips I had last year. 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we arrived in Tanay at around 7pm, and 2 hrs later at this place. We had no idea that the place is far from the main road. That evening, we had heavy rain and visibility on the road is almost zero. We were behind Kuya Jeepney Driver and we knew he cannot see the road as well. He was using the white line in the road as his guide. His wiper is totally useless. My friend and I were exchanging smiles at that time, smiles with hidden worries and questions of, "are we really doing this?". To add, when we dropped off at Sampaloc, we thought it's going to be a short ride to Palaya but it turned out to be an hour of dark and bumpy roads. It was scary as hell. Imagine being in a tricycle on a place you are not familiar with and the area you are passing does not have a lot of houses. Lots of things were running through my head, all elements point to a horror or crime movie. Add to the hysteria and paranoid, was the feeling of cold. The temperature is really cold, we were drenched inside the trike and the wind was totally not considerate.

Finally arrived in Palaya safe after battling with paranoia for almost an hour. The place was already dark and the other guests were already asleep. Oh, even the receptionist was already in his bed but had to attend to us for check-in. 

Our bahay kubo room is located near a bamboo tree and you could hear the river rushing at the side. It's just enough for two though you can add a bed for the 3rd person for an additional fee. We had a double deck bed, a bedside table all made of bamboo. Even our sliding window was made of bamboo. To our relief, the staff told us that a family is also checked in near our room. My friend and I spent the night talking until 11pm. 

We woke up early but it's still raining so there was no milkyway and sunrise view on the mountain top is not an option as well. We just spent the morning taking pictures and explored the area.

 

                                                              The view from one of the rooms.

This is not our room though. This is the house where the staff stays. We just asked if we can stay and take pictures.

If there was no rain and the weather is fine, I could have taken a dip at the river.

The Dragonfruit plants.

                                                             

      

Put down the map and get wonderfully lost.

Relaxing while waiting for breakfast time.

                                                    

Our Bangsilog Breakfast

Palaya offers a buffet breakfast. We were surprised to see a long line of people even if there were just a handful of checked-in customers.

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And it turned out it's not only breakfast but lunch as well. This pic was taken when we were about to check out

As the weather is not cooperating, our original plan to head to the Windmill Farm and Sunflower Farm were cancelled. We took pictures of the flowers and butterflies instead, and they were just lovely.

Palaya has a market stall where you can buy fresh products from their farm.

They even sell plants too. Plantitos and plantitas here's for you:

Thanks to my friend, Judy who joined me with this unforgettable getaway. Here's one selfie before checking out:

The houses at the back are also accomodation. You'll cross the river using a raft. I guess when the water is low and weather is fine, you can just walk.

Expenses: 

Van (Starmall to Tanay Public Market)  - P 70 Pesos each

Jeep (Tanay Public Market to Sampaloc - P 28 pesos each

Trike from Sampaloc to Palaya - P 400 for two - P 200 pesos each

Overnight room in Palaya - P 1500 pesos (offpeak rate) - P750 each

Trike from Palaya to Highway - P200 Pesos - 100 pesos each

Trike to Palo Alto Terminal - P 50 pesos each

Jeep (Palo Alto to Cogeo ) - P 40 pesos each

UV Express Cogeo to Cubao - P35 pesos each

Total Expenses per person P 1, 273 

(food not included as this will depend on your appetite )

For more info : Please visit their page at https://www.facebook.com/PalayaNaturalFarm/

Tanay Day Trip

Tanay is a 1st class province of Rizal known for its mountains, cool weather and a lot of outdoor activities to offer. Here you can take a dip in waterfalls, climb a mountain, go camping, spelunking and enjoy all of it in just a few hours ride. You don't even need to book a flight.

Getting there:

Getting to Tanay is easier than I thought. We took the UV express to Tanay from Shaw Starmall and paide 70 pesos. Because we want to make it early, we left Shaw at 6am and arrived in Tanay Public Market after 2 hours. Took our breakfast in the nearest fastfood and hired a tricycle.

At the fastfood chain, we were told by one of the crew to take the jeep going to Sampaloc and drop off at a point near the falls and there we can take the trike to the falls at a cheaper rate. But because the driver was persistent and has been following us since we alighted the van, we took the bait. The initial price was set to 700 and that he' ll take us to Daranak Falls, Batlag Falls, Calinawan Cave and Pililla Wind farm. It was a good find since we have no idea of the place and based on what I've read the price is around 1000-1200 pesos.

To tell you the truth, we have no idea on what to do prior to going there. It was an impulsive decision and we just had the list of the places we want to visit and that the gameplan is to hire a trike- which we eventually did.

    Daranak Falls

It was around past 9am when we arrived here. Entrance is 50 pesos and the walk to the falls is a breeze. I did not expect it to be like that. We passed by a hanging bridge with dogs that are annoying cause they kept on playing and running at the bridge. And they almost block our way, it feels like they don't want us to pass. lol

When we arrived at the falls, it was simply breathtaking. It was like the way I see it in pictures, or it was even way better. Surreal is the apt word for it. Simple and yet so amazing. 

Batlag Falls

A walk uphill would take you to another falls in Tanay, the Batlag Falls. This one has a different entrance fee of 100 pesos. The place is poorly managed given the big entrance fee (big because I have been to other falls in different regions and the entrance do not cost like this). Some are just 20pesos and you have a decent wash room or changing room. But in here, you find yourself in what seemed like an abandoned area. The falls offers you a different view, though. It is shallower and that you can go under the drop. I think we stayed here longer than Daranak simply because we enjoyed the water and we can get near to the falls itself. Daranak is deeper and you need to swim to get to the falls itself.

Calinawan Cave

A short ride from Daranak is the Calinawan cave. It was my first stab at Spelunking as well as my friends. A good activity when you are mending a broken heart as you will bump your head many times.  I probably am the most clumsy being the shortest in the group yet this cave gave me a lot of bumps. Good thing they have protective gears, they require visitors to wear a helmet. Entrance fee is 20pesos and a guide fee of 200pesos. We left our things in the tricycle as the spelunking would require us to crawl, geez I was not even aware it could get dirty.

Tip: Visit the cave before going to the falls as you will get dirty after. A plunge in the falls ain't bad than having to clean up again after all the mud crawl (ooops!!spoiler alert)

Waiting for him to complete my heart..Chos!

Crawl ala Tyra Banks.. this is not the part where we crawled. The real crawl was like literally kissing the mud if you are not that cautious.

I now see the light.

                                                                 

Getting out and about.

Finally done with Calinawan Cave and excuse the muds on our legs.

Last stop, Pililla Windmill Farm. This is the farthest and the last stop in our itinerary. As my blouse was already with mud, I changed to spaghetti strap blouse and Kuya Driver told me "Malamig po dun Maam sa Windmill."  This he said while he was putting on his sweatshirt. And I had no idea it was going to be freaking cold.