This is quick guide to trekking from Batad to the peak of Mount Amuyao. The route I’ll explain here goes from Batad – Patyay (via Cambulo) – Mount Amuyao – Mayoyao area.

Note that it is possible to do this same route but go back to Batad on the last day instead of to the Mayoyao area. You can also vary your return on the last day to go back via Pula rather than on the same route you came up to make it more interesting.

You’re not allowed to cross the mountain and finish on the other side in Barlig, so you have to turn around and come back at the top of the mountain.

I personally completed this trek in August 2024.

Introduction

The first thing to say here is that you definitely need a guide for this route. There are sections of the trail that aren’t often used and go through jungle. The trail isn’t clear, and you could lose your way. There’s also a chance of falling and getting injured. The guide will probably also be useful for making arrangements at the accommodation in Patyay. Plus, they’ll find the way on good trails where there are lots of possible choices.

Another thing is that it’s reasonably difficult. I think the other treks in the area are on more undulating kind of ground. You ascend about 1000 m on each of the first two days of this, and some of that is done on a rough trail in the jungle. It’s not incredibly hard or anything, but the first 2 days are a long slog.

Overall, I think this is a really good trekking route if you want to do something difficult. The climbing will definitely leave you tired, and the scenery is all really nice. You also get into quite a few areas that are away from the main trekking routes, which is interesting.

The villages you go through, particularly Patyay, all carry on the traditional way of life in a very authentic way. You’ll see that the terraces are all farmed very actively and well maintained. The people also look after you pretty well.

Day 1 – Batad to Patyay

So with a guide, you don’t actually need to know too much about what you’re doing.

On day 1, you trek from Batad to Patyay via Cambulo. Batad is really scenic, and it’s a nice walk up the valley to Cambulo. After Cambulo, you climb up through some rice terraces, and the view back is really nice.

After you pass the rice terraces, you hit the jungle, and do quite a long climb on a poor trail for a few hours. Then you descend quickly down into Patyay.

The jungle trail isn’t exactly obvious to see when you look. It was rainy season when I did this trek, but I think the trail isn’t used much even in dry seasons.

Patyay is a great village, and the farming is very active there, meaning the terraces are all well maintained. The locals all looked out for us as well and made sure we had everything we needed. That included going out and fetching vegetables for us from the fields, helping us cook and making sure we came back on time the next day.

The owners of the guesthouse were away on the first night, and my guide had to speak to the locals to get the food, get us in the guesthouse and sort everything out.

Day 2 – Patyay to the Peak of Mount Amuyao

Day 2 is slightly more tiring than day 1, but you get to the top of the mountain.

The trail’s flattish up the valley, then like on day 1, you turn up into the mountain and into the jungle.

When I did it, the trail up Mount Amuyao from Patyay was better than the jungle trail of the previous day from the top of the rice terraces at Cambulo to Patyay. This helped, and another good thing is that the jungle actually ends at some point and turns into more of a pine forest. The forest trail is easier to follow and generally easier to walk. The distance is just longer than the previous day.

You do that and continue to the top. It was cloudy when I got to the top, but on a clear day you’ll be able to see for miles in every direction.

There are rules saying that you can’t camp or stay in the cabin at the top of Mount Amuyao if you come from the Batad side. If you have a tent, you can stay at Camp 1, which isn’t too far below the summit. This is an option if you don’t want to trek back to Patyay on the same day. There’s also a roofed waiting shed half way up the trail that you could use as well.

Again, you’re also not allowed to cross over and go down to Barlig on the other side.

We had no tent and went back to Patyay.

Day 3 – Patyay to Mayoyao Area, or Back to Batad

As I said at the start, you actually have a choice of which route to take on your final day.

You’ll need to speak to your guide at the time to find out what condition it’s in, but there is a trail going from Patyay to Pula. So you could go Patyay – Pula – Cambulo – Batad. I didn’t do this route myself. It is also quite long, and with a possibly poor trail between Patyay and Pula, it may be difficult. Speak to your guide.

I did the alternative, which is to go to Mayoyao area and then get a scooter/tricycle back to Batad. This route is nice. There are a few fairly short climbs, but it’s mainly downhill. The views are also great, and you go through some areas that not too many people get to go. It’s a relaxing day really after the climb of the day before, although you do cover a long distance.

The trail is also wide and well made, although I think there are so many turnings and other routes that you might find it hard to navigate on your own.

So just tell your guide you want to go on the route towards Mayoyao. We came out onto the road just south of Talboc and got a scooter back.

Final Thoughts

Another thing I should mention is that you could do the Batad – Patyay part of this route and then not climb Mount Amuyao. Instead, you’d go to either the Mayoyao area (and back to Batad on transport) or to Pula and back to Batad via Cambulo. You’d have a couple of difficult parts, but it would be a good trek without the climb of Mount Amuyao.

Another option is to do a 2 day version where you wake up very early on the last day to climb Mount Amuyao and then go back to Batad the same day. I think this would be quite difficult.

What to Bring

You might end up doing an early start at some point, so bring a head torch.

Snacks are a good idea. I don’t think there’s a shop in Patyay.

Patyay is about 1000m higher than Batad, and it’s colder in Patyay, so bring a jumper. If you plan to stay near the top of Amoyao, that’s something like 2700 m, and it’s colder again. My guide said he stayed there one time, and it was only 7 degrees, and he only had a thin jumper.

Decent shoes.

Climbing Mount Amuyao in Rainy Season

I did this in August 2024, in rainy season.

Rainy season makes it a bit harder because the trail’s wet and slippery and because there are also leeches on the trail up Mount Amuyao from Patyay.

We actually got lucky and only had rain on the last couple of hours of our trek on the first day. This did make the trail slippery, and I fell over a couple of times. With no rain on the second day, the leeches didn’t come out too bad (more will come if the rain is worse). I only had one leech on me, and my guide had three, I think. So we basically made it okay.

I do think if you had heavy rain, it would make steep parts of the trail considerably difficult for a few hours. It might even be that you have to stop and wait, or a whole day of rain might make a day’s trekking impossible.

There’s another, more in-depth account that might help, and you can see it here.