03 March 2011
Even before this vacation, I already talked to my cousin Mhai if she could accompany us to the town of San Gabriel because it's one of the La Union towns that I really wish to visit. I know the town is quite near our place (we live in Bacnotan), and seeing some pictures from the town really made me want to set foot there. Thankfully, cousin MC (Mhai's brother) had a few friends living in San Gabriel, so they told me they would accompany sister and I when we go to San Gabriel.
Sister and I was picked up by cousin Michael because he dropped off his kids at school that morning. My cousins were still preparing our packed lunch, so it took some time before we left, but it was just fine because sister and I was able to roam around the lands - checking the tomatoes, eggplants, mung beans, and tobacco, one of the biggest crops from Ilocos Region. Sister was actually hoping to help skewer the fresh tobacco leaves, but they didn't harvest so we couldn't do that this day.
We left their house around 8:30am, and we just opted to take the tricycle going to San Gabriel. Cousin MC went to his friends' houses, so when cousin Mhai told me the church was just behind the town hall, I asked if we could go there first so I could say my prayers and take pictures, too.
Around 9am, we started our hike. Our destination is the Tangadan Falls, something my cousins haven't seen yet, but we have companions who knew the way. They already told us that we will cross lands and forests... and we told them we were game about it, and we actually anticipated that this will be a tough hike, and we were prepared for it.
To call the hike "tough," would definitely be an understatement. It was freaking difficult to cross the water trails then climbing land formations trying to hold on to the roots. I personally didn't take my camera out my bag because I wanted to concentrate on the trail and I was afraid that my camera might fall off as I try to "carry" myself, but halfway along the way, I asked if we could take a short break and took some pictures. I also tasted the waters, and it was sweet and cold... very refreshing!
We continued our hike... and every time Mhai would how far along are we, they would answer with, "We're halfway through." It was actually a good answer, because knowing we still have to hike more fueled our bodies and mindsets. Somewhere, I asked if we could take another break, and they allowed us, but they were just near us, and not hiking anymore. Every time I would ask if we could catch our breath, our companions would still continue hiking. When we went to where they were, they just pointed their fingers and we realized we were already there. Duh! They should've told us that we were there already. Hahahaha.
There was a big flat boulder near the falls which we used as our table. They played cards, while some of us roamed around, take pictures and admired the beauty of it. We also ate our lunch there, and around 2pm, we noticed a big dark cloud above us, so we figured it would be best for us to hike back.
We took a different route because my cousins said it would be risky for us to climb down and cross water trails. One of us said that there's a "road" back to heart of the town, and the term "road" gave us this sense of assurance that we won't have to endure that much. We took that other route, and seriously, it was much difficult of a trail because we did nothing but to hike up and up and up. For a while we questioned our decision to take this route, but we were there already so might as well go on with it. I placed my cell phone and my camera inside a plastic bag because it might rain soon and I am using a fabric bag, so I didn't want to sacrifice my gadgets, hence no pictures along the way.
Anyway, I have experienced taking 700+ steps up to Mt. Tapyas (Coron, Palawan), and I thought that was the toughest climb I have experienced... until I experienced this. I was seriously praying hard asking God for more strength, and my cousin Mhai and my sister would always ask if I can still carry on, and I would always say "yes," because I really have to. At my weight, I need to exert more effort because if I give up, then I would give them more than 200lbs. of burden. Hahahahaha. Every flat land is something to rejoice about, and hiking up for more than an hour I came to a breaking point when I really shouted to the heavens, "enough!" But of course, God has given me more strength, and as soon as we saw that one house with an old man, we just sighed a sigh of relief. Finally, we have seen a human being! The old man told us to hike some more, because somewhere there will be a jeepney going to the school to pick up the teachers and take them back to the heart of the town. Getting there meant more uphill climbs, but when we reached the waiting shed, it seemed as if all the burdens have gone and I wasn't tired anymore.
We got there around 3:45pm, and the jeepney will leave at 4pm, so we just took our time relaxing in the jeepney. Since this was a barrio with very few ways of transportation, jeepneys would tend to overload - even let people get on the roof. We figured we couldn't do that, so while the jeepney was parked, we just took pictures.
It was a roller coaster ride. We realized we were so high up, that cousin Mhai exclaimed, "we were just 25 cents shy from heaven." Really, we felt as if we were close to heaven as we were able to see the whole town from above - kinda like being in a plane! We wanted to cross the hanging bridge, too, but it rained while we were traveling back, so we canceled it.
This definitely is something very memorable. My body ached, but my spirits were nourished. I thank God for allowing me to experience this.
Linking this story to 52 Weeks of Happiness and Watery Wednesday.
*** Jenn ***
