Pulag

It was one of the worst times to go to north. There was a meningococcemia scare in Baguio City, and the bacteria was threatening not just Baguio but other areas as well. If you watch the evening news (which I don't), you'll think everybody in Baguio was either sick, or very scared of being sick.

But my friend T. was about to go back to Canada next week, and no way would she go back without going up Pulag. Out of the original 28 people who agreed to go on this trip, only 18 proceeded, armed with multi-vitamins, anti-biotics and surgical masks (just in case).

Pulag had been my dream mountain. I haven't been there before, but I did hear about how beautiful and enchanting and cold it was there, and I wanted to go. So after reading up on meningococcemia (you can only get it through direct contact with an infected person, through bodily secretions, saliva, or sharing utensils), and assessing the risks, off we went.

• 11:30 PM, Thursday night -- The Victory Liner bus left the Cubao station for Baguio City. Not too many people on board...overdosed on hand-sanitizers and vitamin C.



• 4:30 AM, Friday morning -- We reach the Victory Liner station in Baguio. Really nice station! Reminds me of the Greyhound station in San Francisco (am not so sure if greyhound). Haven't been to Baguio in quite a while, so this was a pleasant surprise. While waiting for our other companions to arrive, I notice some men watching the news. The report was about the meningo outbreak in Baguio, and they were horsing around. Not really scared. So far, haven't seen anyone wearing gas masks.



• Rest of Friday -- Proceed to Babadac, with scheduled stopover at Ambuklao Dam. Ride jeepney through dusty wish-i-drank-bonamine-even-if-i-was-never-roadsick-before roads. View was great though. Finally reach Ambuklao.
  
  Ambuklao Dam is a dam built in the Marcos era through Ifugao ancestral lands. According to my companions, a tribal war resulted in the effort to build the dam in the area. The government only succeeded after practically all the members of the tribe were dead. Hmm...interesting history. Surprised that they were fishing tilapia in the lake. After some picture-taking sessions (see photos in link somewhere in picture above), ride jeepney again to Jangjang eatery. Very hungry at this time.
  
  After eating a tilapia breakfast, proceed to DENR station, where the administrator/park superintendent gave us a bit of a lecture about nature and Pulag. Was pleasantly surprised that Mt.Pulag was actually a national park. We were all quite sleepy by then though, and the administrator/superintendent was talkative although quite strict. "You, in the red jacket, don't sleep!" Like a very strict teacher, she lectured us on the meningo, the difficulties of protecting such a big park as this, the lack of support from the government, and the tribes that consider the mountain as sacred.
  
  Another jeep ride to the Ranger station, then proceed with hike through Ambangeg trail. There are several trails to Pulag, and Ambangeg is the so-called "easy" trail. Set up camp at around 5PM, cooked some dinner amidst the freezing drizzle, and struggled to sleep through the rest of the night.



• 3:30 AM, Saturday morning -- wake up call. Need to go to the summit in time for sunrise. Quite cold though. Upon reaching the summit, it's even colder. Wind chill factor, they say. It was a bit cloudy/foggy, so the sunrise wasn't as spectacular as those in the pictures. But we did reach the summit, and every now and then, the clouds would give way to a spectacular view of mountain ranges.



• Rest of Saturday -- More picture taking, cook breakfast, eat, break camp, go down, go back to Ranger Station, take cold shower, ride jeep back to Jangjang eatery, eat late late lunch (4PM), ride back towards Baguio City



• 7:00 PM, Saturday night -- Reach Baguio City again, go straight to Victory Liner terminal. Was a bit hungry so despite meningo, bought a donut from the nearby Mr.Donut stand. By 8PM, we had boarded a bus back to Manila. Too bad we weren't able to tour around more though, hopefully next time, it would be a more appropriate (and healthier) time. =)

Verdict: Go there while you still can! :)