Disclaimer: All photos are owned and taken by Cherryl Gurrobat
This post is long overdue, but I still want
to share this. Last week, I went treking to Mt. Pinatubo.
My friend, Che's photos inspired me to go out and see the country. While I often express frustration over the corrupt government and how we Filipinos lack discipline, I had forgotten to appreciate the good things we have. And we have a lot!
Together with Che, her sister Cha and her friend Janet, I decided to start off with my new goal of seeing the beauty of the Philippines, here in Mt. Pinatubo.
It wasn't an easy trail, but it was probably the right start for me. From the foot of the mountain (or whatever part it was), I had to endure a 2 hour walk! Another 2 hours to go back. And it doesn't sound so hard if you're gonna do it on an even plane. Now it's a "mount" I'm talking about so you can just expect all the tough things you could think of hehehe.
It was an overcasted Sunday so I didn't sweat as much as I expected, but the biggest threat was the rain. It's not safe to go there when raining because of the lahar and I've heard of death instance due to bad weather, so all throughout the trek, my only prayer was not to rain. It drizzled a little, but Thank God, I made it through without any scratch.
My knowledge of Mt. Pinatubo was fairly limited to its 1991 massive erruption. How can I forget getting up in the morning and seeing the outside of our house covered in ash. I was so young at that time and I thought for a moment that it snowed. I had no idea the disaster that had just happened. So when I finally made it to the top, I was just blown by the beauty. How can something so beautiful come from an ugly tragedy?
Despite the gloomy sky, the crater lake boasted a turquoise color. What can I say? The sight
reminds me of dinosaur era, I was hoping to see a big bird to hover around and give me an illusion that it's a Pteroducktyl! It didn't happen, but what the heck!
After the trek, my body was aching. I felt like an old lady, and I was longing for my bed so badly but it wasn't the body pain that gave me a heartache. It was the sight of the Aetas living in poverty. The knowledge that our trek guide is underpaid despite the hard work he did for us. Our trek guide's name is Raymond and he's a hard working fellow. The only thing we could do for him was to give a small tip and some food.
Overall, it was a learning and an inspiring experience. I hope to go back someday but next time. I hope to do something better for the people who live there.
3 comments:
kidd, guess this first trip served you right. :)
I liked the last part when you mentioned Raymond and the Aetas. These realizations come as a great part of travelling. you learn, you enjoy and you become more human.
we had so much fun experiencing this trip with you kidd!
till our next adventure!
-che
we were still living in zamboanga when the eruption happened. we had no idea how serious it has affected the place and my family in manila. and to mention the entire global climate. the pictures are awesome and i'm glad you had a life-changing experience as well.
@che I realized that travelling is not all about having fun, you learn and you connect. I really hope I could do seomething for them someday. And I hope to see more breathtaking sights here =)
@yojichan we both had no idea how bad it was. But when I read wikipedia, it says the particles went as far as Vietnam and some parts of China. That was HUGE. Thanks for your comments AIsh, inspires me to share these stuff =)
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