Trek to Anawangin Cove via Mt. Pundaquit

Few months ago, there was a group of hikers who coordinated with us about a 2 days outdoor outing with our children. At least 25 children from 9 to 15 years old were able to join plus adults to look for them. Orientation was given beforehand by these hikers, inculcating to the children these phrases "Kill nothing but time, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints", before we packed our things and headed on to our meeting place.


Anawangin cove is in the province of Zambales particularly in San Antonio.

At around 1 in the morning of May 14, we left Manila boarding our own service van and a rented jeep to accommodate us all. It took us almost 5 or 6 hours travel to the municipality of San Antonio where we met our other companions. We had our “breakfast” (egg sandwich and water), distributed the children’s shoes for hiking and extra water before we walked to the mountains.

We started around 8 in the morning but it was very hot already.

We rested for a while to fill our dried throats then proceeded climbing the mountain. An additional phrase rose as we went on "Burn nothing but calories". :)

After almost 4 hours of trekking under the sun, we reached the peak of Mt. Pundaquit. The overlooking beauty of Anawangin eased our tiredness.

The view was really magnificent but when we realized it was still far from where we stood, we looked down, thought for another hours of walking and just let out a big heavy sigh. :)

Finally, we arrived at the camping site. There were already some who went by boat since there were a lot of things to bring to the site like tents, utensils, foods etc. The tents were already set up so we just  had a short nap while the children went for a dip. They were just so excited that they even forgot to rest for a while.

just resting on a hammock

The sun hid already when we walked around, took pictures and had some activities on the sand. Evening was fast approaching so we had to go back to the camp. Some of us roamed around the other tents, obviously curious about the bonfire which our neighbors were setting up.
The following day, we all enjoyed swimming until 12 noon before we left the island via boat. Everyone did not want to return walking through the mountains.

Anyway, if you want to get away from your busy and stressful city life, try considering this place. It may not be a secret hideaway anymore but you will still enjoy the place as you enjoy the nature.

Trekking the mountains would not be easy even for some mountain climbers because of the hot weather. There were no trees to shade the way from the heat of the sun which made it a hard row to hoe.

Once you reached the cove, you will have to go back to basic life-no electricity, cellphone signals and no other modern facilities. You need to bring your own tents and field in under the pine trees for your overnight stay since there are no hotels around. A hammock can also be tied on the trunks of the trees. 

Foods, lots of drinking water and flashlights are the most important needs in the campsite. You can also bring your acoustic guitar which you can strum while singing around the bonfire during the night.

You can also go boating and hopping the nearby islands.

Or climbing beach cliffs...it seems the rocks are a bit tricky here.

ENJOY!!

Banaue Reflection

The first time I climbed the mountains going to Banaue was on April of 2002 and that was Holy Week. I and some friends planned to be there after the second semester. Most of us were from Batch 2000 (Don Bosco High School).
The road going up was quite rough and the mountain was steep. We met some tourists on our way.

The road going up was quite rough and the mountain was steep.
When I went back after five years (November 2007), I saw some changes. The road from Banaue Poblacion to Banaue proper is still roughly the same. It is just widened so that 2 jeeps coming across can be accommodated. From the proper where we started to hike is almost the same but as we went along, I noticed that the road became wider. A tricycle or an owner type jeep can actually pass by until Batad. I and some friends whom I went with reached Batad Rice Terraces after more than 2 hours of hiking. We rested in one of the inns facing the majestic view. It was very cold even if it was just afternoon. It was not that beautiful as I had seen the first time because the farmers just reaped the palays or the rice plant. I just saw the remains of the rice plants piled on the edges of the rice paddies.

After resting for about 2 hours (I slept because of tiredness) and taking some snacks, we decided to climb the terraces. I went ahead and lost myself at the peak of the terraces. There were some rice fields which were full of tall grasses. I tried to think it wasn’t like that before. As I followed the path, I became I bit scared because it was getting dark and I couldn’t trace the way to go back. From where I stood, I looked down the village and tried to find my companions. I couldn’t see them and didn’t know where they were. Suddenly, I heard loud voices and they were just at the other side. We met and found our way back to the inn because it was getting darker.
I noticed that the village has lights already meaning they have electric power. We just used lamp before and it was a bit difficult especially when going out. According to the people, the electricity turned up 2 years ago.The following day, we trailed down the Tapia falls. The way going down wasn’t easy because it was very tricky as before. If I was not that careful, I could slip and fall down the ravine. They swam in the river and tried to go near the falls. Ay naku, my companions were as hard headed as the stones. They were enjoying themselves in the water, taking pictures and teasing each other while I was there feeling nervous because the water was coming up. It rained that night and was still drizzling that day. I just didn’t realize those people were from the other side of the planet and had tons of reasons when I told them blah blah blah of being careful whatever! They may’ve laughed behind my back. I turned back and ignored them.I thought of the 3 children I met in that falls 5 years ago. They were selling drinks and junk foods like chippy, oishi..etc. These children overtook us on our way to the falls five years ago. The older one which was 8-9 years old was carrying a case of coke, the girl who was 7 years old was carrying the bags of bread and junk foods while their 3 years old sister was on her back. The youngest was held by a woven clothe wrapped around her back to the shoulder of the big sister. They told me they were going to the falls to sell what they brought with them. Their goods came from Banaue poblacion rode up to the proper and carried to Batad. I wondered where these children are and what they do now.At last my companions finished their swimming so we decided to go back to the inn. Wow. It was another trek going up and it was darn raining. We reached the inn, freshen ourselves and started to trek again going back to Banaue where we must take the ride to Manila. It rained hard so we were all wet.