PHILIPPINES ON A BICYCLE: Ride to Daranak Falls

It was extremely hot last Sunday, but we pushed forward anyway, knowing that atthe end of thetrip, we'll be rewarded with the cool waters of Daranak Falls.
I had all my gear ready and headed out at 4 am. Had an early morning breakfast at a McDonald's nearby, and then went off towards Marikina Bridge to wait for Nowie and Chris to arrive.

Chris brought along 3 of his officemates on this ride. There was one other rider who originally planned to go on an Antipolo Church ride. He passed by Nowie and Chris along Manila while on the way to Marikina, and asked where they were headed to, and decided he wanted to tag along with us instead!

After conquering Cabrera Road.

There were quite a few uphill climbs to conquer on this route. First was Cabrera Road. I've never been along this road before and boy, it was a real challenge.

Going downhill along Teresa was a thrill. We had a porridge (goto) break at some eatery after the downhill ride.

Second challenge was Sampaloc Road. We've been here before, during our Reverse Sierra Madre trip.

It was around 10 am, I think, when we arrived at Daranak Falls. There was already a huge throng of people there so we snaked our way through the crowd, finding the entrance. Needed to shell out P50 to enter, but you can bring in your bike and park anywhere.

The falls were definitely worth all the effort. Lots of people were wading on the shallow portion of the reservoir, so we made our way towards the deep end where there were less people and the waters were a lot more refreshingly cool & clear.
At around 1 pm, we started to head back to Manila. Had lunch at another eatery. We went back to Teresa, this time, to climb it. The afternoon sun was unforgiving, making the climb all the more difficult.

I got home at around 5:30 pm exhausted but content. Another Sunday well spent!