The Dalaw sa Batulao Experience

Finally, after weeks of planning ay natuloy narin ang First Outdoor Activity ng office namin! Wohooo! Our plan was mountain trekking to Mt. Batulao in Batangas, but as we go on to reach the summit of the mountain the trekking part became a climbing na! Scary!!

Welcoming Sign sa Mount Batulao!

In fairness to Mt. Batulao hindi sha mahirap akyatin. Though nakakapagod coz you need to go up and down the slope (kaya nga sha tinawag na mountain climbing eh) several times in the heat of the morning and noon sun kayang kaya naman sha akyatin kahit ng mga first timers sa pag-akyat ng bundok.

Along the way, you'll see some dilapidated markings indicating which peak are you now. Unfortunately I didn't notice the other markings, kaya itong tatlo lang ang nakita ko.

In Peak no. 8 is the camp site of the New Trail. It's more higher than the old camp trail but the view is spectacular!! We got the Summit as our background! See some pics here...

(naks gwapo!!)

The locals of Batangas are naturally nice and friendly in fairness to them. They will happily assist you if you’re lost (nawala kasi kami ni Al when we’re on our way to the pit stop), and pansin ko rin that the store owners don’t take advantage the climbers when selling buko juice or Mountain Dew (yes mountain dew lang ang available sa bundok, go figure!). I remember when I went to Puerto Galera (6 years ago nga lang ahahaha) the price of drinks and food was Mahalia Mendez! Here in Batangas, the difference of Mountain Dew in the slope and the one being sold on TOP of the mountain was only Five (5) pesos!!!!

No, I will not give my comments (though I would love to kaso wag nalang ahahaha, saying ang space) about how-to-take-care-of-the-environment or how-lucky-we-are-on-what-we-have-right-now-compare-to-those-living-in-the-mountain but instead I will focus on the behaviors of the mountain climbers.

I was surprised to meet a lot of nice mountain climbers last Saturday. This nice people greet you when you meet them on the road, they will say “magandang umaga/hapon/gabi po”, “ingat po kayo”, “kumusta po” and what not. Yes I’m a sucker for nice gestures kaya naman it’s hard not to respond to their greetings din. Sadly some of my colleagues didn’t appreciate these simple gestures (i.e. deadma-thology) so I ended up greeting all those people na nakakasalubong naming =D. There was an instance that some climbers assist us on descending a very slippery trail. Kasi naman kami lang ata ang mountain climbers na ang dala lang sa pag-akyat eh camera! Hahahaha! Mountain Climbing is the best place to spot who is nice, gentleman, concerned people and those who don’t care nor give a damn on what’s happening to you.

Anyhow, here’s some other pics I’d like to share when we’re on Mount Batulao..

The Batulao Ridge

On our way to Peak No. 8 (New Camp)

The Mountain, The Sky, and the Ex-Kubo

Sarap! Sana maulit muli!!