We (Aubrey and Alex) are Philippine penguins who started on a venture of travelling the world.

In our first journey, we traveled to the beautiful falls of Pagsanjan located in Laguna. Though it is popularly known as Pagsanjan Falls, it is located in the town of Cavinti, the town next to Pagsanjan. Some locals call it Cavinti falls but it has already taken the name of Pagsanjan Falls for most people all over the years.

So how exactly did we get there?
First off, you should reach the bus terminals on Gil Puyat and ride the buses that travel to Sta. Cruz, Laguna. Once you reached Sta. Cruz, you can ride jeepneys or tricycles that will take you to the town proper of Pagsanjan.

Take note that this is only one option of out of many. You can find terminals all over the country that can probably take you to Sta. Cruz.

If you don’t have an accommodation upon your arrival, you shouldn’t worry since there are a lot of hotels available inside the town proper and most of them are top notch!

We stayed at Cafe Asiatika most of our time there. You can find them on AirBnb or Facebook. It is 400 meters away from the town plaza.

There are a lot of things to do in Pagsanjan and we’ll hit it off with the Pagsanjan falls!
There are two ways to reach the falls. One is the infamous boat ride “shooting the rapids” and the other one is “the not so good for weak people like us hiking”. From Pagsanjan, you can ride a jeepney to Cavinti and ride a tricycle that will take you to Pueblo El Salvador. From there you can start the rappelling and walking journey on the foot trail. We don’t know much about it since we chose the boat ride but please make sure you’re physically fit if you’re going to try it. Don’t forget to bring water as well!

Our journey to the falls may be easy but it is quite costly. The boat ride costs 1350 pesos per person excluding the tips for the boat men. Unlike the foot trail on Pueblo El Salvador that will only cost you around 200-300 pesos per person.

Negotiate only directly at lodging stations to avoid fixers/scammers. We managed to get our boat tide on Lolo Tuge’s Landing and Lodging Boat Ride. It was definitely a fun experience since we also have very friendly boat men.

The boat ride takes 2 hours of travel time back and forth. You’ll come across a total of 14 rapids. This is exactly the point where you’ll realize that it’s compulsory to give an adequate tip for the boatmen.

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After the exciting ride, we finally reached the waterfalls. Inside the waterfalls is a cave. To be able to go near the waterfall cave, we rode a bamboo raft that is pulled through the area where the water drops. Imagine the force of falling water hitting your head! Don’t go calling your moms ehe~ (Aubrey did). We are given 30 minutes to swim around or explore the cave.

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It was definitely a fun and memorable experience!
note: keep watch of monkeys and snakes or rare species of animals around the area.

After our trip to the falls, we also tried the local delicacies of the town!

The first thing we tried is the Halo-halo of Aling Taleng since the caretaker of the lodge we stayed at recommended it the most. But I guess tastes are subjective. We didn’t like it at all and in fact, we thought that Chowking’s halo halo is far more delicious! It also has a ridiculous price of 135 pesos (Price may vary)! We looked up some reviews after we tried it and we were right, it was definitely overrated. It was too sweet, diabetic-ally too sweet and the lack of ingredients make it not worth the price. But no worries, you can try Lolo Tuge’s halo halo instead! We’ll vouch for it! It’s probably on par with Razon’s halo halo. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of it since we were so hungry by the time we got back from the boat ride.