Wednesday, February 27, 2008

My Batulao Xperience / February 25, 2008

This is by far the most tiring trip that I ever done. Maybe because the trek would cost you 2 to 3 hours and maybe longer to some or because this is the first time that I've done a day trek that cost me more hours to go there than staying there.

The day started with a 4 am call time at edsa rotonda, chowking at Pasay. The bus bound to Balayan Batangas took off at exactly 430 am. It took us 1 and a half hour to arrived at Evercrest a tryke ride away from the jump off point. Since it was early and none of us haven't had their breakfast the group decided to eat at Ate Fes karinderia. After filling our stomachs with papaitan we catch a tryke then proceed to the jump-off point. The first two hours of the trek is easy plus the cool climate really helps when passing by open fields. Not to mention packing light really helps conserve energy.

The trip would eventually lead you to the camps namely 1-10, ten is located at the summit. Camp 1 to 6 are relatively easy due to the fact that the distance between each camps are closer plus the terrain is not that steep. But 7 -10 is where you separate the man from the boys. The terrain of camp 7-8 is steep and the loose rocks, makes it harder to get a grip. 8-9 is where you will experience wall climbing, with 70 degrees and 20 foot high of rock and earth as your wall.
9-10 is the easiest of the 3 but still one wrong move will be the last move you'll ever make.

After resting / photo session at the summit for 30 minutes, we decided to go down at camp 1 where we plan to take our lunch and 1 hour of rest. Going down is harder than going up from camp 10 - 7 but easier as we manage to reach camp 6 t0 1.

Well to cut it all short . the trip was fun. the halo halo located at the trail lacked sugar and taste but refreshing nonetheless . the locals our very kind that some even bother cooking up corn for us. and our guide is a really cool kid, with a name HELL that is the coolest name. Plus eating dinner at chowking after all of this really completes it all. Thanks to Jay / Trix / The lovers from Lucena / Gary / the tall guy / and specially my gf Mitch for making this trip possible.