Mindanao Travel Blog Post #4: The Majestic Beauty of Tinago Falls

The Majestic Beauty of Tinago Falls

Small Facts about the Tinago Falls

The outstanding waterfall in the town of Linamon, Lanao del Norte that flows along the Agus River is the no other than the much-publicized Tinago Falls. This kind of a waterfall is captioned through its substantiality of being 'hidden' in an unrevealing exquisite debut of a nature-made abyss. The trail in order to get into the majestic place of Tinago falls, one must able to persist the estimated 500 descending stair steps towards the hidden beauty of the falls and another 500 ascending stair steps towards the route going home. Anyone can pass through the huge 'pan-like' shape blue-colored lagoon in the center with the use of a 'balsa' in order to witness other beautiful small caves underneath the Tinago Falls, wherein anyone can enjoy and attend to the musical growl of the waters.

The Legend of the Tinago Falls

The legend of the Tinago Falls is express through a story of a dominant sovereign Sultan Agok and his most precious and alluring wife. The two were known for being great in ruling and also being egotistical among the general public. And when the beautiful Sultana got pregnant a magical enchantress cloaked herself as a beggar. But the Sultan drive out the enchantress rather than giving her the help she needed and that is why the enchantress got angry and cursed the husband and wife. And the cursed was consist of having a baby that is ugly as ever, nevertheless, the Sultan and his wife didn't mind what the enchantress said. Later on, when the wife gave birth to a baby girl, everyone was shocked because the said baby was so ugly as what the enchantress confounded. And for the reason that the child was so hideous, the couple were saddened and that they decided to hide the child in a cave to avoid such awkward situation because most people tend to compare the baby with her beautiful mother. As they secretly hide the child in a cave they also named it as 'Tin-ag'', which means ''hidden face'' and they continue taking care of the child inside the cave. And when the child grew up and decided to came out from the cave, she was so amazed at what she saw outside the cave and subsequently the enchantress who gave her the cursed saw her and made an unescapable agreement; the agreement that will turn Tin-ag into an endless beauty and splendor. And Tin-ag accepted the enchantress' offer.
And with this blog post, you will witness through a JPEG form the endless beauty of Tin-ag in the form of ''TINAGO FALLS''.

Going to Tinago Falls

There are two possible entry route going to Tinago Falls, the via Barangay Buru-un of Iligan City and the route via Linamon Lanao del Norte.
In this travel guide post, I will tackle the via Linamon route because this is my favorable route and also it is a much easier way to Tinago Falls.

Via Linamon

In our case, we took the route to Tinago Falls through Baloi Matunggao Road riding a motorcycle-sidecar, because the road in front of a landmark gas station 'Caltex' wherein tourists can easily and usually pick up a 'habal-habal ride' (motorcycle ride) is under construction at the moment. But in no time the main road going to Tinago Falls will be open, so if you are coming from Ozamiz/Pagadian route or either from Cagayan do Oro City you can just instruct the bus driver to drop you off at theLinamon's bus stop area, which is the gas station 'Caltex' and from their you will see some 'habal-habal' drivers waiting for touristas going to Tinago Falls. The drivers are so accommodating that you will not have a hard time looking for a transportation going to Tinago Falls.

The last time I went to Tinago Falls, there was no 'Pasalubong Center' available nor retails stores to buy some extra stuff like mineral water and other personal needs, but now, they have small stores for some extra goodies.

In our case, we arrived at the Tinago Falls a little bit late and we didn't bring any food; the good thing about the new management, they offer a variety of food catered by the dedicated women from the 'Women Organization of the Philippines Linamon Chapter' and serves as their daily livelihood too.
And as you can see in the photo above, we had a very fresh lunch under a shady tree

Just in case you will feel a bit drained and exhausted along the way down to the Majestic Falls, please take precautionary measures and have a stop at the available benches in between once in a while.

And if ever you will get a little sweaty and feel a little bit hot because of the tiring 500 steps, you can have some refreshing wash to the very cold water of a small spring.

Also, if ever you decided to have a small picnic or lunch you can rent some cottages and there are also lifejackets for rent too, in case you want to go for a refreshing dive.

For some personal concerns like the use of comfort rooms, you can spot on their comfort rooms for washing near the cottages area. And to add some delicious foods to a such a wonderful adventure the management provided a convenient place for grilling pork or fish. They also have private rooms that are fully airconditioned if the whole family decided to take a longer experience in Tinago Falls.