Bacolod Travel Diary Part 2: Mambukal Falls

I cannot believe that it's been three weeks since my last post. Argh. Busy bee. Busy me. I even barely have enough sleep thus the baggy dark circles under my eyes. Nonetheless, that won't stop me from making my diary (aka blog post) entries. You have to make time for things that make you happy. As one of my favorite YouTubers once said, "Never let your passion die out. Make time." So here I am typing my thoughts away and letting whatever creativity I have suppressed over the last twenty days.

Last August I had the chance to go to Bacolod all thanks to my work. (Read Part 1 of this travel diary here!) Since we had to stay there for ten days, I made sure that I'd be able to use my day off well. Now behold our mini adventure at Mambukal Resort where we had the chance to visit the infamous Mambukal Falls of Negros! Hooray!

The falls is located in Barangay Minoyan in Murcia. To get there from the city of Bacolod, one has to ride the jeepney to the terminal. Take one with a route to the Mandalagan bus terminal. From there, board a bus bearing a "Mambukal" sign. If you feel lost or confused simply ask around. The people are so friendly and nice. Besides, Bacolod is tagged as the city of smiles so don't be afraid to ask. The ride is around 20-30 minutes long for Php 35.00 per person. The bus' last stop is at the Mambukal Resort itself so you will not get lost. That is if you managed to hop on the right bus!

The bus ride was so refreshing. I can feel fresh air brush against my hair and the scenery is breathtaking! You can even see a glimpse of Mount Kanlaon on the window. Score!

The moment you hop off the bus this is what you'll see. This is the gateway to Mambukal Resort. I say gateway to paradise!

Apart from the mighty Mambukal Falls, there were other recreational facilities such as the butterfly sanctuary.

While walking around, our trail guide found this dead butterfly amidst one of the bushes. I must say that even at its death, the butterfly resembles beauty like no other.

Do know that there are actually 7 falls and you have to hike from one to the other. Because we initially came for work and not for play we didn't get to research right and so we thought that the hike was fairly easy and short but boy we were wrong! It took us 3 hours to see everything. LOL. Nonetheless, everything was so worth it. I managed to make a "vlog" of some sort to chronicle our adventure. Pardon the non-HD quality though. I'm still saving up for a better camera. The one I have now is actually a digicam back from 2009. Hihihi. Click play if you want to see what our feet had to go through! 

Also, our trail guide suggested that we take a motorcycle ride to the topmost (7th) falls and start from there. The reason is because most people who start from falls number 1 almost always do not reach the 7th due to fatigue. If you start from top though you won't have any excuse to skip as you have to walk back down by foot! I'm so glad we did. (TIP: Be ready with your swimming attire as you can take a swim at the 7th falls. Just know that the water is ice cold!) Anyway, here are the other shots I managed to snap.

Can you see those carabaos? Yup, they're taking a dip by the river to cool down and refresh from the sizzling heat.

Looking at these pyramid shaped rocks sitting atop bigger boulders looked so surreal. This was the hard work of a little boy who plays by balancing all these pointy rocks. I was about to snap a photo of him but he shied away so I took a picture of just his artwork instead.

Just so you know, this structure or building right here is the spa and massage area. Cool right? I wish we did get a massage though. I earned quite a few scratches and bruises and my body wanted some kind of relaxation. Unfortunately, time wasn't on our side. Next time though.

See those cottages? You can actually stay overnight and enjoy the place for much longer. I wish we did.

Because we took too long to finish the hike (3 hours! We're amateur hikers you know. Please spare us some slack.), we didn't get to experience other amenities like the Canopy Walk, Slide for Life, Boating Lagoon and Sulfur Pool. I know. It sucks! The first three got closed because it took us until 5:30 pm to finish the waterfall trail and they close the said facilities at 5:00 pm The sun is about to set in 30 minutes or so too meaning that we have to get back to the city as we have work the following day. In short, no time to take a dip by the Sulfur pool. Oh well, at least I'll have an excuse to go back here some other time. Yay!

That's all for now lovelies. 

Read my other Bacolod Travel Diary posts:
Part 1 Calea Pastries and Coffee
Part 3 Provincial Capitol, Negros Museum, Pendy's and Merci Pasalubong