Bucari Mountains, Leon - A Travel to the Top of Leon

EN ROUTE TO LEON

The town of Leon is accessed via jeepney. So after you land in the beautiful city of Iloilo, take a jeepney in route to the small Wet Market of Jaro. The Jaro Wet Market is at the back of the Cathedral and is accessible to several jeepneys like Jaro Liko, NFA (which turns nearest to the Market) and  SM City Leganes via Aquino Ave. (drops you off the side of the Wet Market). Arriving at the Jaro Wet Market, ask around or you can look for the jeepney with the label Leon at the side.

So travelling to Leon takes like an hour from the City of Iloilo, during the travel ask the 'konduktor' to drop you off at the town or to the area where you can catch a ride to Bucari. But beware, there is a feud between these people which brings me to the three options in travelling to Bucari.

So you may take:

A. VIA JEEPNEY - After being dropped at the town, another jeepney may take you to Bucari, Leon. But be warned that jeepneys MAY OR MAY NOT TRAVEL depending on the NUMBER of people planning to go to Bucari. This option may be CHEAPER but this requires vast amount of patience because you need to wait and a kilogram of Faith that a Jeepney will travel.

B. VIA TRICYCLE - They are in feud with the ones below. This is another option that you may take if you are travelling by group. A tricycle can take up to 5 or 6 person so it will take LESS TIME to fill up. Downside is, it WON'T BE REALLY DROPPING you at The Pine Forest Campsite but a Mini-Terminal near Bucari that will have motorcycle drivers that will bring you to the campsite itself. And lastly;

C. VIA MOTORCYCLE / SINGLE - They are in feud with the ones above. These motorcycle riders are the FASTEST but can a bit COSTLY than the two above. These people will bring you from the town to the Campsite itself for 150/person.

And we travelled by C. We were asked by a 'konduktor' if were planning to travel to Bucari and I answered Yes, so he asked if we already have a 'sundo' and we told him we were going there by ourselves so he told me that he knows someone who can take us there.

TO BUCARI

Technically, if you can't handle a motorcycle well, this isn't the road for you. The road was literally, Deathly. These roads were paved and cemented but it doesn't remove the fact that it was built along the mountainside, so basically you are travelling 'over mountains'. Snake-roads and quite very high then goes down, this road will definitely surpass your life's up's and down's. Manong was very skilled in handling the motorcycle and he really is a very good driver (using proper lights and horning in populated areas) he was able to reach Bucari in less than an hour with no hassle. He even brought us to areas that has a nice view while we were on the road.

Manong's motorcyle unit, taking you to places.

So first photo while on the road er cliff road, that's the edge with death below.

Before we went to the Bucari Campsite, Manong asked if we want to go to the Imoy Falls and we said yes so he took us there. The Imoy Falls is quite a distance from the Campsite but it was good (minus the under construction road) and a bit muddy.

The Road To Imoy

Take photos but appreciate Nature more.

 When we arrived at the area, there are several residents who are guarding the entrance. You are required to pay Php 20.00 for the maintenance and environmental fee because the residents are the one keeping the way clean and building new bridges or repairing old ones. They also sell organic honey, go try them. XD We had no tour guide so Manong was the one who 'tour guided' us.

Driver/Photographer/Tour Guide

The walk was not that long though.

Resident's children's play time

Okay. Passed by the first hanging bridge.

You can wade in this spot with life jacket if you want.

And finally we arrived.

The Imoy Falls

The falls didn't looked like what it seemed to be because Manong told us that the residents in here attach water hoses on top of the falls to gather water for their consumption. This decreased the flow of water and is causing the falls to be dried a bit.

With my back facing the falls, this is the view.

After having quite a photoshoot, we walked back to the area were we left the motorcycle to proceed to the Campsite proper.

The bridge, homebound.

Walking back home

Having a hard time here. XD

After travelling back to the Barangay Hall at Imoy, Manong took us to The Bucari Campsite where the real shit begins. As per arranged, Manong waited for us till we return but seeing that there are also many motorcycle drivers around, I guess I should have been fine if we let Manong leave.

The Bucari Campsite is available for accommodations but you can also trek the mountain without having to enter the campsite. Entering the campsite requires you to pay a fee (forgot but seems like Php20.00). 

We started to trek and I was amazed that this mountainside trek has a metal handrailing and stone stairs are currently being constructed.

Handrail for support and stepping stones currently being constructed. This is were your fees goes. Hahahahah.. kidding!

The trek was quite tiring and me, being unhealthy, made it quite harder. Stops were made but I didn't give up (insert "Keep Holding On" song). The good thing was the temperature was cold and good, the air was purely fresh (lighter than the usual air) and sweats feels like healthy ones (not sticky). It was like 30 minutes or so but to me it felt like forever.

Hooray! Thought it was the real summit, but nah. Still a long way up.

Good thing we arrived at the Summit Level 1 (I was fooled because there is another real summit and I invented this one). Beware that there are bees. 

The First Level. Nice view and I feel like going down already I thought it was over.

We saw people who still trudged to the right side, going to the another top. So tired as I was, I still went on. I am here now, why not finish it? So we reached the Second Level and this is where the famous instagrammable Fallen Tree is. 

Be brave enough to reach the edge. 

Looking down for real. This is where you land when you fall.

There are no guards here so if you fall, it will be kinda bone-breaking. The tree is also wet when it rains, the log kinda moves and is only supported with nailed branches. We continued trekking up and finally the reached the Last Level. 

I hope we're not lost.

I guess this is the Talon Peak. The highest peak of the range.

You climb on the flaglets base and reward yourself.

It is finished. YES!! I love how the clouds form horizontals.

We rested for a while and started to trek down after. We went inside the campsite and started to look for some cafeteria or food hall. The campsite has limited food services because being up in the mountain is no joke and the nearest town is sooo far away, so when going in groups it is much better to bring personal foods or order upon you arrive to avoid food conflict with other groups.

This is the first mountain I ever climbed and I am happy about it. You can enjoy it in a whole day, after that there is nothing much to do. Or you can return to town to enjoy their famous chicken delicacy. 

HAPPY ISKYERDA!