April 2009
“I knew that when we all get out of UE, things probably would not be the same anymore. We would hardly see each other again. But if we ever see this huge cross again, we would remember this wonderful experience we had with each other.”
MT. SAMAT
I. JFINEX
II. Shortcuts
III. Karyll And Vincent
IV. Stairs
V. The Cross
VI. Museum
I. JFINEX
April 18, 2009. Summer vacation had just started. During the past academic year, I served my first term as the president of the academic organization for Financial Management majors in my university, the UE Junior Financial Executives. That day was special because after the many things that happened in the organization, it was our time to relax and celebrate the fruitful year. Bataan was our destination.
I had been planning the trip for several days. I was inquiring and researching for the place where we could stay and some other places that we could visit. I divided the trip into two parts. The first one would be visiting a historic site, Dambana Ng Kagitingan in Pilar, Bataan. After that, we would head to Raven resort in Abucay, Bataan where we could swim and relax. Disappointments started to come my way that morning when I learned that some of my co-officers were not coming. I had been constantly planning for this and to hear that they would not come out of some reasons was a bullet to my head. But I did not want to spoil the event so the eleven members of the JFINEX 2008 family boarded a bus at Bataan transit.
My co-officers did not know where we were going. I had been always successful at organizing events and I wanted to surprise them every time that I would organize a trip for JFINEX. At first they thought we were going to Pangasinan and begged that we do not. They knew it was possicle because last semestral break I took them to Oriental Mindoro. But they were relieved when we boarded a bus with a Bataan town in the signboard.
II. SHORTCUTS
It was a long journey to the north of the Philippines but I was excited about the anticipated time with my co-officers. Half of these people I will not see at school anymore. And out of the eleven, only Odette and Mau will stay with me as an officer in the next school year. The trip had stopovers. And by the time we were in Bataan, I revealed to them that we would be climbing Mt. Samat.
Mt. Samat is marked with a structure of a big cross on its top. And when we got out of the bus at Pilar, the cross came to our sight. We were going to climb a mountain that day. My friends complained that we should have dropped our packs at the resort first. But I explained to them that our reservation was still later that day. After all, what is mountain climbing without any packs at your back? We hired tricycles which took us to the base of Mt. Samat. One UP Diliman alumnus joined our group when she learned that we’re going to Mt. Samat. Her companions were already at the top. But she was surprised when she learned that our plan was to take the three hour walk rather than hiring a tricycle which would take only twenty minutes. After buying some stuffs in a store at the base of Mt. Samat, we started the long walk.
It was not a typical mountain walk and Sunshine protested that our Mindoro hike was better than this hike that we were doing. There was simply no thrill in it. We were walking through an established road. After some stations, we passed by a picnic place with benches and tables. We rested there and took some pictures. We walked and walked until we noticed that we were going up in a zigzag manner. Earlier we were looking for a thrill and deviating from the zigzag road and going through the forested area would definitely be a thrill. And we did that. We discovered several shortcuts on our way to the top. There were dead ends as well but crossing through the shortcuts definitely added challenge to the mountain which was classified as having a 1/9 difficulty.
III. KARYLL AND VINCENT
The light but laborious trek continued for hours. We reached a place where we all sat down and relaxed. But wait, Karyll and Vincent were not there! But some suggested that they would arrive later than expected because they were at the back of the pack. We waited for several minutes and Karyll and Vincent still were not showing up. I became worried that they got tired and hitched a ride back to the base of the mountain. But why wouldn’t they inform me? Then I started to backtrack. I shouted their names but there was not any response. After several minutes of walking back, at last, two familiar faces!
Both were looking really tired already. I grabbed and helped Karyll with her pack. I can sense that she was tired but she was passionate about the walking-for-three-hours thing. Vincent on the other hand seemed to not be okay anymore. We walked up and when we got to the resting area by the road, everyone rested and rehydrated.
During the earlier parts of the climb, we could not see the cross. But at that point, the cross was at sight. It was a relief and a motivation at the same time. However, because it is huge, it looked near. But in reality, we were just halfway through. We encountered another shortcut. I could see some troopers’ faces. They were up to challenge. But I was not seeing it on Vincent’s face anymore. The shortcuts to the woods were challenging. At the second shortcut since the long rest, some even had to cling to a rope that Mike and Kevin tossed for support. It was an adrenaline rush even if it was basic mountaineering.
When the man with his motorcycle which kept on bugging us since the start of our climb passed by to check on us again, I suggested that the tired ones hitch a ride until the top. The motorcycle driver was offering a free ride for one of us provided that we hire him on our way down. It was a done deal. We would not be able to survive walking for three to four hours again after we visit the heritage sight on top. We chartered him to wait for us after our visit to the site. I certainly did not want to hitch a ride nor did some of my officers. We were enjoying the shortcut trails. It came down between Karyll and Vincent. Vincent insisted that Karyll take the hitch. But Karyll did not want it. She was still up to the challenge. She told me that she loved to continue the hike with us. So we lobbied on Vincent to take the ride. It was clear that he was very fatigued already.
IV. STAIRS
After the last shortcut, we reached the site because we could see some commercial houses already. But we were at the back side of Mt. Samat! We surveyed the place and found three toilet bowls facing the woods. It was silly but I took a picture with it thanks to Via. We were faced with this very long rock staircase which was not so easy to pass to. Its angle and the height of its steps were designed to break the legs of those who will take the stairs.
After the leg breaking stairs, we reached our destination! Welcome to Dambana Ng Kagitingan! We registered and met with Vincent at the guardhouse. After that, we searched for two things: cold soda and comfort room! We found a souvenir store which sells soda. I bought a soda and an I Love Bataan cap. After the sweet sipping of soda, I went to the comfort room. Louie and Rommel washed up. The girls were doing the same as well. If we did not, it would look obvious that we hiked because we would look like as if we were all raped and tortured. And there were many people there as it was a tourist attraction. There were lots of foreigners too.
After washing up, it was yet another climb up through a long and winding staircase…again! It was another grueling battle uphill and we just cleaned ourselves up. And at last, we were at the base of the cross. We sat down and relaxed. Some of us went to check the souvenir stores. Then, it was time to experience the cross. We had to buy tickets and fall in line. There was a queue but it was not that long.
V. THE CROSS
Finally it was our time to enter the elevator! We were divided into two groups. I was with the first group to ride the elevator. I really wanted to position myself in such a way that I would be able to see the view as we are going up. And I did. It was a spectacular feeling to be on top of the mountain and still be ascending higher. We got out of the elevator and went to the left side of the cross. The view from the top of the cross was an amazing sight! We saw the plains and towns of Bataan. We also saw Mt. Mariveles from a distance. And lastly, we saw the beaches at the other side of Bataan.
We were busy taking pictures that we hardly noticed that the second group was still not there. Later on we found out that they were at the right side of the cross. So we crossed the lateral portion of the big cross. We spent the time at the cross enjoying the views and taking many pictures. It was my first time to go up on that cross and I was very overwhelmed. I was happy that I was with my JFINEX family. I knew that when we all get out of UE, things probably would not be the same anymore. We would hardly see each other again. But if we ever see this huge cross again, we would remember this wonderful experience we had with each other.
VI. MUSEUM
After going down the cross and the long and winding staircase, we settled in the mini chapel. We rested and stayed there until we were complete. Some had to go inside the comfort rooms again. The plan that time was to explore the museum near the chapel. The tickets to the museum were already included in the registration fee that we paid at the guardhouse.
We went down through a spiral staircase which escorted us to the museum grounds. Around it were pictures of the place during the Japanese occupation. There were also presentations of the weapons used during World War 2. There were canons and cannonballs. There were swords and guns. There were lots of pictures of significant faces during the warfare. There were also special documents that I really did not read completely. I just browsed through most of them. What got my attention was the replica of Bataan. It showed us the map of death march where thousands of Filipino and American soldiers died a painful death. I saw the neighboring towns of Pilar. I saw and was struck with a replica of the highest peak in Bataan, Mt. Mariveles.
After checking the museum, we headed back to the guardhouse where we waited for the motorcycles that we chartered. It took us to the base of Mt. Samat and from there we rode another set of tricycles to get to the market of Abucay. It was such a tiring but wonderful time with my friends and at that time, we were just ready to hit the swimming pool of Raven resort.
No comments:
Post a Comment