This has been one of the longest walk I've had, although it's not difficult, it's the long stairs that made me almost pass out.. that's when you reach the end of the trail. I guess it's always like that; long stairs after a long walk.. is it to test your strength? Can't we just settle for a long walk?
I was crawling up to the last steps in Mount Pinatubo's crater, not knowing that I'm facing another moooooooore steps down to the crater lake. But of course we were rewarded with a glorious view and a very fine weather.
The sun was up, shining bright, but we never felt the heat because the cool breeze absorbs it in an instant. We admired it for a long and almost nonstop photo shoots before we settle down for lunch.
Okay, I'll tell you about the long walk., a long walk to remember? (lol)
We arrived at the base camp at I guess 6:30 in the morning. It was a 3 hour drive from Manila and we traveled with a group of good people; TriPinas. We were guided by a foreigner actually, and that was quite surprising.. but in a good way. A foreigner to guide us in our own country? That was awesome.
He found love in a foreign country and took it as his.. also helping its economy., quite remarkable that guy is, and he's charming too. His wife is also a tour guide who had a different route touring a group of people to Sagada, I guess. How lovely.
So we left the base camp at around 7am and after an hour of uber bumpy 4x4 ride with dust, wind, and everything flying around in our faces, we started to walk.
And this is how you protect your eyes from all the dust and sand.
This 2 hour trek to Mount Pinatubo's crater was nothing to what we experienced in Sagada. I guess the pain lasted for almost a week after that adventure in Sagada.. spelunking huh? Our calves hurt but it got stronger, I think. Trekking absolutely will do you good, plus it makes your calves not only stronger, also sexier. I don't run though. Not anymore. It's just a part of my childhood. You know one time, I used to run fast, and I had to run as fast as I could because the dog.. he was huge, and he caught my slipper. ..just my slipper, don't worry.
Okay, now back to trekking.
It was quite an enjoyable view, trekking this breathtaking Crow Valley Canyon as what they call it. You're not allowed though to scream because it might trigger landslides, and you must respect that. Also, check if the weather is good before going because the terrain is made of lahar, and the rain makes it unstable.
Safety first!
This is the second part of our trek. Where we could take a little rest and go to the toilet, and few minutes later we went back to walking.
Finally..
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| I believe this one was taken by Gian, so credits to him. |
The water really is blue and green, but they prohibited swimming and kayaking or any other water activities because it contains hazardous substances. And yes, someone had died from diving in this majestic blue lake. But he didn't die from drowning, he got infected.
On the positive note though, there was one thing that I'm so thankful about; our food. Ms. Josh and Ms. Vi brought the finest food in our picnic. I don't have photos of it though because I was hungry and tired.. if I'm hungry, I eat. But one thing's for sure; I enjoyed it.. especially the jelly ace. :)
And the following shot was taken by Mr. Tee of TriPinas.
it was worth the pain!! hahaha thank you @tripinas! :) pic.twitter.com/fVHSDoafvA
— teresa dosado (@nevetessa) March 9, 2014
Going back to the base camp.. thankfully, our driver was fast and we arrived second. There wasn't a race but because there are no much bathrooms, and there are tons of groups who trekked.. well, the race was to get to the bathroom immediately. Because I/we can not wait for long to take a bath and clear our heads. It was my hair's worst experience. You can buy shampoo though and conditioner in a sari sari store there. Another good thing is that there's a cheap halo halo nearby.
Awesome.
Did I mention Mount Pinatubo is an active volcano? Yeah..
Wow, beautiful pictures!! And what an amazing and unique trek! Would love to do something like that too! Thanks for sharing and linking up with us :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was an amazing trek, and a great view like this heals the pain immediately. :)
DeleteThat first picture WOW! That is my favourite travel photo I have seen in a really long time. It just doesn't even look REAL.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you so much! Well, you gotta visit the lake to see it for yourself. You'd probably enjoy it. :)
DeleteI'm the worst of trekkers (or just walking in general) but this looks absolutely worth it! Your pictures are gorgeous! Those mountains and that greenery and that water (although it seems sooo crazy to think it's contaminated!) just wow! That's really cool too that your guide was a foreigner - it's always great to find people who love your country as much as locals! :)
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed worth it! And yeah, Mr. Tee is really cool, that's his name, our tour guide; he's french, and he speaks well of our language.
DeleteThank you for liking my photos. I appreciate it. :)