Hanginan Trail
Tags: Asia, Hiking, Latest, Mountains, Philippines, Travel
The Hanginan Trail is a popular hike in the green hills behind Maasin City. Emily has done this hike several times before, while this was the first time for me.
These hills are great for mountain hiking since it has excellent views and a cooler climate than at sea level. During the Spanish colony, this trail was once used as a watch point. Nowadays locals and tourists often do it as a pilgrim trek to visit the San Francisco Javier Pilgrims Center, a miraculous chapel situated 400 meters above sea level. It is said that every petition is granted and every prayer spoken is answered.
From Maasin City we took one of the many tricycles plying the southbound route. We jumped off at the start of the hike and continued on foot along a narrow and steep dirt road. It's possible to hire a habal-habal (motorcycle-taxi), but the road/trail is very rough so we don't recommend it. It's much better to walk.
Along the road/trail we passed several local communities. The local kids were a bit annoying, asking for food, candies and so on. But it was fun taking photo of them, something the kids enjoyed as well.
After gaining almost 400 meters of elevation, we finally reached the upper village of Hanginan, where the chapel is located in the far end. We made both a wish, but I doubt my wish of winning one million dollars will ever materialize anyway :-)
On the way down again, we opted for a small side trip, where we found a great picnic spot. We spent almost an hour there, mainly dozing in the green grass and enjoying the great views. The sun came and went, but fortunately we managed to get down again before it started to rain. Overall a very well spent Sunday afternoon !!
Hanginan Trail at EveryTrail
Posted by gfg
on Sunday, January 08, 2012. Filed under
