Trip to Mt. Batulao

This is not the usual travel blog. 

I don't think I can give you much advice about what to bring or what activities to do. I just write here to share my experience. I chose to make this blog personal. 

It's been a year since I climbed a mountain. I've been very busy with my career and of course with my master's degree. Whenever I have the opportunity for these kind of adventures, I eagerly grab them! :)

I cant remember the exact date of this hike but I know that it was my last day of second semester 2015. I was so tired of making my final papers for Philo Ed and my research paper for Psycho-Socio-Linguistics. I also had my final exam on Intro to Linguistics that day.

My brother texted me about his plan on hiking to Mt. Batulao. He's really problematic because my parents didn't allow him to go with his friends. As a "kind" sister (HAHAHA), I persuaded my parents to allow him provided that I'll go with Karlo.

I was in Manila that time. I think I arrived at Cavite around 7pm. I had dinner and hurriedly pack my things for the hike. I felt a rush because it's literally last minute for me!

I met my brother's friends and we ride a bus to Batangas. I think the fare from Robinson Dasma to Batulao is around 60php.

We decided to have a night hike. We paid 400 to a guide from the village near the mountain. I think it was around 11pm when we decided to sleep. I wasn't informed that nobody brought a tent! We just used some blankets and slept on the ground. I think we were halfway near the peak. 

We started hiking 5am to witness the sunrise at the peak of the mountain. It was all worth it. 

Trip to Batangas

This is not an ordinary trip. We went here to immerse with the fishermen. We want to experience how it feels to live their life. We did not went to a resort or a hotel. We went to the community.

We have to wake up early to meet the fishermen and check out the fishes that they've catch. It's a good thing because we had the opportunity watch the sunrise.

The people in the community were very hospitable yet conservative. They let the girls sleep inside the bahay kubo while the boys have to sleep outside in the papag to guard the girls. Here's our picture in the bahay kubo.

We had an opportunity to ride their fishing boat for few minutes. They told us that we should ride their boat so that they'll have a good luck on their next time of fishing. 

After meeting the fishermen, we decided to enjoy the beach since we still have time before going to the farm.

I have a folder in my desktop named "Dream Folder". I used to save pictures of pretty places that I want to visit there. I was surprised when I saw a location similar to that picture.

Dreams do come true. 

After swimming, we went to the farm to pick some fresh vegetables that we can cook for lunch.

My friends cooked Pinakbet. It was a blockbuster. :P 

Since I did not help much in cooking, I volunteered to wash the dishes. It was very challenging because I need to get the water from the well first.

It was an memorable experience to know the fishermen, the farmers and their family. We  were also became more aware of the issues that they have to face because of the capitalists that surrounds them. After a whole day spent with them, we had some sharing of reflections about the situation of the community in Nasugbu, Batangas.

Thank you for reading. I hope I was able to show you a glimpse of how they live for a day.

From Tumblr to Blogger

I used to post my stories in Tumblr. Yeah, I put a lot of random thoughts there.
I think that this site is more organized so I'll transfer the stories about our trips here. :)