Arn and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary last March 18. On the day itself, we just hosted a simple lunch at home with our families and had a super long afternoon nap afterwards. We were too tired from the previous nights' studying, etc. to go anywhere else.
We prepared spicy, garlic shrimps, inihaw na tuna panga, kalderetang baka, arrocep salad
Our anniversary date was booked for the week after. I gave Arn three options and he chose Pinatubo.
We booked our Pinatubo trip thru Tripinas Travel and Tours. We paid P2,050 per head and this includes the following:
* Round trip A/C land transfer (Manila-Pinatubo base camp-Manila) inclusive of toll fee and gas* 4x4 wheel drive
* Local guide
* All applicable fees (conservation, local pinatubo guide)
* Certificate of Conquest
* Tour coordinator from TRIPinas travel and tour ventures
Arn had a busy night last March 23rd, the night before our trip, and he arrived home at almost 11pm. Stressed from parading and standing for hours, he really did not get to pack as OC-ily and we had only about 3 hours of sleep before we needed to leave the house. Meet-up time for the group tour was at 2:30am in McDo Panay Ave. cor. Quezon Ave. (near the Q. Ave MRT Station). There, we were supposed to eat our (very) early breakfast and already buy food for lunch.
We arrived in Capas, Tarlac, at the base camp at around 5:30am. We boarded the 4x4 at around 5:45am and arrived at the jump-off point less than an hour after. Riding the 4x4 in itself was already an adventure as the terrain is really rough. (Pero sa puyat nakatulog pa rin ako sa biyahe, kahit very bumpy ang ride). You cannot help but be amazed at the driving skills of the drivers and be sorry sa kung pano nila abusuhin ang 4x4's.
From the jump-off point, it was a leisure 2-hour hike to the crater. Mahaba lang ang lakad, pero madali lang naman ang trail. There were no steep inclines. The trail was a mix of walking on sand, crossing rivers/streams, going past big rocks and boulders, and towards the end walking among lush green vegetation. The trail was made easier because Arn volunteered to carry almost all of our stuff. Ang dala ko lang ay isang maliit na shoulder bag with my wallet, our shades, cellphones, ipod, and camera. Ang sarap ng may asawang fit! :) Throughout the trip, Arn (na hindi man lang pinagpawisan), gave me time to sit down and rest, kunwari nagpapapicture pero bogged down na.
Arn, aboard the 4x4
At the jump-off point
trail and early morning fog
there were several river crossings
pahinga muna
maraming ganito sa trail, yung parang nagsasalubong na dalawang bundok, pa-drama/pa-suspense effect, kala mo tuloy pagtawid mo dun, yun na, pero hindi paaaa....malayo paaaa.... ;p
pagpag lang ng sapatos kasi puro na buhangin
kunwari picture-picture, pero in reality, taking a 2-minute break from walking
Side kwento: On our way there, nakasalubong namin ang 54th Engineering Brigade pauwi na from an overnight summer outing at Pinatubo. (Note: Ordinary mortals like us are not allowed to spend overnight in Pinatubo. Tour operators highly discourages the idea.)
After around an hour and a half, we reached the sign that says "Your Pinatubo trek starts here." This used to be the old jump-off point when the skyway was still open. According to the sign, the trek to the crater would last 20 minutes for senior citizens - it took me more than 30 minutes, I think, to get to the crater - I'm extra senior, senior :)
pahinga muna uli
Arn pretending that the trek is hard, kasi di pa siya pinagpapawisan til then
Finally!
dito pa lang, ang ganda-ganda na!
True to reviews, the Pinatubo crater is as awesome, magnificent, majestic and (I am running out of adjectives) as breathtaking as it's hyped up to be. No picture could do it justice. Ang ganda. I spent several minutes just silently looking at it before I remembered to take a picture. The color of the water was turquoise-blue - thank God! I was apprehensive before our trip because I heard stories of people who went there at ang inabutan ay brownish na kulay ng lake.
Pinatubo, taken with a non-high-end digicam and without photo editing (maganda na, as is)
Ayaw na ni Arn nang ganitong pose. Paulit-ulit na lang daw.
Arn, muni-muni by the lake
Ang aming mga pagod nang paa.
After resting for a while, we availed of the boat ride to be able to cross to the other side of the lake. The boat ride costs P350/pax. There were fewer people at the other side and the sand here is super hot! We had lunch and swam at this side of the lake. Ang sarap din humiga sa sand, pero wag matagal kasi si Arn nasunog ang likod sa init.
view sa mga madadaanan
reaching the other side of the lake after a 15-minute boat ride, mas maganda ang view dito, at mas tahimik kasi konti ang tao
kumukulong tubig
nagswiswimming ng naka-tsinelas kasi ang init ng buhangin
arn's sunog na likod - sandburn!
feeling Richard Gomez on our boat ride back to the other side of the lake :p
Now the real interesting part of our Pinatubo adventure started on our return trek. Looking back, because of the things we experienced when we were there, we now treat our Pinatubo trip as an allegory of our marriage. But, that kuwento, and our reflection on the kwento, deserve another post (Part 2!).
No comments:
Post a Comment