Expedition High!

It has been two years since my Banaue-Batad-Sagada-Baguio expedition with the DLSU outdoor club. Natatandaan ko December 26-30, 2004 yun. Super saya, hindi ko alam kung may mauulit pa akong ganoong expedition... I hope so, if my time, money, and parents would permit. Oh how I miss those moments: Arriving at the BALIWAG Bus station at 10pm, getting ready to leave for Solano, Nueva Vizcaya (check out the Philippine Map). It took us 8 hours, with four stop overs. Finally we have reached,uh, I seem to have forgotten. Basta gabi na when we arrived in this community. Then we took a jeep going to Banaue, I forget na rin kung saan specifically. Syempre topload sakay namin, ang ginaw! Haha! We were freezing not only our butts off but our noses as well! Malalaglag na! Then we hiked for a very long time and the trail was steep. I was carrying six, sais, anim, sez, 6 liters of water! Grabe bigat nun! Plus all my camping gear. Super tarik pa nun. Daya nila RC and RJ, nag-dyip paakyat! Haha! Nga pala, umabot kami ng Mountain Province. Check out the Philippine Map and see how far that is from Manila ",)

After riding a lot of jeepney, toploading, hiking, and trail running with our humongous backpacks, we finally arrived Batad. Dito matatagpuan ang the real Banaue Rice Terraces. Nakarating kami mga 4pm, tapos syempre rest rest. We decided to go for Tapiya Falls. Ay sus, ginabi kami sa kalagitnaan ng rice terraces! Grabe! As in super dilim. Example: Takpan ang mata at pumikit. Wala kang nakikita diba? Ganun, ganun ang hitsura! We only had our headlamps on. Si Vivian muntikan pang madulas at mahulog sa mga palay! Yikes! Ang taas pa naman. Mukha kaming mga alitaptap sa gitna ng dilim. Eto pang mas masakit, hindi na namin kinayang puntahan yung falls. Nyek.

After spending one day at Banaue, we headed to Sagada. Buti pa sa Batad, nag-inn kami for our accommodations. Eto sa Sagada, hardcore! Nag-camping kami sa isang abandoned school malapit sa isang sementeryo! O, san ka pa? Pag jejebs naman kami, meron kaming na-discover na dump site, sa may likod ng isang dilapidated building. But we made sure we took a dump only in the morning. Pag gabi, e baka lapitan ka pa ng mumu. Again, super dilim! Nakakatakot! Haha! Ang saya sa Sagada, we went spelunking. Ang saya! Kaso it was hard to take pictures inside, ang dilim kasi e, hirap ng walang light. Hindi kinaya ng flash.

After spending two nights and three days sa Sagada, we went to Baguio then back to Manila. Below are SOME of the pictures, pero grabe super konti lang niyan. I just posted it to relive my memories :)

Eto kami, DLSU Outdoor Club! From L-R, yan yung Canadian explorer na na-meet namin, I've forgotten his name, Miguel, RC, Vivian (hell gurl!) RJ, Nova, Nina, Me. Seated, Josh









Ah, hindi po iyan ang totoong banaue rice terraces. Pero hanep ang view noh? Ang ganda talaga ng Pilipinas :)











Sa may Sagada ito, somewhere doon na waterfalls. Grabe, it's breathtaking. I love the Philippines!