Pagsanjan Falls

The Pagsanjan Falls (pronounced Pag- sang -han, local name: Magdapio Waterfall ) have a total drop of 90 meters and is situated within a forest area. It is one of the most famous waterfalls in the Philippines and is now one of the biggest tourist attractions of the region. The town of Pagsanjan in Laguna Province itself, whose names have the famous cases was founded in the early Spanish colonial period and is at the junction of two rivers, the Balanac and the Bumbungan.

General

While the waterfalls are generally known as Pagsanjan Falls, they are still referred to by locals as " Magdapio Falls ", named after a patriarch who was responsible for the origin of the cases, according to legend. In fact, they do not belong to the district of Pagsanjan, but are the responsibility of the village Cavinti. Pagsanjan, the starting point for a visit to the Falls, located about 92 kilometers south of Manila and can be easily reached by bus or car in less than two hours.

In the summer of 1902 discovered an American Presbyterian missionary, the Reverend J. Eugene Snook, the Magdapio cases. He was immediately enchanted by the cases and fascinated about the " shooting the rapids ", who opposed him on the way upstream. Upon his return to Manila, he wrote down his experiences and described the cases therein as " Pagsanjan Falls ". His story was printed along with accompanying photographs of cases of a popular newspaper of Manila, "The Cable News American ," and made the widely known cases in this way in the cities and provinces. For this reason it is also known today under the name of Pagsanjan Falls, under which they are now famous across national borders in the tourism world.

Description

The cases led to a strong tourist influx in the area of Pagsanjan. The cases it can not be reached by road, as they are in the middle of the jungle. The only access provides the fed by the waterfalls flow Bumbungan River. From Pagsanjan be from the visitors for an affordable fee with traditional Filipino Bancabooten, a dugout canoe upstream down to the falls. The guides are experienced Pagsanjeño boatmen, Bankeros called, the need to take out the two boats again and again out of the water to pull them over rocky paragraphs. The ride up to the target, therefore, takes over an hour and is for the tourists an additional impressive experience, as well as the return trip, which favors through the rapids, is much faster and more turbulent. Along the way, other minor cases can be seen that feed the river from the left and right with water. The rapids are impressive at any time, but they are particularly exciting, especially in the rainy season, from August to September, as the river then runs a lot more water with it. The Pagsanjan Falls are bordered by stone cliffs that rise nearly 100 meters into the jungle and are overgrown with wild orchids, ferns and creepers. The water of the cases crashes into a natural pool where you can safely swim and dive there are some caves to be visited, which are known for their impressive acoustics in the surrounding area. In the water basin bamboo rafts are prepared, on which the visitors eventually pulled through the water curtain of cases in a cave behind it.

Legend

According to legend, the cases did not exist long ago. At that time was only the area covered by jungle highlands, the two rivers Bumbungan and Balanac, as well as the delta to alluvial deposits, which today spreads the village of Pagsanjan. On the eastern bank of the River Bumbungan two old brothers lived named Balubad and Magdapio. For many years enjoyed both her ​​modest and peaceful life, one day before a stroke of fate changed her life. A terrible drought brought death and poverty across the country. Several consecutive months remained of any precipitation, so that the soil dried up and the flowers as well as the crops were dying, why do the birds, forest animals and wild dogs disappeared. The rivers, streams and springs dried up and dried out.

Balubad and Magdapio were starving and so they prayed night and day that finally may come rain, but God did not hear their prayers. The older and weaker of the two brothers, Balubad, died first, and Magdapio buried him on the slope of a mountain, from where you could overlook the river delta. This mountain has since been called Balubad. Now alone Magdapio be dragged into the higher regions of the dry river bed until it reaches the high stone cliffs reached after a toilsome march in the middle of the jungle. But to his great disappointment, he found no water here.

" Oh God ," he groaned then bitter, " where's the water?" Desperate and depressed, he hit his big stick against the rock. Suddenly bubbling water from the point at which his cane had hit the rock. The source has been growing rapidly and the fresh water that came from the rock face swelled and formed at once a magnificent waterfall. Astonished at this miracle fell Magdapio on his knees and thanked God for this gift. In this way, it was told that now-famous Pagsanjan Falls are formed.