Another delayed post! heheha! Anawangin was one of the must-go places on my list last 2010—just wanted to see the place where Bea’s Movie (And I Love You So ba yun? ehehe) with Sam Milby was shot. :D Aside from that, I’ve seen a lot of nice shots from other travelers slash shutterbugs that I wanted to see the place for myself and take some nice shots, too! [inggit-mode on! Hehe]. And so this trip happened!—in 2011 nga lang hehehe!

Since I was the one who initiated this trip, I took the responsibility to make all the necessary prep—from searching in the internet for tour packages, into finding a person who could help us in our do-it-yourself (DIY) trip. And so we came up with our schedule, itinerary, contact persons, and budget. Medyo madalian ang pagpaplanong ‘to, pero super thanks to the organizer, kahit medyo may konting aberya lang…mamaya ang kwento! ehehe!

WHEN: Long Weekend – 2011 October 30-31
WITH WHOM: High school classmates

TOUR ORGANIZER/S and CONTACT NUMBERS:
Jherwyn (Main contact) – +63922-8132080 (facebook link: Jherwyn Anawayne Delavin)
Arman (Owner of boat and camping gear) – +63917-5671359
Manong Rudy (trike driver/tour guide) – +63918-7670982

THE ITINERARY (Pundaquit-Anawangin–Capones)

THE EXPENSES

---

 

PART 1 OF 3: MT. PUNDAQUIT’S SUMMIT!

Thizzzizzzit! We purposely scheduled the trip on a Sunday ‘cause both of my companions had to work and had to take an exam that Saturday. Oks lang naman, kase long weekend, so kahit na-move ng Sunday, tuloy na tuloy ang gala! :D We met at about 10.30pm (Saturday) in Makati Ave and off we went to Buendia Victory Liner station to take the midnight trip to Zambales. Thanks to the organizer for informing us of the time of the trip, which was just perfect for the early morning trek in Mt. Pundaquit :).

It was more than a 4-hour trip that we just took the chance to get enough sleep and eventually get some energy for the trekking. As instructed by the organizer, we got off at San Antonio municipal hall and waited for Manong Rudy, the trike driver. While waiting, to pass the boredom and sleepiness away, soundtrip muna kame sa tabing-daan! LSS sa Kokomo ng The BeachBoys! Hahaha! ;D “Aruba Jamaica, ooohh I wanna take you..” :)

When Manong Rudy arrived, he brought us to Arman’s (a friend of Jherwyn I think) house. Actually, we haven’t met with both Jherwyn (the main contact) and Arman, text text lang, ganun haha! haist!; we were “welcomed” by Arman’s parents instead, who were kind enough to entertain us in their house. So boat pala nila ang ginamit for the trip, and sa kanila rin kame nang-rent ng tent! Hahaha! Unang aberya: medyo hindi well-informed ang parents ni Arman ’bout our arrangement with them (i.e., boat rent, tent, tour guide ang kasama sa pinag-usapan with Jherwyn); pero cge carry lang, nadadaan naman sa usapan :). And in fairness, responsive naman sa call and text sina Jherwyn and Arman, kaya game on! :D And so the arrangement was: We will have our things transferred from the tour guide’s headquarters to Anawangin Cove (via boat), while we take the Mt. Pundaquit trail (trekking) down to the cove, and meet with our things there hehe!

We had a light breakfast (bread + coffee + cup noodles) offered by Arman’s parents hehe bait! :) Then Manang (the mom, i forgot the name! whew! hehe) offered to do some errands for us–like buy some food (rice and canned goods) in the market! hahaha! So-not-prepared pa pala ang trip na ‘to! bait! ‘lamats talaga at namalengke sya for us, dagdag na lang sa listahan! hehe! After a while, we went on with the trekking! hooray! :)

It was still dark at around 5:25am when we started off with the trekking. We were accompanied by Manong Rudy during this trek, and medyo mabilis maglakad ang tour guide na ‘to! Hehe pero keri, cge! :) There were some rocky trails, and some were sandy, especially nearing some rivers. And the farther we got, the steeper the trail gets. Nakakapagod din pala ‘to, but the good thing is, it’s still very early so hindi ganun ka-parusa ang init ng araw! :)

When we neared the summit, we were able to outpace some trekkers who went ahead of us. hehe yabang lang! :) –two guy trekkers with their guide (a friend of Mang Rudy). Feeling ko photography enthusiast din yung isa (ganda ng SLR nya eh! hehe), tapos yung isa naman, model-modelan, porma kung porma sa trekking eh! hehehe peace!

One of the many rest moments that we had haha! We needed to take rests in between, nakakahapo. Water and shade please!!! :D Humugot muna ng konting energy to trek the remaining 15 minutes or so…until we reach the summit of Mt. Pundaquit! After the short rest, nauna na lang kame sa kanila, eksayted na makarating sa tuktok eh! Kaya heto na, lakad ulet… and then TADAHHHHHH!!!!

It was all worth the struggle!!! :D In fairness! So far, trekking Mt. Pundaquit was second to the Batad and Sagada trekking in terms of difficulty (for me lang ha! looking forward pa’ko to the Mt. Pulag trek eh! :p) Nakakapagod din pala! hahaha! :D

Now what?? Pichuran time at the summit of Mt. Pundaquit!! :D Sabay post muna sa FB ng “After almost 2 hours of trekking, I’ve conquered Mt. Pundaquit!!!” ehehehe! may signal kase ang SunCel dito sa tuktok eh! :D Look at all the sweat on my shirt!!! yay!!! Pawis to the max, kahit na hindi pa ganun ka-tindi yung sikat ng araw!!! :D

Actually, hindi pa daw yun ang highest point ng Pundaquit. Tinuro samin ni Mang Rudy ang daan to the highest point, pero bihira ata umaakyat ang mga tao dun hehe, kaya hindi na rin kame nag-prisintang abutin pa ang point na yun! Okey na kame sa narating namin! :D

Pa-simpleng poses lang nagawa namin at the summit, kakahiya sa ibang mga andun eh! hahaha! ayus sana kung madami kame, eh tatatlo nga lang kame eh! losers! :D We had the opportunity also na makipag-chikahan with the two guys we met along the trail–I think they are working in an IT company in Makati, but we weren’t able to get their names! ehehe shy-type kame eh! nyahaha! :D

After about 30 minutes, we decided to descend to Anawangin Cove. This time, medyo rocky and slippery na ang trail, that I needed to get a walking stick (tungkod) to assist me! hehehe! Just before nearing the cove, we had one more rest by the side of a dry riverbed. The trail nearing the cove was already sandy and a few more minutes away from the beach, we were welcomed by a lot of those pine trees! Parang twilight lang oh! hehe! :D

And then there’s Anawangin Cove!!! whew!! :D —separate post! :p :)))

---

 

MUST BRING:
– Lots of water
– Walking stick (optional)
– Shades B-)
– Cap / pwede din umbrella (parang donya!)
– Jacket (heehee!)

POINTS:
– Mt. Pundaquit is relatively easy to trek.
– Be sure to get a guide; you might get lost as the trail is inhabited, so there’s no one to give you directions along the way.
– No need to bring much food, just enough trail food perhaps.. but it’s just a short hike so kaya lang!
– Wear comfy clothes (naka-pants ako, madamo kase! bwehehe!) and footwear (naka-tsinelas lang ako! :D)
– Cam-whore! Have fun! :D

---

 

RELATED POSTS