"What will be overlooked again is that our textbooks do not agree on the site of the execution of the Bonifacio brothers. Some books, following tradition, say they were executed on Mt. Buntis; others, towing the official line, say Mt. Nagpatong. I have no clear answer except that they were buried somewhere in this mountain range." (Ambeth Ocampo, 2004)So where exactly were the Bonifacio brothers executed on the 10th of May 1897? Whether it took place on Mt. Buntis or Mt. Nagpatong, no one really knows, it's an important piece of history lost in time.
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Last April 3, 2012, I together with PKP visited one of the two mountains mentioned in many history books. Mt. Buntis, as rated by PinoyMountaineer, is an easy 1/9 dayhike which can be summited in less than 2 hours.
From Plaza Lawton, we took a bus bound for Naic and told the bus conductor to drop us at Maragondon (fare was P89.00 and travel time was about an hour and 30 minutes). By 06:00 AM, we were already at Maragondond, we alighted somewhere on a highway where there were tricycles waiting for passengers. Then we traveled again by trike (P10/head) to the main jump-off at Caingin Hanging Bridge.
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| Caingin Hanging Bridge |
Our trek to Mt. Buntis officially started at 06:15 AM when we crossed Maragondon River (imbento ko lang yang pangalan, hindi ko kasi alam pangalan ng river na yun) via the Caingin Hanging Bridge. Since none of us have been to Mt. Buntis before, we just relied on the directions given to us by the friendly locals we met along the way.
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| like all other hanging birdges, we were shaking while crossing - it was fun |
In less than an hour, we walked across a flat field of rice, crossed several shallow streams and trekked a not-so-dense forest. At first, we were in doubt if we were still hiking the right trail, but upon reaching the foot of Mt. Buntis at around 07:15, ahh, nakahinga kami ng maluwag. Only then we encountered an ascending trail.
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| we had long walks across a flat rice field petiks hike lang ulit |
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| we just followed the path between the fences |
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| we also crossed streams of water meron pa ngang naliligong kalabaw diyan sa gilid, hindi lang kita |
Actually, Mt. Buntis is more like a hill than a mountain. Rising for only about 100+ meters above sea level, we reached its summit from its foot in no more than 15 minutes.
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| even the ascent wasn't so much a challenge |
Nearby mountains, cliffs and forests as well as a faded view of the Mariveles Mountain Range are the scenes we saw from the summit of Mt. Buntis. Grazing cattle are also found at the summit, so cattle poops are common in the area.
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| Mariveles Range seen from the summit of Mt. Buntis |
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| us at the summit |
We then had a side trip to Bonifacio Shrine in Nagpatong, as well as a heritage tour around Maragondon Town.
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After hiking up this fairly easy mountain, we did sidetrips to Maragondon Town and Malibiclibic Falls
ooooh! may trail shoes ka na pala. congrats! :) Grabe, I miss the mountains already. Btw, salamat sa post. I'd love to hike here someday.
ReplyDeleteNakakainggit naman!
ReplyDeleteang ganda nung hanging bridge..gusto ko din mag hiking this year..anyways matagal pa matatapos ang taon.
ReplyDeleteIs the bahay kubo on bamboo raft seen under the hanging bridge a real home to a family o bahay-bahayan lang?
ReplyDeletefor rent yun. recreational purposes lang ata.
DeleteBet ko yung petiks hike, hehe! para sa akin ata tong hike na toh... haha!
ReplyDeletewhere did your sister get your bear socks? hehehe joke. i thought the place was non-existent or perhaps was bulldozed knowing how some places in the country fell on the cold machinations of urbanization just like mt diliman which is the diliman we know today. i'd like to explore it someday :)
ReplyDeleteits really fun doing this kind of activity. :-).
ReplyDeleteIvan, question... pagdadalhin ko ba gf ko dito sa Mt. buntis, mabubuntis ba sya?
ReplyDeletelol. Just kidding. hahaha.
lol. pwede rin kung malakas ang loob nyong dalawa. haha.
DeleteIvan, question lang... Pag dadalhin ko ba yung gf ko dito sa Mt.Buntis, mabubuntis ba sya? Lol... Just kidding. hahaha
ReplyDeletewow ayos yung akyat nio ah? the hike was easy but the views are rewarding (in these photos)..do you have a list of your expenses there? thanks and keep up!
ReplyDeletemy budget for this climb is about P300 only. I'll put the breakdown of expenses in a separate post.
Deletesobrang nice naman, ang dami pa palang mountains sa 'pinas na hindi man lang natin nakikilala. mt. buntis, panalo pangalan niya! bakit kaya un ang pinangalan sa kanya?
ReplyDeletebongga xa at madadaan ang river na me floating nipa hut, hanging bridge..kompleto at wala ng hahanapin pa!
sir, may pwede ba camp site sa ibabaw? or wala pwestuhan? thanks!!!
ReplyDeletesir, maliit lang yung summit. pero meron naman space, tingin ko kaya ang 4 tents.
DeleteNow that its the start of the rainy season, this minor and historical mountain is on my bucket list =D
ReplyDeleteVery nice 'journey' shots! sana pwede nga magcamp sa summit.. ^.^
Ok naman sir ang trail dito? di na kailangan ng guide?
ReplyDeletewell ok naman, kaya naman na walang guide. pero pwede din naman kayo kumuha just to be sure sa pupuntahan nyo :)
DeleteSalamat sir! Laking tulong ng page mo at reply mo sir. Planning to climb this nov3-4. ok naman magpitch ng tent dito? Trail seems easy naman from your pictures.
Deleteyou can set up your camp at the summit. meron doon katamtamang space, kasya siguro ang 3-5 tents. enjoy your hike :)
DeleteBig help! sana walang tao sa campsite. haha. Godbless bro!
DeleteSir, update ko lang. We was here nung nov3-4. No bus going to maragondon as of the moment. So ride a bus going naic. get down at bus terminal, tric up to maragondon municipal hall to reg.
ReplyDeleteTRIC is Php30 per head. Bus at lawton going naic via cavitex is Php78
There are two campsite. At the summit, 4 tents kaya and before you go up the summit,as nag left ka youll see a campsite good for 4 tents too. God bless sa aakyat dito. Medyo nakakaligaw ng otni,kasi daming trail. Still madali siya. Night trek is possible, but with a guide. sinamahan lang kami ng isang local. di kami pinagbayad. ayun. ty!
this is helpful. thanks John Kenneth.
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