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About 130km southeast of Manila, near Dolorez in Quezon province, is 2188-meter Mount Banahaw. Considered a sacred mountain, Banahaw has spawned so many legends and superstitions you would need a lifetime to hear them all. One says that every time a foreigner sets foot on the mountain it will rain. Seventeen religious sects with different beliefs and rituals endow the mountain with mystic qualities. Every year at Easter, thousands of pilgrims flock to the mountain. If you want to climb Banahaw, you can take a jeepney from the town of San Pablo to the jump-off point at Santa Lucia, near Kinabuhayan town. Treat this mountain seriously because although the early part of the trail looks wide and well-trodden it soon peters out into inhospitable rainforest. Even experienced climbers allow three days to reach the summit and get back down safely. You will need to hire a guide in Santa Lucia and sign a logbook before you are allowed to proceed. If you haven't got time to reach the summit you can trek to Kristalino Falls (Crystalline Falls) and back in a day. One-and-a-half hours further is a second waterfall, whose surroundings are ideal for a campsite.
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