Discovering Dumanjug’s Pityak Falls and the Best Chicken Tinola

The original plan was to visit the town of Ronda to check out a spring called Lapnis. The spring is quite popular among local thrill-seekers and I wanted to see for myself if it is indeed as awesome as they say. I knew that finding it would be pretty challenging, so I decided to ask Bojo to come with me. Well, the truth is, we didn’t find it during this trip. What we did find was the mind-blowing Pityak Falls and a bowl of the best-tasting homemade chicken tinola (tinowa.) Bojo and I were eating our ice cream at the Molave Milk Station in Barili when he asked if I knew where Dumanjug was. I told him that it was actually the town after Barili. Bojo then revelead that his cousins and aunts and uncles live in Dumanjug and asked if we could stop by to say hi. Well, why not?

In case you’re wondering, Bojo is a neighborhood kid who basically grew up in our family home. He’s now pretty much a part of the family. And since he also enjoys traveling, I thought that he would enjoy a little adventure. Okay, so back to the story. We traveled to Dumanjug and eventually found the house of Bojo’s relatives. He’s never been there so finding it was pretty intense. His relatives’ family home is located in a barangay called Balayg-Tuko, around 20 minutes from the main highway. Bojo asked his cousin Alay if there were springs or falls in the area. Alay mentioned that there was indeed a waterfall around 20 minutes from where we were. Naturally, we asked her to take us there. She warned us, however, that we might not like it. She said that it’s nothing like Kawasan Falls in Badian and that not many people go there. Hmm. Bojo’s aunt told Alay to accompany us to the waterfall nevertheless. She added that when we return, the tinolang manok that she’s going to prepare just for us would be ready. Yahoo!

The three of us got on my bike and drove for around 20 minutes to a barangay called Kanghalo. The drive from the house to Kanghalo was easy peasy. The drive from the main road to the waterfall, however, was a different story. I actually almost lost control of the bike because of all the loose gravel. [My friend Craig who went there on a habal-habal wasn’t very lucky. He and the driver got bruises and cuts when their bike slipped on their way to the waterfall.] So, be careful, you guys! Thankfully, we reached the waterfall safe and in one piece! 🙂

So, ladies and gentlemen, here she is – Pityak Falls of Kanghalo, Dumanjug.

She is no Kawasan, that’s for sure. But she is definitely in a league of her own.

Photos can never give justice to Pityak’s true beauty. You definitely should see it in person!

The good thing about Pityak Falls is that it’s easily accessible. In fact, just below the drop, a spillway doubles as a major thoroughfare.

Just to give you an idea of Pityak’s height, here’s Bojo at the foot of the waterfall.

A lot of people insist that this waterfall is actually called Tubod-Duguan Falls. Actually, I think they may be right. But when we went there, we saw locals bathing in a nearby spring and we asked them what the name of the waterfall was. They said that it was called Pityak. So, I’m sticking to this first-hand info. Hehe.

Haha!

Isn’t she a beauty?

Alay is all smiles, too!

We thought that the main drop was the only interesting to see in the area. We were VERY wrong.

The whole area surrounding the main drop is littered with holes and rock formations that are too awesome for words!

My private pool, ya’ll! Haha.

Scary and exciting at the same time. Haha.

A few hundred meters from the main drop, we saw this very gorgeous view. Another waterfall! And pay close attention to the rock formations!

I could stay here for hours! So serene!

Alay enjoying the water

Here are some of the other interesting spots you’ll see in the area. Mind blowing rock formations (that probably took hundred of years to form,) holes both shallow and deep, and precious pools wherever you look! Truly, Dumanjug is abundantly blessed to have such amazing geological features.

Moving farther away from the drop, you’ll see more amazing sights.

Bojo and Alay crossing the spillway.

We never realized that we stayed at Pityak for nearly 3 hours. Haha. Now, we’re all hungry. It’s time to go home!

When we reached the house, the soup was already on the table. We thought that since we came back late, the soup would already be cold. We found out, however, that they actually had a hard time catching the chicken. And that the tinola was cooked just 10 minutes before we arrived. Haha. Let’s eat!

Let me just say that THAT chicken tinola was probably the best-tasting tinola I’ve ever tasted. No lie! Thank you, Auntie!

Here’s Bojo enjoying quality time with his aunt and cousins after lunch. It rained for a bit so they had enough time to just relax and bond. Great sight.

Thanks for the amazing tinola, Auntie. And to the whole family for being so warm and accommodating. And thanks Dumanjug for a jaw-droppingly gorgeous natural wonder. You are blessed. I’ll be back, that’s a promise!

Watch this video of Pityak Falls

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3lJUt1p4u4]