I was excited about this trip. I read a lot of blogs about ANAWANGIN and I envied those bloggers. They have beautiful pictures of Anawangin (partly because their cameras were high-end; mainly because the place was awesome). Finally, I and my friends at work decided to go to Anawangin, too. There were many of us who planned to go there and most of us were excited. One of us even did a daily countdown for the trip on her Google statuses.
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| while listening to Feist's music on my mp3, i enjoy the view from NLEX |
Two days before the trip, the girls backed-out. They said that they’re no going anymore for some unclear reasons. But whatever that reason was, I didn’t care! I said to myself, “I’m going anyway”. It has been planned and no one can stop me.
Unfortunately, some of the boys decided not to go too because the girls are not going. Sigh! I was in panic when I learned about that. I really wanted to go but it seemed that the trip was cancelled. Then, a day before the trip, I received a text message from my friend, Echo, who was part of the plan. The message said: “Ed, we’re going. I’m bringing my girlfriend. I hope you can come with us.” I didn’t hesitate. I said “YES”. We were going! Problem solved.
So there were only three of us. We took the Victory Liner bus is Pasay. The bus left at 8am and the fun began. He headed to Olongapo City and took another ride going to San Antonio, Zambales. From San Antonio, we rode a tricycle to Brgy. Pundakit. It took us roughly 5 hours to get to Pundakit from Manila and cost us around 330php (one way).
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| the consequence of not wearing shoes on a rocky mountain trekking |
We decided to trek going to Anawangin Cove via Mt. Pundakit. We wanted to enjoy the view and experience real adventure. We started the trek around two pm. The trek took us 4 hours. We were rushing because we wanted to get there before the sun sets. That made us very tired. Our guide said that it will be a more relaxing trek if we made it a 6-hour trek, plus we could have
enjoyed the view. We arrived at Anawangin Cove at 5:45pm.
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| this is how Mt. Pundakit welcomes you |
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| i wonder who lives here. are these the Aetas? |
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| i got very tired. i paused for a while and regained my energy from the amazing view of the mountain |
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| a small creek |
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| cross this fence before entering Mt. Pundakit |
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| almost at the summit |
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| summit at last. almost there but its a long way still |
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| down... |
The sun was setting. We wasted no time and started to set our tent.
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| the orange rock |
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| at last, the destination |
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| a beautiful and sexy firedancer. she's friendly. you can have a picture with her while she dances with fire! |
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| perfect for swimming |
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| sparkling |
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| yes, this is in the Philippines |
We spent the first day roaming around the cove. The sight was amazing. It felt like we were somewhere in a temperate region; kind of like Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland… like Marlboro country. We climb some small mountains and enjoyed the view of the entire mini lake and beach. It looked like it was an easy climb but it wasn’t. It was rocky and slippery. I enjoyed the sand and rolled over it. It was white with a mixture of black volcanic ashes. Locals said that the entire mountains were covered with ashes when Mt. Pinatubo erupted and a bigger percentage of the sand were from Mt. Pinatubo’s volcanic ash.
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| a double-deck boat |
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| in deed, this is a very difficult climb but the view is rewarding |
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| higher... |
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| the beach itself is seated on a pine forest |
We spent two nights on Anawangin. We were supposed to visit Nagsasa Cove and Capones Island but unfortunately, a storm was on its way. Everyone was stranded on the beach. There were no boat trips because the waves were big. It was not safe to travel by sea. The storm came at 7:00 in the evening. The wind was strong and blew our tents away like a feather. We had nowhere to stay. Thankfully, the people of Anawangin were kind enough to let us in their small sari-sari store. We spend the night in the store and felt the wind tried to blow the small store. The store was sturdy so we were safe.
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| the sari-sari store |
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| say hello to the storm |
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| the storm paused for a while |
In the morning, I wind was still blowing hard, the waves were big, the sky was gloomy and the rain was still on. No boat trips. All tourists decided to take a trek. We took the trek again to mount Pundakit. It was raining hard and wind was so strong. Along the trail, we saw waterfalls formed by the rain. It was a majestic sight. We reached the peak and it felt like heaven. Clouds were all around us and it was misty. I didn’t hesitate to take a photo of the mist and the sight (though it is going to harm my camera). Trekking on a stormy day is not an easy experience but it was unforgettable and one-of-a-kind.
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| trekknig while the storm is on |
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| waterfall from the rain |
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| with friends i met along the way... |
