Mt Talamitam Climb

For the past several days, it's been so sunny and hot it feels like summer again. And I've been studying for what feels like an eternity when it's actually just 7 looong days. I need a break. I need some mountain air. Apparently I'm not the only one who has cravings. It's been a month since our last climb in Mt. Tapulao and even if it cost me 5 days of being house- bound due to muscle pain, I missed the mountains hehe Abby, Rein, Ralph, LJ, and Mike were game. Milcah also missed the mountains but she wasn't crazy enough when there were occasional rains 2 days before the climb. I also invited Julie because she wants to experience it without being limited by her daily bathroom rituals.

I got my things on Wed even when the climb was on a Saturday. We met in Pasay Mc Do supposedly at 4 am. I arrived at around qtr to 5 hehe but LJ was late by an hour! Hence some free Bulalo hehe

Waiting for LJ at McDo Pasay

It was an easy enough climb. No swearing or cursing happening much hehe or is it because I feel fitter and healthier? Or is it because compared to the climb on Mt Tapulao, this is easier? Hehe

Anyway, the hardest part of the climb for me, was the first part with its inclines (reminds me of Pico de loro) but its very much manage-able. Then you'll reach a short clearing, where you could see some views of a house, the road, and some mountains. Then you'll pass by some planting areas and some grasslands, and a meadow where lots of cows were grazing. (Hmm Imagine if the weather is sunny, then this will be too hot!) Then, there's the assault to the summit with its very steep incline, the hardest being as high as your waist. (So Yes, having long legs is an advantage.) but once in the summit, it was beautiful. It wasn't as high as pico de loro or batulao, but because of the great weather, the view was spectacular... With some essence of a sea of clouds. :-)

At the Barangay Hall at the Start of the Trek

Within 30 minutes from the jump-off point, you will pass this bridge

First Stop-Over

Second Stop-Over: another clearing with lots of cows grazing

Prior to the assault to the summit

View from the Summit

View from the summit

Yes for some partial Sea of Clouds!

View from the Summit

At the end of the climb back in the barangay hall

Going down was also easy despite the mud, where we only took 1 hr going down. Actually, it could be done much faster without any need for a break haha

We changed clothes and went on our way. We could do a twin dayhike, but a lot of us wants to get back to Manila early. (ahem, Ahem)

We just passed by Rowena's and had early dinner there, knowing that it would be traffic on the way back to Manila. Yey for some free Bulalo from LJ!

Rowena's

Mt. Daguldol Climb/Laiya Beach

Another fun weekend spend with the Backpackers United :)

Backpackers United at the foot of Mt. Daguldol - Photo by Victor Ayson

At first I was again hesitant because I have no friends again (Ha!)... I meant, I have no old friends. Anyway, Ralph and Deo convinced me to come nevertheless because at least I knew some of the climbers already due to the previous climbs. The funny thing was, I invited some "old" friends Yani, Milcah and Patrick. None of them came, but a friend of Yani, Emman, came! Haha Proxy... I don't even know who he is, and I'm supposed to entertain him? Naku, shy pa naman ako! Hindi ako sigurado sa powers ko! Hehe I also saw from the list that there were previous climbers who I climbed with last year... Back when I was really really super shy and quiet (even my sister remarked on it! Now I'm just shy :P). I guess I can redeem myself hehe

Anyway, so on with the climb. We were to meet at 3:30 AM in McDo Buendia-Taft, but well, I got there around 4:20 AM. I was the one who drove so, basically it was a 20-minute travel time from our home. Apparently, I was just on time because the taxi in front of us was dropping Deo off haha (I just love it when things just fall into place!)

At around 5 am, we went to the bus terminal at JAM liner bound for Lipa City, Batangas. (I thought it was JAC liner because it was the liner that was beside McDo! I was calling Deo in his Sun number, which apparently wasn't working. And he was calling me in my Globe, which I didn't bring!) From Lipa, we rented a jeepney bound for San Juan, Laiya, Batangas... The place where I got electrocuted and my heart stopped! (FYI, I'm almost three years old, post-electrocution.)

So, we changed costumes, fixed our things and we left most of our things at the area. We just brought what we need for our dayhike in Mt. Daguldol. Maybe I'm getting fitter or I've just been through a harder mountain, but I didn't think Mt. Daguldol was that hard... Okay, or maybe our pace was slow so it wasn't that hard hehe

Photo by Victor Ayson

Photo by Victor Ayson

There was about a 30-minute walk in the beach to get to the jump-off point, after which there is an average of 3-hour hike to the summit. But we didn't get to the summit first. About an hour from the jump off point, we went to the waterfalls. 

Photo by Victor Ayson

There wasn't much area to swim or bathe. But it has many rocks, so we did a bit of rock climbing haha. (Rock climbing na pala iyon? Actually, I think that's what they call "scrambling" but I'm not sure.) I read somewhere that this has the SWEETEST water... They're right. It's the sweetest, based from the colonies of big red ants in the area. You just have to stand in a rock, and ants would crawl up your legs (or your socks, such as in my case).


After a series of photo shoots, we went ahead to continue our trek to the summit. There were originally two series of halo-halo stops and a buko-juice stop. We stopped on the first halo-halo and had our packed lunch there.

Halo Halo Stop 1 -  Photo by Victor Ayson

(Original) Halo Halo Stop 2 (but it was on break so there was no halo-halo at this time) -  Photo by Victor Ayson

Then you will pass by "Pride Rock" (which I named after Lion King because of the protruding rock).

Photo by Victor Ayson

Seaside view from the Pride Rock - Photo by May Moya

And you're almost there! Near the summit! The summit was composed of 2-3 trees and a sloping hill. In terms of view, there were other mountains that were higher so you couldn't see a 360 view of the area.

Group pic at the Summit - Photo by Victor Ayson

Photo by Victor Ayson

Panoramic View of the Summit - Photo by Alex Locsin

Other side of the panoramic view - Photo by Alex Locsin

After the summit, we went back to the beach. It was around 6, so it was getting dark by the time we reached camp. Deo started cooking and grilling, but we were only able to eat around 8 pm already, so we were all very hungry. While waiting for the food to cook, some of us went night swimming. Seeing "underwater fireflies" whenever we move under water, getting stung by a weird underwater organism (cannot be identified due to the darkness), hoping it would be cloudless so we could see stars...

Dinner followed by socials. Buti nalang the guys follow a "Ladies First" rule - Photo by Victor Ayson

After dinner, we had the usual socials. Supposedly, we were to have our karaoke for our socials but it was only up to 10 pm, so we forego that thought. (A lot of us were REALLY disappointed with that thought... So much that we made up for it in our post-climb! Which was really fun because we were almost complete, only 2 of us didn't make it that time, and we finished and dispatched at 6 in the morning! The sun was already shining! Haha But that's another story for another time!) We just had the usual Deo style of Q and A, while drinking some really bad mix of gin, orange and more gin. Really disgusting! Only eating my Oreos made me surpass that! But still...

More photo-ops come morning for those people who were awake.

Sunrise at Laiya Beach - Photo by Victor Ayson

Rock Formations -  Photo by Victor Ayson

Looking at the sea -  Photo by Victor Ayson

We ate breakfast. Wanted to play volleyball but there was no ball (I should have brought one! I knew I thought about it...). Played patintero in this striking heat of a sun. (Bakit ngayon wala ng clouds? Kagabi ang dami??) Eventually went to the beach at noon! After a series of photo-ops, we fixed our things and went home. I was able to reach mass in Quezon City by 7 pm :)

Backpackers United at Laiya Beach -  Photo by Victor Ayson

PS The campsite was beside the place where I got electrocuted! If only I had my camera (or even my phone camera), I would have taken a picture with MY pole again after three years! Hehe Everything looked the same!

more pics of Les Caraibes

When: Aug 22-23, 2009 Where: Les Caraibes, Laiya, Batangas With D-Mates (DOH Intern group) To enjoy prior to 4 months of OB and Medicine days ahead! (And make most of the benign Pedia rotation at PCMC) Still at the Hospital Waiting for Stranded UST People Intense Game of... Not really sure what Still waiting At the van (first position) Lunch at Mister Kebab At the van (second position) Waiting to Check In Couples Room Orange you glad you came? Singles (for this weekend) room Mister Salt and Pepper with some watermelon shakes Back view Watching the sea Cleavage view Roaming Girls at the Beach In the water In the Blue, er Green Lagoon Waiting for Dinner Dinner... still waiting Texting the driver With my Bamboo PGI (Patay Gutom Interns) Gutom na kami! Pakainin niyo na kami! Let the drinking begin Lots of chips and drinks Cami Drinking Lemon Love Gusto ko pa! - Cami Loving the shot glass Obsessed with Pics Closer... Actual pic Bok urinating? Me with Red, redder, and reddest Third wheel ako Tin and Laurence Ok daw sabi ni Tasha Teaching Oreo to be the chaser Sino mas pula? Kaninong kamay ang chees-y? Concentrated sa Pag-Inom Drunk Effect Charee with a crab Pula na tlga ni Melli caught rolling in the sand? Lying down at the sand migrating the drinks to the sand ingit ang walang sarong! kanya-kanyang position cheers! Me and Cha with the STAR Me and Jecai with the STAR Take 1 Take 2 Take 3 Wasted Reviving myself "Yes, I could still discuss about anemia." GCS 15 The Hotdog (The Equivalence of my Life) One more shot for Tin I think Melli's drunk See? But Melli's still thirsty! One more shot before going back Early morning risers Clear waters underneath Clear blue sea Sexy back Post-Electrocution Brunch for early risers Lunch for late risers waiting for the food (PGI tlga...) Dozing off Pearls for Sale Modeling the Pearls Consultant Level Pearls Lounging back to sleep Woke up because of the camera Battle of the Tadyang Too hot outside Packing out Doctors to the Barrios? Charee and our feet Doctors to the Beaches Consultant Mace With Douglas With Douglas again nOthing but Douglas Jump shot 1 Jump shot 2 Jump shot 3 With some colorful flags and boats Still with the colorful things Jace and Mace ADMU Bio Sisters The Killer Electrifying Pole Stop-Over at Total Gas Station Still at the Thai place Melli's sick... mukha ba? Waiting by the parking lot With Mt. Makiling at the Back Laiya 2009 (133).JPG