Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Zambales road tripping...

Left manila at around 11:30 in the evening and rode our friend's van to Pundaquit, Zambales and we arrived at around 5:30 am.We then took a short break to get our things ready before starting our hike to the destination. As we started the hike early that morning, we were greeted by a series of mountains and the fresh breeze that comes with them.
I tried my best not to lose sight of our guide because he was really fast, but after a while i got used to his pace. Eventually we were able to reach the top of the mountain so we can now see the water and the shore.
As we continued, the descent was slightly more painful than the climb though it was faster. Had several scratches from the vegetation and rocks, but we just kept going even as the sun was beating down on our backs. After reaching the foot of the mountain gravity was not as unforgiving anymore though my legs feel like crap already. As we saw signs of fresh water, we knew the beach was not far away.
As we reached the end of the tall trees we were finally there at the beach, we sat down at took a breather before setting up camp under some shade.
The hike took us four and a half hours so we got at the beach at 10:30 in the morning, after setting camp, we started preparations for lunch. After lunch we fixed our mess, some rested, some took a dip and I went to see the other parts of the cove. Time seemed to slow down when we were there and were able to do a lot in just one afternoon; walked the length of the beach, explored the swampy area and I was still able to chase around some mud skippers.
And when the time finally did arrive... the sun was already setting.
When darkness came the only sources of light were lights from other campers some distance away, the stars, the moon and lightning from some rain clouds that can be seen over the horizon.

After dinner we washed the dishes and decided to turn off our lights because you can see clearly with just the light of the moon. Sharing stories over wine, alcohol, cheese and soda, that's all we did until the hours of morning crept over us as we just slept on the sand. When I woke up, some went to the tent and slept some more, and some found a better place to sleep in.
Just felt like walking around that morning and take some more shots of the area...
and finally let go of the camera to take a dip and get toasted under the sun because we were leaving soon. Then we ate lunch, the others took a swim and I borrowed the camera one last time to take photos.
After that it was time to pack up and clean up, it's a pity when other campers are slobs and don't clean up after themselves. We picked up the mess we found so we can bring them back to Pundaquit and be disposed of properly. After wrapping everything up the boat was waiting for us and our bags and it was finally time to say "until next time". I pray that the people after us can preserve the beauty that the place possesses.
Until next time.