#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Philippine Forum >  >  Mt Sawi + Dingalan, Aurora day trip

## katie23

Hi all, last weekend a friend and I joined a tour/hike group and we hiked to Mt Sawi in the town of Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija (took 4H from Manila/ EDSA Shaw Station at night). Then after the hike, we proceeded to the town of Dingalan in Aurora province for a short beach outing. Pics to follow in the next post. Cheers!

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## katie23

For those who like maps, here's the location of the jump off point for Mt. Sawi, which is Barangay (village) Malinao, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija (4H north of Manila). From there, it took less than 1 hour to get to Dingalan port.





Many thanks to anyone who will repost the pics!

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## David48atTD

> For those who like maps, here's the location of the jump off point for Mt. Sawi, which is Barangay (village) Malinao, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija (4H north of Manila). From there, it took less than 1 hour to get to Dingalan port.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Many thanks to anyone who will repost the pics!


Katie is showing the way ...

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## katie23

Some pics of the hike up.  Mt Sawi is classified as a minor hike, 3/9 difficulty and a relatively low mountain at 594m above sea level.

Details from Pinoy Mountaineer site
Mt. Sawi (594m) in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija

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## David48atTD

> Some pics of the hike up.  Mt Sawi is classified as a minor hike, 3/9 difficulty and a relatively low mountain at 594m above sea level.
> 
> Details from Pinoy Mountaineer site
> Mt. Sawi (594m) in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija


_Some pics of the hike up_ - looks like a shaky start  :Smile:

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## katie23

Thanks David, happy Sunday to you and yours!

More pics

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## katie23

> _Some pics of the hike up_ - looks like a shaky start


LOL. Yes, it was a blurred pic, sorry for that. It was what I felt too - a shaky start. I hadn't hiked in 2 months and was a bit out of shape. I jogged the prior week but still had difficulty during the first 20 min of the trail. After that, I found my pace and it was a breeze.  :Very Happy:

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## katie23

Some views

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## katie23

Our group was composed of 24 ppl and we occupied 2 minivans. During the hike, I was in the lead group, composed of 4 hikers + guide, and was the only girl in the first group. So yay! I gave myself a pat on the back upon reaching the summit with the lead pack.  :Smile: 




^one for the pointing thread.  :Very Happy:

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## Luigi

> Thanks David, happy Sunday to you and yours!
> 
> More pics





> Some views





> Our group was composed of 24 ppl and we occupied 2 minivans. During the hike, I was in the lead group, composed of 4 hikers + guide, and was the only girl in the first group. So yay! I gave myself a pat on the back upon reaching the summit with the lead pack. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ^one for the pointing thread.


Very nice K-Pop.

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## katie23

The province of Nueva Ecija is part of Region 3, Central Luzon, which is also called the "rice granary of the Philippines" since there are wide plains and lots of rice fields.  At Mt Sawi summit, you get views of the fields.

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## katie23

Mt Sawi is named as such because it originally was named Mt Sawing Balete after the dead balete (Ficus) tree at the summit which was struck by lightning. "Sawi" means failed/failure in Tagalog. Legend says that there was also someone who failed in love and took his/her life using the branches of the Ficus tree. The shorter name, Sawi, stuck. Here's the tree.





BTW, thanks Luigi for the repost!

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## Luigi

> The province of Nueva Ecija is part of Region 3, Central Luzon, which is also called the "rice granary of the Philippines" since there are wide plains and lots of rice fields.  At Mt Sawi summit, you get views of the fields.





> Mt Sawi is named as such because it originally was named Mt Sawing Balete after the dead balete (Ficus) tree at the summit which was struck by lightning. "Sawi" means failed/failure in Tagalog. Legend says that there was also someone who failed in love and took his/her life using the branches of the Ficus tree. The shorter name, Sawi, stuck. Here's the tree.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BTW, thanks Luigi for the repost!




At your service miss.


Looks like a great hike.

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## katie23

@Luigi - yes, it was a great hike, good for beginners. Lots of newbies in the group and they took loads of rest stops & photos for social media. (heh) My ascent was 1.5H, descent was 1H.

After the hike, it was back to the jump off point at the barangay/ village hall for a quick rest/ freshen up then rode van again to travel to Dingalan.

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## katie23

We reached the "I love Dingalan" marker in less than 1 hour.

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## David48atTD

> @Luigi - yes, it was a great hike, good for beginners. Lots of newbies in the group and they took loads of rest stops & photos for social media. (heh) My ascent was 1.5H, descent was 1H.
> 
> After the hike, it was back to the jump off point at the barangay/ village hall for a quick rest/ freshen up then rode van again to travel to Dingalan.


After the hike, it was back to the jump off point at the barangay/  village hall for a quick rest/ freshen up then rode van again to travel  to Dingalan.

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## David48atTD

> We reached the "I love Dingalan" marker in less than 1 hour.


We reached the "I love Dingalan" marker in less than 1 hour.

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## katie23

After that, the port was ~10 min away

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## David48atTD

> After that, the port was ~10 min away


After that, the port was ~10 min away

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## katie23

Tourism fees. It's good they have fixed rates and you don't have to haggle re: boats or tour guides. The local govt has required one tour guide per boat. No foreigner pricing. 




^Sites to visit

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## David48atTD

> Tourism fees. It's good they have fixed rates and you don't have to haggle re: boats or tour guides. The local govt has required one tour guide per boat. No foreigner pricing. 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ^Sites to visit


Tourism fees.

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## katie23

After registering and paying the fees, it was off to the boats for a ~10 min ride to the cove.

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## David48atTD

> After registering and paying the fees, it was off to the boats for a ~10 min ride to the cove.


10 min ride to the cove

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## katie23

Dingalan is being touted as "Batanes of the East". Batanes is a group of islands up north which have lots of hills and sea views.

You'll have to hike a hill, ~30 min, then you are rewarded with these views.

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## David48atTD

> Dingalan is being touted as "Batanes of the East". Batanes is a group of islands up north which have lots of hills and sea views.
> 
> You'll have to hike a hill, ~30 min, then you are rewarded with these views.


... you are rewarded with these views

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## katie23

@David 48 - thanks for the reposts. My net is so slow and a pic takes ages to load, so I'm multitasking while posting pics.

To continue, more views




^lighthouse on another hill. Our group decided not to trek to the lighthouse anymore since it was on open trail, was also past noon and we were hot, sweaty and hungry.

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## Airportwo

^

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## katie23

The beach in Dingalan is not spectacular; I've seen better sand and beaches. However, most people go there not so much for the beach but for the views on the hill. As I've mentioned before, it's being touted as "Batanes of the East" and accessible by land travel from Manila (unlike Batanes where one would have to book flights). A day trip or short stay/weekend is possible from Manila and surrounds.

The beach


If on a day trip, you'd have to rent a hut such as this.  For overnight stays, you'd have to bring a tent and camp out.

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## David48atTD

> The beach in Dingalan is not spectacular; I've seen better sand and beaches. However, most people go there not so much for the beach but for the views on the hill. As I've mentioned before, it's being touted as "Batanes of the East" and accessible by land travel from Manila (unlike Batanes where one would have to book flights). A day trip or short stay/weekend is possible from Manila and surrounds.
> 
> The beach
> 
> 
> If on a day trip, you'd have to rent a hut such as this.  For overnight stays, you'd have to bring a tent and camp out.


The beach in Dingalan is not spectacular

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## katie23

Thanks airportwo for the repost!  :Smile:  

Btw, that area up the hill is called Mountain View. The trail up is covered/ woody trail. 


Sorry for this photobomber.  :Wink:

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## David48atTD

> Thanks airportwo for the repost!  
> 
> Btw, that area up the hill is called Mountain View. The trail up is covered/ woody trail. 
> 
> 
> Sorry for this photobomber.


Btw, that area up the hill is called Mountain View

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## katie23

Since Dingalan is a relatively new beach/tourism destination, it still lacks facilities. For your bodily functions, there are crude toilets (pail + bucket). For showers, you'd have to shower out in the open and pump your own water from this artesian well. So it's only for backpacker types and not Dillinger or Landreth tastes.  :Very Happy:  I didn't see a single white foreigner in the place, only locals were there. 


As for our food, included in the tour package was lunch (boodle fight style), consisting of small crabs, mussels (tahong), grilled milkfish (bangus), adobo squid, grilled liempo (pork belly), eggplant, watermelon & unlimited rice.

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## David48atTD

> Since Dingalan is a relatively new beach/tourism destination, it still lacks facilities. For your bodily functions, there are crude toilets (pail + bucket). For showers, you'd have to shower out in the open and pump your own water from this artesian well. So it's only for backpacker types and not Dillinger or Landreth tastes.  I didn't see a single white foreigner in the place, only locals were there. 
> 
> 
> As for our food, included in the tour package was lunch (boodle fight style), consisting of small crabs, mussels (tahong), grilled milkfish (bangus), adobo squid, grilled liempo (pork belly), eggplant, watermelon & unlimited rice.


Outside Nudie Showers  :Smile:

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## katie23

@david48 - no outdoor nudie showers, Que horror!  :Very Happy:  You'd have to shower with clothes on. As for changing clothes, you can use the crude toilets or just cover yourself with a towel/ sarong.

Dingalan was/is a small fishing & agricultural town and they've only  recently opened up the Cove to tourism. Thus, there are no good toilets or showers yet. For drinking water, you'd have to bring your own, or if in a tour group, it could be provided for you (depends on arrangement). There are some small sari-sari stores (mom & pop stores) where you can buy snacks, soda or bottled water. 

Another place that I'd like to explore soon is Jomalig Island, off Quezon province (side of Pacific Ocean). It has golden sand and was recently featured in KMJS - Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho, a local TV show. Because of KMJS and social media, people are now flocking to it. I've a colleague who went there last Easter holidays - she said the small port was full packed and there weren't enough boats to handle the volume of people.

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## katie23

After a short rest post-lunch, our group decided not to swim/hang out on the beach. Instead, we went back to the port and travelled by minivan to Tanawan Falls, which is ~20 minutes away from the port.

Steps leading down to Tanawan Falls


Life vests for rent

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## NamPikToot

> After a short rest post-lunch, our group decided not to swim/hang out on the beach. Instead, we went back to the port and travelled by minivan to Tanawan Falls, which is ~20 minutes away from the port.
> 
> Steps leading down to Tanawan Falls
> 
> 
> Life vests for rent


.....  sorry don't know what happened there..

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## katie23

@toot - thanks for the repost!  :Smile: 

Tanawan Falls & vicinity - it was nice and cool. We stayed there for ~1.5 hours.

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## katie23

After the falls, it was time to wash up and leave for Manila. It took us ~5.5H on the way back.

I'll end this thread with a pic of this dog that I saw while waiting at Dingalan port. Cheers!  :Very Happy:

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## David48atTD

> After a short rest post-lunch, our group decided not to swim/hang out on the beach. Instead, we went back to the port and travelled by minivan to Tanawan Falls, which is ~20 minutes away from the port.
> 
> Steps leading down to Tanawan Falls
> 
> 
> Life vests for rent


travelled by minivan to Tanawan Falls

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## David48atTD

> @toot - thanks for the repost! 
> 
> Tanawan Falls & vicinity - it was nice and cool. We stayed there for ~1.5 hours.


Tanawan Falls & vicinity

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## David48atTD

> After the falls, it was time to wash up and leave for Manila. It took us ~5.5H on the way back.
> 
> I'll end this thread with a pic of this dog that I saw while waiting at Dingalan port. Cheers!


I'll end this thread with a pic of this dog that I saw while waiting at Dingalan port. Cheers!  :Very Happy:

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## katie23

^thanks David48!  :Smile:

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## fishlocker

Nice stuff K-Pop, almost makes me want to jump ship now. Sadly i'm still racing the rats. A plus to you and keep trucken on.

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## forreachingme

Always nice to see those trip posts, thanks.
I could make a few where i went this last years, but a bt lazy with the whole process of loading the pictures, sorry.

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## katie23

^&^^ chhers fishlocker & forreachingme! 

@forreachingme - it would be interesting to see where you've visited. But yes, posting a pic thread is a bit of work. Yesterday, I hiked an easy mountain and visited 3 waterfalls in 1 day. Maybe I'll get to post those pics one day, or update my hiking thread - still tired & lazy to do so now.

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