Hiking the Filipino way

Hiking in the Philippines involves getting up at 3am. After four hours sleep. A McDonalds McMuffin to give us some energy(!) and we’re off to Tagatay to the mountains. Having not really left Metro Manila before the trip up was great and the views down onto the lake spectacular.

Dan’s host family and their club had done a great job of planning every detail and leaving the car in a tiny village we set off with enough water for a few weeks and flip flops for the people living in the houses on the way up. It was pretty hot considering it was still only around 7am and our guide put us to shame as he ambled ahead over the rocks smoking.

By UK standards it wasn’t a hard walk although not good for the clumsy people with a fear of heights. The trek included 11 little peaks on the way to the final summit which did seem a bit daunting in the heat until we realised we’d skipped from 2 to 4 without noticing that we’d done 3!

Filipino climbing also involved a rest area about every half a kilometre in case you change your mind when you see the path presumably. There were some slightly hairy bits for those not accustomed to clambering over rocks although on the way back it emerged that there was actually another path. Perhaps our guide just fancied a laugh. On the way down he was seen miming someone falling over and laughing with his friends. As we’d all fallen at some point I won’t take that too personally.

I think the only way to describe the scenery is through the pictures below and to say that my photography skills don’t anywhere near do it justice.

By the bottom we were all covered in the orange dust, fingernails, legs, face and later discovered inside my socks. Dan’s host Sally had arranged for us to take a ‘bucket shower’ in the outhouse of a house in the village and we did our best to get looking respectable before lunch and the new host families.

Lunch overlooking the lake was another overwhelming feast of Filipino dishes although I think we are all getting better at taking very tiny amounts of food so you don’t have to refuse second, third or fourth helpings. And revitalised by our fresh air and exercise we even managed to work on our secret project for our presentation. All will be revealed (technology allowing) later.