Pushing Your Way to the Top: My Mt. Batulao Experience

[ With, Timo, my adventure buddy for the day ]

Climbing Mt. Batulao was a spur of the moment type of decision. Life's monotony frustrated me so, I went online and booked the soonest hike Trail Adventours had.

I got my brother to join me on this much needed adventure and without much thought and preparation, we got up at 3am and head out for our day trip. We met our team lead and everyone else at around 4:30 am at Mcdonalds and by 8 am, we were at Batangas, ready as ever to start hiking.

However, what was supposedly a Level 3 climb turned out to be a lot harder than we all expected.

We took a new trail and the obstacles surprised everyone in our group. At some points, the trail was so narrow that I would get nauseous, seeing the lower terrain on my peripherals; so steep that I felt like I was gonna fall backwards or forwards with every step; so slippery that sliding right down became frighteningly possible.

There were also many times when we were literally climbing vertically, grabbing onto rocks and pulling ourselves up or holding on to ropes for dear life. (I actually liked the rock climbing parts a lot better than just panting your way up an inclined surface.)

Anyway, after around 6 kilometers, we finally reached the summit. Struggling to keep up with my superstar athlete brother paid off, because we ended up arriving first and getting good spots under the shade.

There was a nice little halo-halo stand, where we ate our lunch and enjoyed the view, the peace and the mere sense of fulfillment.

[ Cheese and crackers at the summit c/o our mommy ]

And then, the rain started to pour...

Because of how hot it was at that time, I was never happier to feel water fall from the sky. A new friend lent me this glorified garbage bag that I used as a raincoat and with that, we were "ready" to go back down.

Many of you may be grossed out by this but, man, Timo and I were so happy about the mud. We sort of relived our childhood a bit - going barefoot, running and sliding along the streams of the dirty, wet soil, dancing in the rain and singing the songs we used to sing as kids.

Childhood. Right there. I was so happy.

We weren't really able to take that many pictures. Every last ounce of energy I had, I used to take the next step. Haha.

On this trip, I realized what it truly meant to push. I don't know how many times my face got white or red, how many times I felt like fainting and how many times Timo literally had to hold my hand throughout the duration of the hike. But hey, as they say, the view from the top is pretty great. :)

[ Happy is she who survived today's adventure! ]
[ Shout out to my brother whom I wouldn't have been able to do this without. ]

That was 12 freakin kilometers. My body hurts like hell and I still have to study for an exam tomorrow...

But at least now, I know that, uhm, good things come to those who push.

(Or something to that effect. HAHAHA Have a nice day!)