M T. P U L A G

Reposting my entry about Mt. Pulag for Contiki Storytellers. 

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To start the year 2014 right, I had my first climb ever and it had to be the 3rd highest mountain in the Philippines. Mount Pulag, stands 2,922 meters above sea level, almost 9 hours drive from Manila, and the peak 5 hours worth of trek. Nothing could have ever prepared me for this unforgettable trip. It wasn't all smiles (especially behind the camera) during the journey. First there was the rain, I didn't mind walking and hiking for hours, but the rain made it almost impossible for us reach the campsite, which was a 3-4 hour hike from the jump-off. Then there was the freezing cold, I know this isn't much of a big deal for some, but being in a tropical country all my life makes me vulnerable to the cold. So rain plus the cold, doesn't make that much of a good combination, especially during your first time climbing and camping. Everything (and I mean everything) that I brought with me, was soaking wet, even the inside of our tent wasn't spared, we had to sleep in weird positions just so we can avoid the puddles, but to no avail, we did still ended up dipping some parts of our bodies into the water here and there. And don't get me started about having to use the bathroom, because there was no bathroom, there was just  2 holes in the middle of the mountain, enclosed in a hut, and that is where everybody did their business (you can't get any more closer to nature than that!) Though I was really exhausted, I couldn't get any sleep, I was cold, and wet, and I really wanted to go home right then and there, I thought I would die of hypothermia (no kidding) The next morning was kind of better, the rain stopped and all we had to deal with was the cold, the dark, and the slippery trail to the summit. We started trekking at 3am with just our headlamps guiding us through the way, by the second and a half hour of our trek I was literally crawling my way up the summit, I know I had to get there before sunrise. As I saw the orange light, I knew it was a race against time, I told myself, I didn't go all the way here and endured all those troubles just to miss the sunrise. As I reached the summit I felt something that I have never felt before, its more than a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, I don't know what you call it, but I felt it. And as we all saw the sun rise, we were just left in awe, it was spectacular! magnificent! beautiful! amazing! and all the other synonymous adjectives that you could think of. All the rough roads that we came across during the trip, suddenly didn't matter anymore, all the hardships paid off and it was worth all the risks. We were above the clouds that seem like waves in the ocean. They didn't call Mt. Pulag the playground of the gods for nothing. It was just like a dream that I didn't want to wake up from. It's that moment that I realized why I took this trip, why didn't hesitate in saying yes, and that's when I decided that I want to climb more mountains and see more things like this. I will keep on climbing mountains and exploring not for the world to see, but to see the world. 









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"Every mountaintop is within reach, if you just keep climbing"
-Barry Finlay, Kilimanjaro and Beyond

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