Idlectic

05:20:
Junel arrived at our house, wearing a red long-sleeved shirt, and bringing a black backpack, which at first I thought was our food; too bad. We had some breakfast first and talked for a while about how excited we both were for the trip. We then played Bad Company 2 on my PC to pass time while waiting for the others to arrive.

05:45:
A lot of dead noobs later, our friend Elai arrived bringing her car. I managed to convince her to let me drive by threatening her with the forceful words “Can I drive, please?” with batting eyelashes, while Junel was to be my navigator. We stayed for a while and killed some more noobs while waiting for the fourth member of the pack to arrive.

06:25:
Hundreds of dead players later, Gizelle finally arrived, at last, thank goodness. We started loading our bags and double checking if we had all the things we needed; food, drinks, extra clothes, a retractable gurney. Since I was going to drive and was still unfamiliar with Elai’s car, I was given a short tutorial. After a brief lesson of how the windshield wipers worked, we went on our merry way to fetch the fifth and last member of the group.

06:40:
We arrived at Ethel’s place (which was conveniently along the way) to pick her up. It was still early, our contact said that we should be at our destination by 8 for the registration. Junel was confident we could make it, so we put our trust in his word, reluctantly.

06:45:
The long journey towards Pinatubo begins. We took the long and winding road of MacArthur Highway going to Tarlac. I advised my passengers to sleep along the way, except for my navigator, as it would be an hour of driving at most.

07:05:
Junel proved himself to be a good navigator, as he managed to direct me at every opportunity to overtake or not overtake another vehicle, tells me whether or not it’s safe to take the shoulder, and pointed out the occasional crap on the road.

07:15:
The girls took pictures of themselves in the backseat, pretending to be asleep, while smiling. I didn’t know exactly how that would work but whatever makes them happy.

07:20:
My navigator started to annoy me. “Ops, dahan dahan.”, “Liko sa kanan.”, “May truck, di aabot.”, “Stay ka lang diyan.”, “Overtake na!”, “Slow down.”, “Oh bakit ka nag be-break?”, “Tae tae!” Annoying.

07:30:
We passed the Death March Shrine. Elai took a lot of pictures, without getting any real good ones. Tragic.

07:45:
We started wondering if we were lost. We checked the map again to verify our location, but the map was useless, it wasn’t up to scale. So again, we put our trust in our navigator, who was confident that we were on the right track. But we had to make sure so we stopped by the side of the road and asked the first person we saw. She confirmed that the Pinatubo Spa Town (our destination) was still some distance away, we just had to stay our course, and follow the bovine shit-laden road.

07:50:
We finally arrived at our destination. Pinatubo Spa Town, Brgy. Sta. Juliana, Capas Tarlac. We went about and paid the registration fee, which was P4,000 (total); this includes the 4×4 vehicle, the guide who will accompany us, and lunch. We paid an additional P350 each for the boat ride on the crater lake. We also signed a wager stating that the Spa Town will not be held responsible for any injuries incurred during the trek, including, but not limited to, dead toe nails.

08:15:
Ah, look at us. All smiles and hopeful of the adventure we’re about to have, oblivious of the suffering we were about to endure. Classic.

08:20:
We saw our ride for the first time. The grayish blue 4×4 of doom. It’s old, very basic, but of sturdy construction (almost). It was our ride for the next hour and a half. The four sat at the backseat while I stayed in front. They discussed about the repercussions of farting inside the 4×4 while I tried to maintain three jugs of diesel upright between my feet, easier said than done.

We also talked about how the ride would go. Elai mentioned that there were 4 levels of terrain:

Level 1: Sand paths
Level 2: Rough patches of terrain
Level 3: Steep inclines
Level 4: Boulders!

The first half hour or so of the 4×4 ride wasn’t all that bad. We traversed through relatively flat sand paths for the most part, then across streams and the occasional rough patches of terrain. It was the easiest part of the trip.

09:00:
We stopped over at the bottom of a steep incline (the start of Level 3) to let the driver and our guide refill the gas tank and prepare the 4×4 for the arduous journey up ahead. We took some pictures of the scenery, and of ourselves to pass the time.

We also took pictures of what looked to be the beginning of Level 3. The image in front of us carried with it a mixture of emotions; excitement, fear, doubt, and anger at the person who thought about this trip in the first place.

09:50:
Yes you read that right. It was 50 minutes of butt bumping through Level 3 and 4 terrain. The 4×4 was shaking so wildly that the spare tire at the back got unhinged and was swinging back and forth, making loud thumping noises. We stopped a couple of times for the driver to fix that but he gave up after the third time it happened. The jugs of diesel beneath my seat tumbled several times as I tried to maintain them, while I held on tightly to the handlebar in front of me. We were all too busy trying to keep ourselves secured in our seats that we managed to take only a few pictures of the surroundings, of how Level 3 and 4 looked like. Inclines included 45+ degrees of going up and going down hill. Rocks the size of basketballs littered the road (really!), nothing the 4×4 can’t handle, but a lot for our butts to absorb. I bet we were all thinking the same thing; when will this ever end?

After that very, very long 50 minutes, we arrived at the next stop over, the end of the line for the 4×4, and the start of the long walk to the Pinatubo crater. There were a lot of other 4x4s in the area, by people who came and went before us.

09:55:
The long trek begins. The first half of the trek was through a rocky canyon, with streams of flowing water. It was a 30-minute (or so) walk from the start to the halfway point.

10:20:
We reached the halfway point of the trek. I checked my shoes and they were dead. The sole on the sides of each shoe were wide open, but it was still attached to the rest of the shoe from the front end and the back. Good old hiking shoes they were, and they served their purpose.

I looked at the others, we were all spent. We took our sweet time to rest, eat, and drink, before heading out again for the next half of the trek, nobody was excited anymore.

10:45:
We started walking again. I thought we made it this far, what the heck then, let’s go. The next half of the trek was going deeper into the mountains, and the pathway became narrower and narrower. A few minutes into the trek, I started thinking that this half was easier than the first. But then I saw the remains of a white rubber shoe, resting along the rocks on the side of a small stream. Great. At least the trek only lasted about 15-20 minutes, from what I can recall.

11:00:
Beyond the many steps of stairs was a wooden signboard saying “Welcome to the majestic crater of Mt. Pinatubo”. It was a welcome sign indeed. And the view of the crater from where we were standing was just as what the signboard said – Majestic. We descended the stairs going down to the side of the lake, and rested there for a while, taking pictures and talking, before we had our lunch.

There were many happy campers beside the lake, there were even two hot white chicks (real ones) in bikinis, sunbathing on the beach. There was a group of mountaineers setting up their tents near the clear water. There were also some military personnel, and the guides of each group of people camped together in one place.

12:20:
A short while after having our lunch, we all headed out to the side of the lake to take the boat ride. The water was as blue as the sky. It wasn’t as clear as I thought as it was hard for me to see the bottom even on shallow water. The crater walls looked incredibly high from the lake. We even witnessed a landslide (a minor one) on one side of the crater wall.

The boat trip to the other side of the lake took about 10 minutes. After we unloaded, our guide gave us a few facts about the crater lake. He used his paddle to dig a small hole in the ground beside the beach and showed us that the water was hot enough to boil an egg. Steam vents were scattered along parts of the crater wall, and he told us a story about how a PHIVOLCS expedition ended in mishap; some volcanologists suffered major burns as they stepped onto unstable ground and had a dip into some really hot sand. After about 10-15 minutes of sight-seeing, we headed back to the tourist zone.

01:20:
We rested for a bit while Junel and Ethel took a dip in the water. The sun was searing hot, so Gizelle brought out her huge abaniko to keep her cool. It was five times the size of a normal abaniko, and you had to hold it w/ two hands to use it, too bad I don’t have a picture of it. I still wonder how she got that into her backpack.

02:00:
We started getting ready for our trek back. Junel and Ethel changed clothes while the rest of us waited on a shed near the wooden signboard. When it was time to go, Junel and I telepathically communicated that it was time. And we invited the girls back to the ledge with the spectacular view of the crater behind it so we can take more pictures.

02:25:
Before anything else, earlier in the morning, Junel showed me a small black box. I was surprised, and was very happy for my dead friend. Wait, I mean dear friend. We discussed the different possibilities of how the life-changing event would go, and settled for the best idea we could think of. He was supposed to do what he needed to do back on the boat but he was scared the thing would slip through his hands and fall from the boat, that would’ve been funny.. I mean tragic (haha).

So the moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. This was the purpose of the whole trip, and I wouldn’t have endured it if it weren’t for this event. While we were taking the couple’s pictures, without warning, Junel went down on one knee, and from his pocket he brought out the black box he’s been holding on to, and presented it to Ethel. Whatever he said, I couldn’t remember. I think he said something like “I have waited for so long to ask you this question. To show you how much I love you, and ask you to make you mine forever. To put my very best foot forward and be the man you have always wanted. Will you marry me?”.

Nah, he didn’t say that. I think it was more closer to “Oh shit.. muntik ng mahulog.. anyway, will you be my wife?”. Whatever he said (we don’t really remember, even Junel doesn’t remember), Ethel was speechless and tears started rolling down her cheeks. It was a proud and happy moment for both of them as she said “Yes.” and Junel slipped the ring through her finger.

02:30:…
We started heading back to the 4×4 stop-over. It was all a blur. We just kept on walking back to where we came from. Elai seemed to be the most motivated to go home as she was always in front of the pack. Only a few pictures were taken after this point; everyone was too tired to pull out their cameras and shoot. We were second to the last to leave the 4×4 stop over.

During the ride back to the spa town, I slipped in and out of consciousness (too sleepy haha) even with all the bumping we had to endure. Elai also fell asleep during the journey. There’s no road bumpy enough for sleepy travelers.

05:00 – 7:30:…?
I still drove on the way home, and by the time we were at Clark, I was already too sleepy that I had to slap myself in the face to keep me awake. I honestly can’t remember what time I got home. But as soon as I felt the comfort of my bed, I went to sleep.

Twas an interesting journey, one that I intend to take again in the future. A very far future..