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| First re-route, turning right in this small alley in Sta Maria Laguna leads you to this picturesque Mahogany forest |
Tuesday, July 24... was supposedly just another been there done that many times 90km ride to Jariels Peak from Manila which eventually turned out to become an exciting and adventure filled 300km+ epic backroad journey with Rowell and Ryan.
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| What supposedly started out as your regular Marilaque trip turned out to be an epic Versys backroad adventure |
We started our ride enjoying the foggy weather along Masungi Georeserve all the way to Sampaloc, where during a stopover, backroad guru Rowell Guarda suggested if we wanted to take a peek at his secret routes, getting us into the backroads of Sta Maria Laguna, leading us to Cavinti, Lucban, Majayjay, Caliraya and a final challenging trail back to Marilaque via Seven Up Hills prior heading back to Manila...
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Your view after surviving the muddy trails from the Mahogany forest area...next stop Lucban
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Riding with Rowell was like playing Super Mario Bros, he takes you down this tiny alley which always opens up into this whole new world or surprises. While the backroads of Sta Maria Laguna can be a bit of a challenge (quite muddy especially this rainy season), it does break the monotony of your usual ride along Marilaque en route to Jariels.
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| Quick stopover in this long stretch of mini rice terraces along Lucban |
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| Like A Boss... Herederos on Holiday at Samkara Restaurant and Garden resort |
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| Samkara was a cool stopover in the Cavinti-Lucban area prior heading out to Majayjay |
After A few more hours riding alongside the mini rice terraces of Lucban, we stopped over this cool resort cum restaurant along a backroad connecting Cavinti to Lucban. Was fascinating how clear the water was in this side of Quezon, why the community was aptly monickered Barangay Malinaw.
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| A minifall about a hundred meters from where we stopped over for lunch. Used a styro cofee cup as my tripod, shot with my p20 pro :) |
After our scenic lunch stop, we headed out to another backroad and in less than an hour found ourselves in Majayjay Laguna prior heading out to our next stop Lake Caliraya.
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| the mandatory been there done Majayjay by Versys shot |
After the customary Majayjay signage touristy shot, we made our way to Caliraya not before we passed by this river dam which for me was the highlight of this trip. Waterfalls always fascinated me and I always wanted a shot of my motorbike with a waterfall as backdrop. When I saw this, I asked Rowell and Ryan to bear with me as I take images of this awesome side of the road find.
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| this man made river dam was just made for Epic Motorbike Photography :) Ultimate trip highlight for photographers like me, taken with my P20 pro, no nd filter needed |
After spending an hour here, (sorry Rowell and Ryan, I wanted my perfect shot), we went to our final stop in Caliraya. just spent less than an hour there prior Rowell sharing us another back road surprise.
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| Lake Caliraya as a destination isn't really photogenic, so just did a pano and turned the image into Planet Caliraya via the tiny planet maker app |
It was around 5pm when we left Caliraya where another hour took us to a long muddy trail leading us to Seven Up Hills, which was quite cool and another hour of trail riding found ourselves back at Marilaque, amazing really.
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| Seven Up Hills is a muddy trail back to Marilaque from Famy Infanta Road, was a pretty cool ride. |
All good things come to an end and found ourselves on a night ride along Marilaque from Santa Maria Laguna and back to our respective homes. It was for me one of my best trips so far, only second to Sagada. It was simply a complete adventure, starting out with thick mountainside fog, passing through a virgin forest, stopping over several falls and finally a quick turn towards an adventure trail ending with an epic view of Quezon and Laguna.
Thanks to Rowell Guarda for sharing his secret route/s. Below is our trip video albeit a bit shaky, you know we had awesome fun :)
Here's a quick map of where we went
