Of all the places I have visited it is Mt. Banahaw and its memories that have remained intact in my mind. The place is in the boundary of Laguna and Quezon Province. It used to be one of the active volcanoes but since its last eruption in 1721 not a single eruption has followed afterwhich so, now, it is already considered dormant. A two to three hour drive from the city of Manila will take one to the place. In my case, I, together with my friends and our guide, took a bus in going there. We alighted in the place called Quezon province wherein we were welcomed by very hospitable natives. They catered before us a sumptuous meal and willingly advised us on the adventure that we were about to undergo. The place has been considered sacred by every inhabitant and that we would be trekking with devotees, people who were going up the mountain to fulfill devotion and to meditate. Hence, we were instructed to keep quiet and to show reverence to their spiritual conviction. We only had half of the day for the trek so we just chose to visit places ,which according to our guide would not require much of our time and effort.
As expected, we started the trek right at the foot of the mountain. Sturdy and tall trees whose leaves dimmed the path spared us from the scorching heat of the sun yet their roots which protrude from the ground gave us difficulties as we walked through our first destination. Forty-five minutes of walk and we were on the site. It was a cave with a wide opening and there were devotees lining up waiting for their turn to get inside. All of them, both male and female, young and old alike were in white clothes. People in our group were the only ones in colored shirts and shorts. Before we got in the cave the guide had instructed us to remove our accessories, leave our cellular phones and others that might cause us trouble as we get through the hole. He called it hole because the space between the walls of the stone cave was just enough for a person to get through. Needless to say, my turn came and I felt like backing out as I was prompted to proceed. The thought of making myself appear a coward before others prevented me to retreat from our first adventure. So I went on. I entered the cave crawling with my head first. The stone walls were cold against my skin and I could not see anything. It was dark all over. As I crawl I felt that I was going down and would certainly fall headlong somewhere if I had not heard a voice prompting me to shift position. Just then I realized that the space got wider, enough for me to move around. I put my feet forward and let my body slide upon the stone floor. I landed on a surface facing the cold stone wall. Dead end, I thought. Then, I heard our guide behind me asking me if I had reached the end of the tunnel, when I answered yes, he prompted me to hold on a stalactite above my head and climb up on it then get myself into a hole which will bring me to the path out of the cave. I did as I was told. The space was really tight that I had to squeeze myself out of the tunnel. Then, I saw the light. I was laughing when I got out of the dark cave. Had I been claustrophobic and disobedient, I would have not gone out of it. What a remarkable experience!
When all of us were done, we proceeded to climbing up the calvary, our next destination. The path to the site was so unkind. There were times that we needed to hold one another’s hand for support so that we could transfer from one boulder to the other and go on. One of us even lost his shoes’ soles which had only been realized by the time we reached the destination.
Three crosses were there, nothing else. Devotees lit up their candles as we had our rest. After fifteen minutes we began our journey back to the foot of the mountain. We took a different route so we had an opportunity of seeing other sites. We passed by a natural rock formation which appeared like a big book. According to the guide it was not like any ordinary rock formation to the inhabitants and believers. They considered it the holy book of life. It was said that anybody who would write his name on it will be counted as a resident of heaven in the afterlife. Then, we came to a place wherein I saw devotees kneeling down in prayer. Before them was a rock whose surface appeared to be sculpted which at first I could not figure out what. I intensively looked at the surface and was surprised upon realizing that there was a face on that stone. People said, it was the face of Jesus Christ.
We went farther and reached Sta. Lucia. This is where we found the twin falls and a pool whose water was crystal clear yet smelt of sulfur. We had gone down a man-made stairs of two hundred seventy-six steps before we got to the pool.
The waist- deep clear water let us see the bottom of the pool. There were people fetching water from the falls for it has been believed that water from there can cure diseases. We bathed and felt the cold water seeping through our skin. It was so natural. Time flew fast that it never allowed us to stay longer in that relaxing spot. Going down the stairs had been easy but getting up was different. We were all gasping when we reached the topmost step. Then, we walked through the outskirt of the community and took a bus back to Manila.
As we left, a realization came to me. Had I ignored the invitation to travel and join the trek, I would not have seen the place, met very hospitable individuals and had a glimpse of an indigenous culture. Above all, If I had not gone there, I would not have an essay to write.
