Napo to Babag Half-day Hike

Hello again! It's been a year since my last post. I've been too busy on and off the internet: sweeping mines, coloring books, running errands, posting stamps, dog grooming, getting into accidents and what have you; and... yeah. I just deliberately unplugged myself from here. I realized I left this blog with just 2 posts for 2012 so I decided to breathe life into it again by posting one (probably the only one for this year) while I'm racing against the horrors of internship. 

Last September I went hiking with my schoolmate, Gerard, and his mom whose age quite surprised me and probably you too. It was a weekend and we were told by our professor that we deserve a half-day break per week (seriously!?) from all the schoolwork. So half-day break we did.

We met at Guadalupe Church at 7 AM on a Sunday morning. All of us wore orange (unplanned, if you're curious) which was kinda telling of that day's weather -- I got sunburnt. We walked from the church up to this place called Napo.

Gerard and his mom. Murky waters.

That's a kid whose happiness shoots up on the sight and sound of fresh water.

 Tub time. Water was pretty cold 'coz it rained the night before. 

We were supposed to have someone else come with us but she didn't push through 'coz her mom feared the river might be flooded due to the rain. And trust me: you don't want to deal with flooded rivers. I've gone to an it-just-rained-and-it's-dangerous-but-let's-push-through-since-we're-already-here flooded river trekking and it was a stupid move albeit realized too late.

This is a caterpillar who also wore orange to match us. I've never seen a caterpillar as colorful and as big as this. I don't like insects (alive). Sorry for the blurry photo. My camera was not cooperating.

My company also introduced me to plants, butterflies, and ants of different kinds. One ant had these claws that give off a sound you can really hear when they click. Amusing but I hate them on trails. They feed on you regardless if you're hanging on to dear life or just comfortably walking. Wicked minute vampires.

Lots of steep climbs. Almost like knee to your chest kind of thing.

It still amazes me how people from the mountains walk these paths on a daily basis, some of them carrying logs or baskets on their heads and yet still keep their balance. Barefoot at that.

We came from behind those mountains next to where we were standing on this photo. 

Since there were only three of us we finished the course by noon. Usually it takes a whole day for a large group to reach here. I don't have a photo of the RCPI towers but there's nothing much to look, really.

Them fields getting ready for All Souls' and All Saints' day.

Our view over lunch. That peak on the left is called Sirao. It's a nice view from there too.

Cebu City

From here we walked our way to the road that leads to Mountain View Resort and took a jeepney back to the lowlands of Cebu City.

Total expense for the trip: Php50.00


Happy summer, everyone!

Osmena Peak, Dalaguete

We took the bus which left at 10am from Caltex near USJR in Carbon. Php100 for a 3-hour ride. The ride wasn't that comfortable. Our knees were touching the seat in front of us and we sat next to live chickens and vegies but if you got good company, the chicken included, the ride won't really be a torture. It took us directly to Mantalongon Market, probably the highest wet market in the province. 

If you take the buses in South Bus Terminal, you drop off Dalaguete highway and take a 20-minute habal-habal ride to the market. I hear it's a fun ride.

On our way to those mountains

Adidas rock

It's an hour walk from the market to the campsite. If you don't feel like walking, you can take the habal-habal which will take you to the foot of the peak and walk for just 10 minutes more. If you plan to arrive at midnight like some of the guys in our group did, then this route will be best. Unless you really want to night trek.

 It was very cloudy when we got to the camp site. The hill on the left is Osmena's Peak.

Lots of campers that day. It was the first weekend of the semestral break. 

Foggy!!

View from Osmena's Peak. I wonder whose those other peaks are. Would be great if one of those is named after me.

With my pretty sister, F. It took a lot of convincing for her to spend the weekend with me.

Group photo by Tikboy

 With Jah who carried our tent the whole time. Looks like heaven! Photo by Julius.

Thought we were unlucky that day. It was so cloudy we couldn't see the sunset.

But then the clouds moved away and there you have it.

That time of the day when the colors play in the sky.

The night sky was a beauty. I hadn't seen as many stars ever--some shooting and falling, can't really tell the difference. We were lucky the sky was clear that night, not a cloud covering it, which also meant no rain. It was so cold already without the rain.
We didn't have any decent photo during camp at night especially of the millions of stars because Gerard aka Tikboy who had the only camera capable of capturing it was seeing other kinds of stars brought about by Tanduay and whatever it was they were drinking.
No bonfires. Just headlamps, layers of cloth on our bodies, music, food, cards, talking, playing and laughing. The only things missing were a guitar and a lipstick to paint the card game loser's face.And we had a firefly inside our tent! Lovely company.
You know what they say about people in the mountains. There's nothing much to do that's why they go to bed early. I guess that held true for the girls that night except that it was too cold, we found it pretty hard to stay asleep.
Woke up to this...

...and breakfast cooking. Packed up for a long walk to some cold fresh water.

Binuthan Cave

April 30, 2011 Saturday I went with Bal and Rochelle, the same cute guys I was with in Argao, to Binuthan Cave in Morga, Cebu.

We were supposed to go there with a (?professional) guide but we were cost-cutting (whatever) so we went there on our own plus a local guide, which was much cheaper. Bal did a reconnaissance a few days before the trip. He's quite suicidal.

Dropped off at 10am somewhere in Bonbon and went down a steep mountain. I was practically bumming at home weeks prior so the descent made my legs seem to wobble, aside from other more unfortunate events 

>.< So point is to do some exercise.

Smiles of girls who were temporarily relieved of some climbing.

Fresh buko snack.

Going up to Binuthan cave. My favorite part of the trip.

Eeeee fresh water <3 <3 <3

Mouth of Binuthan Cave. You could use some fats to keep you warm and afloat in these waters.

Lots of rocks above and below.

Because the water at the mouth of the cave is so deep, we had to use some inflatable to get through. Those are my little sisters' life jackets Rochelle and I were wearing. Just maximizing the resources. :P

Walking through this part of the cave reminded me of Britney's MV of Not a girl not yet a woman.

It took us an hour and a half to get to the end of the cave.

End of Binuthan Cave

To make the most of our trip we decided to check another cave nearby.

With Rochelle and Bal.

Facebook is always watching.

Even when you're far from civilization, do mind your fashion. Unfortunately I don't mind very much of what I wear so I never pictured myself when I grabbed my clothes that morning. It's stupid to have polka dots and stripes in one get-up. Gah! I should have been a man.

Field of cabbages. It's my first to see a field of vegetables so I did feel like it was an achievement.

Bucketlist:

• see a field of vegetables

Satuhan Cave

It's a chapel inside. We thought it's a boring place as you can see in the photo the end is seen from the entrance but it's actually for extreme caving as you have to rappel down to explore. We didn't know about the extreme caving thing until I posted the photos on facebook and someone commented. Told you facebook is always watching.

*Photos by Bal