Yesterday’s trip took us out to a remote part of San Marcelino known as New Zealand. I’m not sure why. I’ve never been to the actual NZ, but maybe it has a similar appearance. It took us about an hour and a half to get there from Barretto, and the area we hiked was uninhabited–the first time I can remember not seeing any kids around for cookie distribution. Very beautiful though, and a much different landscape than I’m accustomed to seeing in my neck of the woods.
One thing contributing to the uniqueness of the topography is the impact that the eruption of Mount Pinatubo had on this area back in 1991. One of the massive lahar flows created Lake Mapanuepe in the area we visited. We had to cross this lake by Banca boat to reach the campground, where our hike commenced. The only other way you can access this area is with a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
And that’s really the downside of coming here–it’s just too damn difficult to reach. After our long drive, we parked at the lake and arranged for the Banca boat roundtrip to the other side of the lake. When Martin scouted the area last week, he was charged 400 pesos for the ten-minute ride, which is laughably overpriced. Yesterday they wanted 500 pesos for the same trip; I guess the increase was in the “white skin tax” merchants sometimes impose on foreigners. Well, we didn’t have any choice but to pay up, but it put me in a foul mood and soured any thoughts of a return visit. Oh well, that’s the worst that happened on the trip, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.
Hope you enjoy these photos from the adventure:
From a viewpoint on our way to the lake. That’s the river that had its course changed after the eruption of Pinatubo.The valley of the damned.Pinatubo is in that distant mountain range in the background. It doesn’t really stand out, though.Way off on the horizon is the South China Sea.A Filipina with white bread sandwich.A view of me taking a picture of the view.Arriving at the lake.The lake we had to cross to get to the other side.The boats that raped took us.It took two Bancas to get us thereA strategically situated vendor selling fresh buko (coconuts) garnered some business from the Filipinas in our group. They love the juice.Our group for the hike. Brian and Dona (the couple on the right) actually camped out last night. Brian has a 4×4 and was able to transport his gear directly to the campsite.Let’s roll! We did a pleasant 7K jaunt over flat ground.Please don’t eat the mushrooms!My first trip to New Zealand. Didn’t even need my passport.We came to a fork in the road, and we took it.This little puppy followed us from the campground. Poor guy ran out of gas about the 2K mark. Grace adopted him for the remainder of the hike. She named the pup “Hasher.”Water crossing ahead! Easy enough to jump over, though.The flat of the land.Easter mountain’s cousin?Martin says these rocks that cover the valley floor are volcanic. I don’t know, but they did have that look about them.Martin’s turn to carry Hasher.Through the brush……and into the trees.Following a dry riverbed back to camp.We made it!Welcome back home, Hasher.Filipinas doing what Filipinas do. And yes, it involves rice.Found this on the ground under my feet. I’m not sure what message it intended, but I let it lie.
And that was my day in Barretto. I’ll talk about the night in another post.
2 thoughts on “Volcanic vistas”
Nice walk! So, I guess Grace has a new dawg now, eh? Well, good for her. I hope she takes good care of little Hasher (who, for the moment at least, seems ironically named… but give him time).
The yin-yang symbol is called the taegeuk in Korean (from the Chinese for “Great Ultimate”—the T’ai Chi). The opposite-colored dots indicate that yang erupts out of yin, and yin erupts out of yang: the opposites imply each other and are never without each other. The swirling shape of the black and white “tadpoles” indicates that the cosmos is a dynamic place: this is no steady equilibrium, but rather a state of constant flux or imbalance. In Western philosophy and religion, a similar concept is called the coincidentia oppositorum, the oneness/unity of opposites.
Thanks for the explanation of the meaning of the taegeuk. Interesting! So, I guess finding it was just a reminder from the cosmos that everything is going to be fine. 🙂
Nice walk! So, I guess Grace has a new dawg now, eh? Well, good for her. I hope she takes good care of little Hasher (who, for the moment at least, seems ironically named… but give him time).
The yin-yang symbol is called the taegeuk in Korean (from the Chinese for “Great Ultimate”—the T’ai Chi). The opposite-colored dots indicate that yang erupts out of yin, and yin erupts out of yang: the opposites imply each other and are never without each other. The swirling shape of the black and white “tadpoles” indicates that the cosmos is a dynamic place: this is no steady equilibrium, but rather a state of constant flux or imbalance. In Western philosophy and religion, a similar concept is called the coincidentia oppositorum, the oneness/unity of opposites.
Thanks for the explanation of the meaning of the taegeuk. Interesting! So, I guess finding it was just a reminder from the cosmos that everything is going to be fine. 🙂