Mt. Banahaw

I arrived home yesterday from my PI 100 Banahaw trip. I am dead tired.

Saturday May 7, 2005: Our class left the bus station 7:30am and arrived at Brgy. Sta. Lucia, Dolores, Quezon around 10am. We went around the area, exploring the different Rizalista sects (under the hot, noontime sun). We ate lunch, then started our trek along the "Daang Kalbaryo". Our first stop was the "Buhok ng Ama" and "Buhok ng Ina", found in the "Ilog Jordan". They're two separate falls which we had to pass through.

We visited a lot of caves (kinda like spelunking, hehe!). The caves were really crazy! For every cave we visited, we lit candles because the people living in Dolores, Quezon consider them as sacred places.

Cave 1: San Isidro is the name of the first cave we visited. It was rather small and short and not so challenging to pass through.

Cave 2: "Prisintahan". We literally presented ourselves. We went down using a ladder, lit candles, then stated our names.

Cave 3: "Santong Jacob". This is a difficult cave. We had to go down slowly (no stairs, only rocks) and near the bottom of the cave, you literally have to slide down. I had to stretch my legs, (practically in a split) then slid down carefully. After lighting candles, we took a dip in the water found inside the cave (very cold!it was ice cold!). It was so small, we had to dip ourselves one by one. Also, it was cold inside. The description my classmates used was "umuusok kami sa baba". You know, when it's really cold that when you talk, your breath is frosty.

Cave 4: "Husgado". I learned a word that the natives use. It's "bartolina". If you're sinful, and you do not pray inside this cave, the cave supposedly adjusts it's size so that you wouldn't be able to pass through (binabartolina ka na). This cave was difficult yet fun. For me, getting in is much more difficult than getting out. You see, you literally have to dangle yourself, then jump forward, to get in. If you make a mistake, you can fall into the "bangin". The "bangin" is not so deep, so it's not that deadly, but dangerous enough to get yourself injured if you fall into it.

After Husgado, we went to the peak of the hill. The "Daang Kalbaryo" is really punishing. I had to use all of my strength to climb the rocks. The path was very rocky...I think there were more rocks than loose soil. It was really a vertical climb. You may find this weird but going up was easier than going down. On the way down, it was already dark so we had to use flashlights and candles. Plus, we had to be extra careful for if anyone slipped, the whole class could fall. There were "cliff-y" portions. It took us 30-45 mins. to go up and an hour to go down.

Sunday May 8, 2005: We went to the foot of Mt. Banahaw. It was fun there because we got to swim. But before swimming, we went into a really long cave. The cave had fruit bats in it. Half of the cave is filled with knee-deep ice-cold water. After that, we went to a makeshift altar, lit candles, then passed through the smallest cave ever. It was soo small, you have to be flat on your chest to get in. I was lucky because I could crawl in it, but most of my classmates had to lie flat. After that, we went swimming!!! It was sooo much fun! Some of my classmates jumped from the cliff and dove into the water. We were all shivering; that's how cold the water was.

Though it was tiring, everything was really enjoyable. I still have some bruises and I am aching all over but it was really fun.