Mt. Tibig is one of the gems in Lobo, Batangas. Truly, the province of Batangas has a lot of gorgeous mountains to offer and it's just few hours away from Manila. Tibig is one of the mountains, in Batangas, that are not the usual destination for hiking. Since we are celebrating our anniversary, we chose this mountain so that there's no one else, just us.
We met at Jam Liner Kamuning and rode in a bus bound for Batangas Grand Terminal. Then, at the terminal we looked and chartered a driver who knows the area well. Majority of the drivers know the jump off of Mt. Tibig and the travel time was 3 hours, including our photo ops.
There’s a space allotted near our
guide’s house for the hiker’s preparation (photo above). The area is surrounded
by trees and the mountain ranges are just few meters away. Since the area is also
few kilometres away from the beach, the sea breeze is cool and the wind is
relaxing. It's nice to be here because people were so kind and accommodating.
First part of the trail is a
moderate ascending trail, covered with trees and surrounded by shrubs and
grass. Fruit bearing trees like coconuts, mangoes, atis, and tamarind spread in
the area that gives additional livelihood for the locals, aside from farming.
It
was a two hour trek from the jump off to the summit. Night trek was a challenge
because aside from the darkness, the weather was bad, and the trail was muddy
and slippery. It was already 7:30PM when we reached the camp site. Rested for
few minutes and started pitching our tents. After setting up the tents, we
started preparing our food – for our celebration.
After
the late dinner, we started our socials. Our celebration lasted for few hours
because the rain started dropping. Rains did not end our celebration because
even we were inside our tents, we were still reminiscing our previous hikes,
with Batang Hamog Mountaineers.
After a five hour sleep, I was
the first person to wake up in the morning and witnessed the beauty of the
dawn. The ambiance was remarkable; I felt that the wind was cold, fresh and refreshing
while the watching the sun rise. While amazed by the beauty of the
surroundings, we started preparing our breakfast and proceeded to the summit. Photos below will show how
beautiful Mt. Tibig summit was, during our visit.
If you’re looking for an extreme
spot for your Instagram and facebook photos, Mt. Tibig also has it! Ten meters
from the summit, a huge boulder hanging by the cliff can be your perfect spot.
On top of the boulder, hikers can have their amazing and extreme photo shoot,
but if you have fear of heights, it will be a challenging position for you.
After the photo shoot on the
summit, we went back to the camp site and had our breakfast. Then, break camp and descended while the rain started dropping. We thought it was just a mist but as we continued descending, it turned to heavy rains. Now, Mt. Tibig's trail was a challenge. But, instead of being frustrated because the terrains are slippery and muddy, we enjoyed the rain drops while chit chatting.
After our overnight anniversary
celebration on Mt. Tibig's summit, we had our side trip at the beach
nearby. It was not a white sand beach, not that clean and the weather was not
fine but our celebration and happiness continues. We bought sea foods from
residents and prepared our late lunch while having our drinking session.
After our lunch, we enjoyed the
huge waves by the beach while the sun started shining. We were in the water for
almost two hours, just playing with the waves. We started packing and tidy up
at around 3PM. Same jeepney, our driver brought us back to Nasugbu Grand terminal, where we rode in a bus bound for Manila.
How to Get Here | At Jam Liner in EDSA-Kamuning, we rode in a bus bound for Nasugbu Grand Terminal, in Batangas. Then at the terminal, we looked and chartered a jeepney to the jump off.