BULACAN | Exciting Activities at San Miguel!

Bulacan's exciting activities.

Here's a rough sketch of my Bulacan adventure!

1. Mt. Manalmon Hiking 
JUMP-OFF: Sitio Madlum Brgy. Sibul San Miguel Bulacan, Philippines TYPE: Minor climb
TERRAIN: Terrain minimally steep, fall hazard possible
REQUIREMENTS: Hiking shoes/sandals, some sure footedness.
Check-out more of Mt. Manalmon here.





2. Madlum River Swimming
One side trip after Mt. Manalmon Climbing is plunging you selves into waters of Madlum river to freshen up. More of Madlum River can be seen here.







3. Monkey Bridge Cross
One of the exciting side trip of Mt. Manalmon and Mt. Gola climb is Monkey bridge crossing. It is approximately 20-30 meter long of solid wire securely tied around two boulders. Check this activity here.






4. Bayukbok Caves Spelunking
Bayukbok Caves are one of the historical places in Bulacan which can be found at the territory of Biak na Bato National Park. Based on Philippine history, these were hidding spot of guerrillas from Japanese colony. Later you'll realized how they put their selves in the narrowest and the darkest holes of the caves just to hide and save their lives. More this found here.




5. Madlum Cave Traverse
Anyone who's planning to climb Mt. Manalmon or Mt. Gola will definitely pass through this part of the Madlum Cave. More of this here. 6. Zipline Another Exciting activity here is approximately 20 meters made by the locals.





6. Zipline
Last but not the least, the man-made zipline!

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BULACAN │ Monkey Bridge Over Madlum River

Crossing the monkey bridge.

One of the exciting side trip of Mt. Manalmon and Mt. Gola climb is Monkey bridge crossing. It is approximately 20-30 meter long of solid wire securely tied around two boulders. It is free of charge for everyone, just guts required.

You have to go to the side of the river where cable is located, slightly elevated and slippery area to start. Upon reaching the area and conditioning thy self, I hold on the wires up, stepped on and started my small steps. At first, the upper and lower wires were firm and closer to each other. My elbows and shoulder were bent 90 degrees. However, as I get closer to the center, I felt that my arms were stretched all up and feeling of wire under getting slacked. My arms were getting tired that made me move slower to have a little rest. As I continue to move towards 1/4 end of the line, the feeling of firmness were got back.

Monkey bridge view from the other side of the river.

This activity is easier for tall people like 5ft. above who can hold on to the wires  comfortably especially when you reached the middle. As I said earlier, wires there are slack and you might have in trouble if you disregard this. Well you can just jump into the waters if you can't continue anymore. hehe.

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BULACAN │ Madlum River

Monkey bridge over Madlum river.

Madlum river is the first thing you will notice as soon as you arrive Sitio Madlum Brgy. Kamias San Miguel Bulacan. It is the starting point for cave exploring and Mt. Manalmon and Mt. Gola climbing.

Viewed from before crossing the river.

Even those who are not into those activities just went for a cold plunge, sweet escape from humid weather. Also, another exciting activity can be found were Monkey bridge crossing over the river and zipline.

Rocks over one part of the river after exciting Madlum cave.

Madlum river's view doesn't stop there. It continues and go along with us from Madlum cave exit and trails.

Amazing rock forms

Looking on it's rock forms made me realize that the whole area was totally submerged in water billions of years ago. Majority of them were sedimentary rocks where commonly seen along beach fronts and Islands.

Last part of the river to cross going to Mt. Manalmon.

I was also surprised when I saw the river from Mt. Manalmon's summit, which surrounds the mountain.

Madlum river seen from Manalmon's Peak.

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BULACAN | Swimming at Madlum River

Dive in to the refreshing Madlum River

If you have plans to climb Mt. Manalmon, you have to go to the other side by crossing this part of the River. Locals will help you cross via "Balsa" (bamboo raft in English) for free. But if you want something exciting, you can cross using the Monkey Bridge which is also free.

Children fishing the day after heavy rains.

Children were fishing for "tilapiang tabang", ("St. Peter's Fish in freshwater"). This was the view from other side of the river. It was was not clear then because of typhoon "Bebeng". Waters from the mountain, hills and forest are all directed to the the said river making that muddy color. However the residents assured us that it'll be clear as soon as the rain stops and the sediments settle.

Madlum river viewed from other side of the river.

Moreover there are tables and seat near the river if you want some place to put your things and eat for P50/table. Be sure to use only ones you are going to pay  and do not leave your things on other tables if you don't want to end up paying all of those, like us!hehe.

The all around sari-sari store.

I named this store as "all-around store" because of it's duties. Well first, you can buy anything you need here such as toiletries, food and drinks. If you want to rent a "balsa" in your swimming, you can just pay it here for P100/whole day and likewise for comfort room or shower usage, for P10/use. Oh, just in case you want some homey food to eat, you can also ask them to cook it for you. But of course the price will be doubled due to extra charges like for transpo and catering service. Plates and utensils are included. Basically, they served us well and gave us the list of all the ingredients together with the amount.

Swimming...swimming...

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