Mt. Batulao
“Andaming bato! Kaya ba ‘to Batulao kasi maraming bato?” (insert sound effects for corny joke here)
I had a hunch that the Maculot trip won’t push through. Mara’s going to Pulag on the 24th and I thought she’d maybe prefer to just rest than go to another hiking trip when she gets back to Tagaytay. I thought of tagging along with Karen and her friends’ who are going hiking to Batulao that weekend. When Lian and Mara learned about this, they decided to go, too, but the Maculot is still a green light. So it’s all set, Batulao on Saturday and Maculot on Sunday. Yap, we suddenly turned hyperactive.
What’s good about these trips I’ve had lately is that people bring cars (if you notice the sudden change of this blog’s title, I’m now the hitchhiker!). When we went to Gulugod-Baboy, we had a guide and driver. What’s even more awesome with this Batulao trip, we rode a Montero, thanks to Karen’s friends!
Karen’s friends were fun and easy to get along with, but the thing is, most of them are afraid of heights. And they chose just the right mountain to go hiking to for the first time. It turned out to be a long hike (longer than usual) because we had to wait for the acrophobic people, hehe. Nakakalula ang daan, one mis-step and you’d fall into the ravine. At one point I felt dizzy while crossing this narrow trail, with ravine on both sides, I had to concentrate on keeping myself focused, just focus on the trail, kept walking while telling myself, I can’t die, I can’t die. And I did not! Although in the bus on our way back to Manila, I was having this wild thought that I’m actually dead and I’m just having a ‘The Others’ experience. (How do I tell my brain to stop thinking morbidly.)
But anyway, I’m really alive (and blogging)! I have to say Mt. Batulao was the hardest mountain I ever climbed so far. We climbed up under the scorching heat of the sun, and hiked down under the pouring rain and thunderstorm. Mind you, that was just a minor climb and it felt like every single muscle cell in my body ached several days after the climb. It’s all worth it though. Here are snapshots of us and the picturesque Batulao.
I had a hunch that the Maculot trip won’t push through. Mara’s going to Pulag on the 24th and I thought she’d maybe prefer to just rest than go to another hiking trip when she gets back to Tagaytay. I thought of tagging along with Karen and her friends’ who are going hiking to Batulao that weekend. When Lian and Mara learned about this, they decided to go, too, but the Maculot is still a green light. So it’s all set, Batulao on Saturday and Maculot on Sunday. Yap, we suddenly turned hyperactive.
What’s good about these trips I’ve had lately is that people bring cars (if you notice the sudden change of this blog’s title, I’m now the hitchhiker!). When we went to Gulugod-Baboy, we had a guide and driver. What’s even more awesome with this Batulao trip, we rode a Montero, thanks to Karen’s friends!
Karen’s friends were fun and easy to get along with, but the thing is, most of them are afraid of heights. And they chose just the right mountain to go hiking to for the first time. It turned out to be a long hike (longer than usual) because we had to wait for the acrophobic people, hehe. Nakakalula ang daan, one mis-step and you’d fall into the ravine. At one point I felt dizzy while crossing this narrow trail, with ravine on both sides, I had to concentrate on keeping myself focused, just focus on the trail, kept walking while telling myself, I can’t die, I can’t die. And I did not! Although in the bus on our way back to Manila, I was having this wild thought that I’m actually dead and I’m just having a ‘The Others’ experience. (How do I tell my brain to stop thinking morbidly.)
But anyway, I’m really alive (and blogging)! I have to say Mt. Batulao was the hardest mountain I ever climbed so far. We climbed up under the scorching heat of the sun, and hiked down under the pouring rain and thunderstorm. Mind you, that was just a minor climb and it felt like every single muscle cell in my body ached several days after the climb. It’s all worth it though. Here are snapshots of us and the picturesque Batulao.
