At the foot of the mountain, you have to look for Aling Ester to register your presence in the logbook, and maybe to just check who else is up there. From Aling Ester's, the trek takes around 2-4 hours, depending on how fast you go, and how cooperative the weather is. It was raining most of the time during our climb so the steep paths turned into slippery mud slides. Although there are some bridges to help you cross, the path can still be tricky,  especially if you're not keen on getting all that dirty.

You won't get lost as the trail is clearly seen. And if you're lucky, one of the resident guide dogs may just chose to lead you to the campsite. There are 2 guide dogs in Famy, and they pick which group to accompany. We probably either looked so clueless, or the smell of the 'tocino' we were carrying was just too tempting to resist, because one of the dogs, Rambo, decided to lead our way. Most of the time he took us to the right path, although sometimes he led us there using a longer way. Maybe we didn't feed him enough.

There are a lot of huts along the path that serve drinks and other knick-knacks. But not all are open all the time. There are a lot of great opportunities for picture taking, and this we put into good use. After about three hours through muddy paths, we finally reached the campsite just as the sun began to set. Weekend camping meant that there were also a lot of other campers, but we were still able to find a relatively decent spot to put up our tent. The campsite, called Buruwasin, is by the river so we were able to clean up before eating. Since we didn't have our own stove, we had our food cooked by the lady who runs a store at the campsite. She practically lives there and she rarely goes down the mountain. For less than a hundred pesos, we got to eat a home cooked meal ("home is where your heart is"). Of course the tocino and hotdogs we had brought along with us.

After dinner, time is spent either socializing with your neighbors, or drinking, or both. After drinking one bottle of Tanduay (which is fast becoming an official Alphan mountain climbing drink) over a card game, we finally got a well deserved rest. Well almost. During the night, heavy rains poured over the campsite and water seeped through from under our tent. Oh well, the joys of mountaineering!

At daybreak, we ate breakfast at the lady's store, and then went off in search of Sampaloc falls, which is the source of Buruwasin river. After asking around  for directions and being told of the scary events (we'll spare you the details) that occured days before our trek, we were on our way. We just followed the river up, sometimes making short cuts through the mountains,  which may require a bit more agility than usual.

After about an hour, we were finally able to reach Sampaloc falls. This after being told by the locals that Sampaloc falls was "just around the corner". Anyway, the cool waters and the falls itself made the long trek worth while. And the small leeches provided something extra, although the prospect of something sucking blood out of you is not exactly appealing to most. But it was enough for us to decide that we've had enough of the Sampaloc site.

Going back to the campsite was much easier, as it usually is when you finally know where you are headed. A quick stop at the water source and we were on our way to camp. The continuous rains told us that we better head home. The trek downhill was  also much faster now, not only because we knew where we were headed, but because of the rains, the only way back for the most part was to slide down. Or tumble down.

At the foot, you can either get a bath at Aling Ester's or just wash up by the river. We chose the latter since that was free, and with all the people lining up at Aling Ester's, it was much faster to do it by the river. Besides, we were told she gets her water from there anyway. Just make sure you actually bathe upstream from the path the carabaos use to cross the river. The carabaos have to do a lot of straining to pull those heavy logs, and that exertion can translate into something popping out into the river, and it's not wise to be downstream from that.

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