Mt. Agua Colonia, Bato Dungok

It’s amazing how the beautifully made swaying trees can heal my tired mind, how the mountains can tell me that I have strength, how the rays of the sun can lift my eyes and briefly, how nature captures my brain and my heart.


Nature can always makes our heart at peace and  our mind at ease.  It brings happiness and contentment to our soul that no other material things ever could.  It can easily makes any negative thoughts fade away. 

Iloilo is located in Panay Island of the Philippines.  It's known to have old Spanish  colonial churches, white beaches, deliciously made native foods, old mansions and most of all,  picturesque mountains that are 1,000+ meters above sea level.

I am just starting my blog and I would like to share with you my recent experience. I did climb a mountain. Yes, I did.... in fact not just once but twice already.

Courage.  Positive mind.  Determination. Faith. Passion. Patience.
These are the traits you need to have when you would like to do mountain trekking or even just a simple hike.



Friday night while I was just browsing through my social media accounts,  a friend sent a message informing and inviting me to join them on their day hike trip on Sunday that week. It has been exactly a month ago since my last hike in Mt.  Lingguhob (I guess I need to make another blog about this trip) without a second thought,  I said yes and cancelled my prior trip with my other friend on the same day. I only got one day of preparations before the hike and I am pretty sure that my body was not in good condition.  I wasn't prepared at all.  I haven't got a chance to do some jogging and to exercise my legs for a long walk and trek.

 Our meeting time is 5:00 in Jaro Big market- that is where we are going to ride a jeepney going to Alimodian.

February 10, 2019, Sunday, I went to a day hike with my friends in Mt. Agua Colonia in Alimodian, Iloilo.

We arrived in  Barangay Lico where we will register and pay for environmental fee of 25 pesos.  Our tour guide is also a resident of that town.  Luckily, a two mountaineers joined us- Sir Mark and Sir Jess.  They really do have a passion for hiking and somehow shared some of their experiences in other mountains that they have been to already like Mt. Madjaas which it requires a 3 days hike.

We started to jump off around 8 am, so the adventures began.

And,  the adventures begin. 

 As we ascend everyone is excited and thrilled. The trail will never be easy and no one said it is.  It has a sloppy and rocky trail that gives a challenge to each one of us.  We haven't reached the one-fourth of the trek yet everyone was tired that includes me.  As I recall, I didn't hear anyone complaining and ranting how tired they are, how they wanted to go back and how they regretted to be there. We may look all sweaty and haggard outside but our mindset to be in the summit is strong enough to continue the hike.

They are my companion for the entire trek. 

As we ascend more, it became harder. There were times that we need to climb in the rock formations, we need to hold tightly in vines surrounding the trail and crawl into the muddy route. Aside from rocky and sloppy trail,  we also passed by on dense and mossy forest of Mt.  Agua Colonia. I was very thankful on those vines and trees that help us go through the entire hike.

Mossy Forest of Mt. Agua Colonia. 

It should be 3-4 hours trek going to the summit but in our case since almost of us are beginners,  it took us 5 hours until we finally reached it.  It was really foggy at the top and I thought this day were not for us because there is no sign of clearing.  

After couple of minutes of catching our breath and taking pictures, the fog started to vanished.  Everything is beautiful.  You can see the entire town of Iloilo and the seven cities of Alimodian,  on the east side you can see the beautiful mountains of Antique. Everything is beyond perfect and it astonished me how this is perfectly done by our heavenly father. 

This is the summit of Mt. Agua Colonia.  It is approximately 1,300+ meter above sea level.  

Overlooking the seven cities of Alimodian and the nearby town.  The rock in front is the famous "Puting Bato " or most commonly known as "Batong Dungok".

To make this trip highlighted, we also climb at the famous "Bato Dungok". It may be the highest point of the municipality. Other people said that it is broadly similar to the Pico de Loro's Monolith in Batangas, Philippines. Finally, I was able to hold the stone tablet carved the name of the scenic place. It is really heavy, never anticipated it to be. 

 I am very grateful that we all have the glimpse of the entire Iloilo and have the opportunity to witnessed how striking it can be. It can rarely be seen because of the fog consuming the whole place every time. 

Leave no traces, just footprints. 


Watch the video below.