Not To The Swift
So maybe it was a tad impulsive & crazy. If you asked any particular muscle group in my body the following day they would fully agree. But I certainly thoroughly enjoyed myself, pain & all, as I hiked into Banaue for the weekend. I found out late on Thursday that the following day was “Cordillera Day” and therefore a holiday in my region (CAR, Cordillera Administrative Region)! Suddenly with a full day off and nothing planned I decided it was a perfect time to make my vague dream of hiking into Banaue a reality. So I bought 3 chocolate bars, 6 packs of SkyFlakes (saltine crackers), some peanut butter, & 6 avocados, packed my hiking backpack & at first light the following morning set out for the 40km trek.
It is an amazing hike! On a clear day along parts of the hike you can see all the way to the Sierra Madres, the mountain chain right along the east coast. Spread out between you and them are the vast peaks and valleys of the Cordilleras peppered with rice terraces & small gatherings of huts, schools & churches. In total the road only passes through three decent sized barangays, and I saw around 10 vehicles total. Other than that I was all alone with my thoughts, a fully charged iPod & the mountains. And boy are they mountains with lots of ups & downs. I recorded a few of the peaks & valleys with the LGU’s GPS unit just for kicks. Mayoyao sits at about 1100 meters and about 5 klicks later I peaked at 1265. The downward hike takes you all the way to the river that divides the municipalities of Banaue & Mayoyao and all the way down to 518m, that’s a downward trek of 747 meters in about 15km with the occasional rolling hill as you wind through the mountains. A few well placed bridges could easily take a couple km off the trip. At one point in time, on the other side of the valley the road was less than 100 meters away, but it actually follows the mountain around for over a km to reach that point. There are quite a few similar parts of the road.
The fun part, of course begins on the other side as I was immediately faced with a steep hill through Docligan, the first barangay in Banaue. Its one of the few parts of the road that is paved due to the steepness and it feels like almost straight up. By this time the sun had also risen enough to begin heating up the day and it didn’t take long to become drenched in sweat. Over the next 15km the road rolls up and down to eventually top out around 1164 meters. Lucky for me I got a boost of energy part way up as I was shown one small shortcut (stairs…fun) by a group of high school girls who were walking home from the National High School in Docligan to Batad. So they joined me for a bit as we hiked along, those that were confident in their English running on at high rates of speed interspersed with much giggling. It was a great recharge and they carried me along with their chatter into much less grueling terrain. But Filipinos don’t walk very fast and like to take a lot of breaks, so at the next shelter they stopped and I continued on my way in blissful silence.
At least they didn’t tell me I should ride the bus after they find out what I was doing. At least every third person who asked where I was going told me in some fashion that I should wait for the bus. Its an interesting cultural trait that occasionally gets under my skin. Many things are communicated with very direct, commanding language. Much the same way that I ask “How are you?” incessantly, the standard question here is “Where are you going?” or “Where did you come from?” People care about your response in the same way we do too. Its fun to watch new people attempt to provide complete detailed answers, just as I did the first few times I was asked. “You will eat now,” “Go and take your rest,” “Wait for the bus.” Are all standard language choices as well. The greeting along the path is even “We will go.” It takes a bit to get used to, but once I realized that I could simply say “Yes I’ll eat (my 2nd or 3rd breakfast)” and then eat or not as I please without causing offense it got much better. Even given all of that cultural knowledge, people still seemed very serious and chiding with my hiking. I guess they’re just not used to crazy Americans.
Near the end of the trek you pass through a saddle and the famous terraces of Banaue open up in front of you with what I dubbed the Holy City slowing starting to wind its way closer. By now my feet were on fire and the last 3km became a test of endurance. But still, even then I enjoyed the mental challenge of continuing to hike following my mantra for the trip, “just keep going.” And I’m still not sure how much the last three km hurt because of my body nearing its last legs, or because my mind knew I was almost done. All told I only stopped three times, once a short ways out of Docligan to apply sunscreen and acquiesce myself to the fact that the road was still going up, once for ten minutes to eat my lunch of PB & cracker, and once to break out the rain cover for my pack and umbrella as it started to lightly drizzle. Thankfully it did nothing more than that. Then there were also the occasional pauses just long enough to pull and avocado or chocolate bar out of my pack to eat as I walked.
From door to door I hiked for 8.5 hours for an average of 4.7km an hour and a total elevation change of 1654m (not counting all the rolling hills). Quite the day. Hopefully I’ll still be able to walk tomorrow. As for why I did it? I think Dan said it best, “The beer will taste good tonight.”
It is an amazing hike! On a clear day along parts of the hike you can see all the way to the Sierra Madres, the mountain chain right along the east coast. Spread out between you and them are the vast peaks and valleys of the Cordilleras peppered with rice terraces & small gatherings of huts, schools & churches. In total the road only passes through three decent sized barangays, and I saw around 10 vehicles total. Other than that I was all alone with my thoughts, a fully charged iPod & the mountains. And boy are they mountains with lots of ups & downs. I recorded a few of the peaks & valleys with the LGU’s GPS unit just for kicks. Mayoyao sits at about 1100 meters and about 5 klicks later I peaked at 1265. The downward hike takes you all the way to the river that divides the municipalities of Banaue & Mayoyao and all the way down to 518m, that’s a downward trek of 747 meters in about 15km with the occasional rolling hill as you wind through the mountains. A few well placed bridges could easily take a couple km off the trip. At one point in time, on the other side of the valley the road was less than 100 meters away, but it actually follows the mountain around for over a km to reach that point. There are quite a few similar parts of the road.
The fun part, of course begins on the other side as I was immediately faced with a steep hill through Docligan, the first barangay in Banaue. Its one of the few parts of the road that is paved due to the steepness and it feels like almost straight up. By this time the sun had also risen enough to begin heating up the day and it didn’t take long to become drenched in sweat. Over the next 15km the road rolls up and down to eventually top out around 1164 meters. Lucky for me I got a boost of energy part way up as I was shown one small shortcut (stairs…fun) by a group of high school girls who were walking home from the National High School in Docligan to Batad. So they joined me for a bit as we hiked along, those that were confident in their English running on at high rates of speed interspersed with much giggling. It was a great recharge and they carried me along with their chatter into much less grueling terrain. But Filipinos don’t walk very fast and like to take a lot of breaks, so at the next shelter they stopped and I continued on my way in blissful silence.
At least they didn’t tell me I should ride the bus after they find out what I was doing. At least every third person who asked where I was going told me in some fashion that I should wait for the bus. Its an interesting cultural trait that occasionally gets under my skin. Many things are communicated with very direct, commanding language. Much the same way that I ask “How are you?” incessantly, the standard question here is “Where are you going?” or “Where did you come from?” People care about your response in the same way we do too. Its fun to watch new people attempt to provide complete detailed answers, just as I did the first few times I was asked. “You will eat now,” “Go and take your rest,” “Wait for the bus.” Are all standard language choices as well. The greeting along the path is even “We will go.” It takes a bit to get used to, but once I realized that I could simply say “Yes I’ll eat (my 2nd or 3rd breakfast)” and then eat or not as I please without causing offense it got much better. Even given all of that cultural knowledge, people still seemed very serious and chiding with my hiking. I guess they’re just not used to crazy Americans.
Near the end of the trek you pass through a saddle and the famous terraces of Banaue open up in front of you with what I dubbed the Holy City slowing starting to wind its way closer. By now my feet were on fire and the last 3km became a test of endurance. But still, even then I enjoyed the mental challenge of continuing to hike following my mantra for the trip, “just keep going.” And I’m still not sure how much the last three km hurt because of my body nearing its last legs, or because my mind knew I was almost done. All told I only stopped three times, once a short ways out of Docligan to apply sunscreen and acquiesce myself to the fact that the road was still going up, once for ten minutes to eat my lunch of PB & cracker, and once to break out the rain cover for my pack and umbrella as it started to lightly drizzle. Thankfully it did nothing more than that. Then there were also the occasional pauses just long enough to pull and avocado or chocolate bar out of my pack to eat as I walked.
From door to door I hiked for 8.5 hours for an average of 4.7km an hour and a total elevation change of 1654m (not counting all the rolling hills). Quite the day. Hopefully I’ll still be able to walk tomorrow. As for why I did it? I think Dan said it best, “The beer will taste good tonight.”
posted by george at 2:27 PM
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