One With Nature (Mt. Banahaw)

Yay finally, hell week is almost over and I have time to post this one. Last week, I was able to go to Mt. Banahaw for my History165 class and it was such a tiring and relaxing trip. It was also my longest field trip ever (15 freaking hours). If you want a little adventure in your life, I suggest you guys go here. I learned a lot and at the same time got to be one with nature (really).

Going to Mt. Banahaw takes around 3 hours (I think?) via bus from Manila. I never really noticed the time because I was asleep. Here's a tip for taking such long trips: Bring a music player! The bus ride is going to be very boring especially if you're riding with people you don't really know.

A Sacred Mountain
Here's an introduction to Mt. Banahaw: The locals strongly believe that it is very sacred and that the even the waters have power to cure sicknesses. There are a lot of caves and lakes there that you may want to look at because it is believed that the caves have some mystic power that can decide if you are a very sinful person or not (more about this later). Throughout the journey, you'll see some shrines and statues of religious people like Jesus and Mama Mary. It is very important to pay homage to these statues by placing a candle near it. I should also must warn you that you need to be prepared for a very tiring trekking because of the rocks that you'll be jumping over.

Rizalista Beliefs
As soon as we arrived, we went to this village and got to talk with the Head of a religious group there. According to them, Jose Rizal is a prophet sent to us by God. They actually worship him and put him in the lines of John the Baptist. Who knew that Jose Rizal was actually someone sent by God to save us. The person read a chapter in the bible that is said to be describing Rizal and his life. Yes, there are similarities but I just find it a big coincidence. IMO, he's no prophet. But, of course, we have to respect their beliefs because they are really serious and devoted to Rizal.

Hundred-Step Journey
After that talk, we started trekking. We first went to the sacred lake (sorry, I forget the name). We were all excited because we just ate and we're excited to start our journey. After a few minutes, we were in this place that had a lot of steps. We had to go down the steep steps. My friend, Mica, counted the steps and she said that it was around 270+ steps (I can't remember the exact count) before we reached the sacred lake. On our way down, we were able to meet some elders who were going up the stairs and you could see them really wet and they carried a big container full of lake water. As soon as we arrived at the bottom, we were allowed to take a dip in the lake. I was really hesitant at first because I didn't want to change my pants (I'm too lazy) but Mica persuaded me.

Mica and I trying to "clean our sins" with the water.

This lake is said to be sacred at it cures all our sins if you bathe in it. You could see some locals actually doing their laundry in the lake and some taking a bath there (literally! With the soap and shampoo!). Here are some pictures that I took around the place:

Justice in Husgado
If you think going down 200-steps is hard, going up is 3x harder! I was so exhausted as soon as I reached the last step. Even if we were tired, we still had to continue on with our journey. We headed to this cave called Husgado.

Husgado is a Tagalog word for justice and this cave is named that way because they have an old belief about it. According to them, if you go inside and reach the end of the cave without any wounds or scratches, then you are not sinful. But, if you get a wound or have a very hard time going out of the cave, then you are a bad person. Sounds easy? Well, the cave is very closed. Only one person can enter it at a time and you could imagine how cramped it is.

At the start of the journey to the cave, we had to walk on foot to the entrance of the cave. It was really awkward walking on soil and rocks that have moss. Usually, I'd scream in disgust if I walk barefoot at such a place but I just kept it to myself. We had to wait for over an hour before it was my turn to enter the cave. This gave me opportunity to get to know some of my fieldtrip-mates. One of the best parts was the pick up lines that they thought about. It really made my afternoon. Anyway, we went inside the cave and it was such a struggle because I had to twist my body in all sorts of positions just to make it out alive. After 20mins, I was able to make it out without any scratches. I think it was because my sins were healed in the lake.

Yes! I'm a very proud survivor of the Husgado cave.

Swimming inside the Cave
After a tiring journey inside the Husgado cave, there were only a few people left from our class that waited for us outside the cave (we were last in the line). The others went to the other cave already. It was another journey to the next cave and as soon as we arrived there, people already started going back. We just went to the cave to see what's up there. Mica really wanted to go there but I was hesitant because I didn't want to get entirely wet. After a few minutes of persuading, we decided to go in. But they had this rule that they were allowed only 10 persons at a time and we were number 11 and 12. We decided not to go in the cave anymore because there was no more time. Sorry, Mica.

Anyway, according to the people, if you go down the cave, there is a "pool" inside that you can swim in. It is said to be very cold as you can see smoke coming out of you when you're there. Anyway, it will only take 10mins or less to go through everything but we headed back already.

Going home
We headed back to our buses and changed our wet clothes. While waiting for the people to get settled, there were a lot of vendors outside our bus that sold some souvenirs to bring home to our families. I actually bought some espasol because I know my mom loves them. The bus ride going home was longer (or maybe because I was awake for most of the trip back). Then, I realized that the new people that I met (when we were waiting outside the Husgado cave) were actually one row behind me. It was a better experience because we were able to talk about stuff. It was a livelier ride because we already knew each other. Of course we had that occasional sleeping time because we were tired from the trip but we always found time to talk about life and school.

Anyway we arrived back in Ateneo around 10:30pm which was so far from the original ETA at 7:00pm. I had so much fun! It was a tiring day but I really enjoyed it because I got to meet new friends and actually got to take myself out from the busy life in school. This experience actually got to make me appreciate nature more. I suggest you guys go there just to experience it. Its definitely something I wont forget.

PS: Be sure to wear footwear that is really made for trekking. My friend, Joyce, learned about that the hard way. The rubber part of her shoes were gone after the trip. HAHA!