Cordillera Escapade (An Expedition to the Province of Benguet)

After a semester of academic endeavors, I felt good taking a break to relax and forget for a while the life of being burdened by academic demands. I had a lot of plans, I devoted my personal time for myself, but going to the Cordillera Region had always been my plan to spend my one week break. Cordillera Region, or also known as Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) situated in the northern part of Luzon Island is a mountainous region planted with vegetables and the preservation of pine trees. It has a great part in Cordilleran identity. It was a great opportunity for me to visit Benguet, a province in Cordillera, and to experience the environment and the richness of their preserved culture.

DAY 1 (October 12, 2015)

We arrived in Baguio City on October 12, 2015, at around 4:00 am together with my brother seminarians; actually we followed in a hurry since our other batch mates already arrived yesterday. The coldness of the place and the aromatic scent of pine trees welcomed me to the place where I wanted to go to then. Well this is it!

We walked along Session road and took some pictures there, and proceeded to Burnham Park, named after Daniel Hudson Burnham, a famous American architect who planned the entire city of Baguio. We waited there for our host to give us any sort of go signals. Spending a few moments in Burnham Park made me remember the pictures of my relatives who visited this place long time ago. We waited for the morning to come in the nearby 7/11 convenient store and took some coffee to warm our bodies. After a while, we went to the capital town of Benguet province in La Trinidad via Jeepney, 5 kilometers from Baguio City. There we met our host batch mate, and spent a few moments in his sister’s apartment. After a couple of hours, we rode a van bound for Abatan, Municipality of Buguias, Benguet Province. The 3-4 hour travel in a steep zigzag road made our trip so challenging and breathtaking. The pine trees along the road were so wonderful as it appeared before my naked eyes, and the cold breeze as I open the window of the van made me shiver and I felt ignorant of the happenings. Pointing the camera at certain angles gave my co-passengers an idea that I am a stranger to the sights, perhaps they didn’t care what I was doing.

We arrived in Abatan around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and we met the parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish and ate our lunch there. Observing the parish outside, you could observe that the parish has only one floor, but if you will go to the back of the convent, you will see a number of floors descending and it was actually amazing and it was also common to the other establishments nearby. Our stay in the parish convent was so blissful. The parish priest kept on reminding us to feel at home as we spent our days in the parish of Abatan.

DAY 2 (October 13, 2015

 Feeling the cold breeze of wind made me shiver on my second day of staying in the province of Benguet.

Looking at the window, you could witness the thick fog that covers the whole view of the nearby terraces and other communities on the high mountains. It was great to experience these things for the first time in my life, yet I didn’t regret going to this place that once appeared in my dreams.
For the whole day, we didn’t have any sort of itinerary. We only stayed in the parish and helped the convent boy to organize something. Availing the free WiFi was our pastime since life is so boring if we only sleep, eat, do nothing.

 DAY 3 (October 14, 2015)

Searching for some adventure was one of the many ideas why I went to this place. That morning, we went to Bad-ayan with the parish priest to celebrate mass, a 30 minute travel from the parish of Abatan. We hiked up and down skimming the edge of the mountain, passing huge Pines trees, and crossed a hanging bridge to reach the chapel of sitio Gateley to attend the mass. Our journey was extraordinary. Picturing myself carrying the mass kit hiking while uphill was a great challenge for me.

I was able to carry Jesus Christ beyond the borders of the world, though it is difficult and heavy. I almost surrendered but it never made me discontinue this journey, perhaps I was already my halfway before giving in before I reached the chapel. I was almost out of breath when I reached the chapel, but this was replaced by smile when I saw the community so active and blissful as they welcomed us at our coming. Reflecting on their situation, they still have time to attend the mass despite of living so far from the chapel. The distance between the houses were great, perhaps you would need to walk a hundred meters in order for you to reach your neighbor’s house on the top of a hill. We celebrated mass in their chapel, floored by cement and altar made of glossy pine wood. You cannot imagine a beautiful chapel in that particular site.

Almost 35 individuals attended the mass. It was so fun because upon our arrival they were already prepared for the Eucharistic celebration. They served me lemongrass tea which contained a little sugar. It was my first time to taste it. I saw that the taste is so aromatic and tasty.

After the mass, someone invited us to take our lunch before going to the parish. From the chapel, we hiked another narrow way ascending to reach the house in the grassy knoll. I was lucky that someone generously offered his boots for me to use because the way was so muddy due to the heavy rainfall last night. When we arrived at the hilltop, many people were already there for there was a traditional celebration about burial. In that particular site, the view was so nice. You can see the vast land occupied by vegetable gardens, small houses below, and faraway mountains. They invited me to enter the house. Their house was so simple but it was hard for me to imagine that they had refrigerator and electricity inside. How did they carry it over the hill? Did they carry it by helicopter? Well, nothing is impossible if you persevere.

Experiencing their culture is an opportunity for me to witness how they practice it.

They have this kind of traditional cuisine called “WatWat”, means “to distribute, dispense or pass out something”. It also refers to the distribution of meat to the guest during the ritual feast, and to one’s share of meat. It reflects the generosity of the inhabitants in the province. I was shocked when they put 4 big chunks of cooked meat in my plate. It was so shameful for me not to eat it all. That is why I am forcing myself to consume all. I cannot understand their conversation but I could sense to their faces the gladness of being one in the community.

            We descended the mountain in the afternoon, and started walking to the place where we parked the car. I almost collapsed on our way back since my knees experienced severe cramps that made me so difficult to walk upward to reach the highway. I did not know what to do, so I seated for a while in the slope to condition my legs and started walking again. It was a nice experience actually since I found some adventure from it, I was very tired but it was not yet the end of my today’s adventure.

Riding at the back of Elf cargo truck, we went to Barangay Catlubong, particularly in sitio Bot-oan in the place of my brother seminarian. It was almost a 2 hours trip in the risky way that gave a breathtaking experience. Below, you could view the river approximately with the distance of 110 meters, and above the ravine with the huge rocks at the top. We reached the place at around 7 o’clock in the evening. The temperature went down to 16°C that made me feel like freezing. I stayed overnight to that place, upon lying down I was reminiscing all the experiences I had this day, by saying to God in my prayer “Thanks for all of these”.

DAY 4 (October 15, 2015)

I woke up in the morning so relaxed and comfortable, well this is already my fourth day in the province of Benguet. It was very cold, and there is breath vapor in my mouth in every time I breathe. It was so astonishing every time I open my mouth and exhale. Visiting the extensive vegetable gardens in barangay Catlubong made me feel so surprised. I saw farmers tilling the land and some area harvesting vegetables in a distant valley. I can view from the top the nearby barangays and other settlements below. Busy trucks carrying chicken dungs, and harvested vegetables made some noise in the roads, and it was part of their daily routine. I realized how vegetables went on a long process before harvesting them, and it requires patience to grow it well and sound.

            A little while we planned to pack our things, and waited for a bus bound for Abatan proper. After a half hour waiting, the bus from Tinoc, province of Ifugao passed.

"sa taas nalang ang iba"

The bus carries numerous travelers with the top loaded by stuffs and some passengers because the bus could not accommodate them inside. Lucky for us that some passengers went out the bus, and we all went inside.

As we arrived in Abatan, we went to the parish and had a rest for a while since we were planning to go to Baguio City in the afternoon and spent our remaining days in the city. First of all we expressed our gratitude to the parish priest for accommodating us in our visit. We left the parish at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, and went to the van terminal. I had friends already in that parish especially the convent personnel who served us food every morning.

I only slept at the van until we reached Baguio City. The sky turned dark since it was already late afternoon. We waited in Burnham Park and contacted someone to fetch us. They arrived a little while. We went to Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish in Campo Filipino, Baguio City and spent our night there. First we reported to the parish priest and took some rest in the living room of the convent.  They served us delicious food, and room to stay. Our journey was like “From parish to parish” or in another way I can say that is it an advantage for us seminarians to have our vacation everywhere, and to only stay in the town parish freely without any expenses with full accommodation.

           

 DAY 5 (October 16, 2015)

I woke up in the morning so cheerful and different; well it is so bright because the curtain is open and the shade of light comes in my face straightly. This day perhaps is the last day of our vacation, so we will spend all the remaining moments to visit the City’s finest tourist destinations and attractions. I met this specific girl; she was our standing tour guide since she was from the city, and she even studied there. It was a pleasure for me to meet her; in fact I gained another friend again. Before we left the parish for our outing, practically speaking I laundry my used clothes, so that it will never be a burden to me as we go back the seminary.

           

At 10 o’clock in the late morning. We left the parish and to the Grotto of “Our Lady of Lourdes”, in Dominican Hill road, Baguio City. It was located on a high hill in the western part of the city. It is a known place for worship, and you need to take numerous steps to reach the highest point where the Grotto seated. It is more challenging if you really dispose yourself to your devotion. I prayed for my vocation and took some pictures as my remembrance. We also visited the new made Lourdes chapel close to the Grotto and spent a little moment while observing the structure of the chapel. You can sense inside the chapel the coldness for it is surrounded by huge trees, and other wild plants. It was really obvious that this place is a most visited place since a lot of devotees are having their pilgrimage, and I am one of them.

From Lourdes Grotto, we went to Burnham Park and spent a little moment as we waited for our other companions. Since it is already mid-day, we took our lunch in a restaurant and had a long conversation about the whole plan.

After eating we went to Botanical Garden. It was located in the east of Baguio's downtown area. There is a group of Igorots at the main entrance who are dressed in their authentic native attires. They are so happy to pose with visitors for a souvenir pictures, of course, for a little fee. It is quite a large park and about the same size as Burnham Park. The garden features native huts typical of the type of Igorot dwellings found in the Cordillera. The village is said to capture the ethnic spirit and cultural legacy of the native Igorots and being tranquil and quiet, it is a nice place to just sit down and relax, take a leisurely stroll along its narrow and winding pathways, and also enjoy the landscape where you will find numerous plants and trees you can only find in Cordillera. There is also a tunnel in that site, The World War II Japanese tunnel which is part of the features of the Baguio Botanical Garden. So I took a lot of pictures that seemingly it is already my last visit in Baguio City.

Our next destination was in Mines View, a short distant tourist destination from Botanical Garden. From the deck of the park, a breathtaking panoramic view of Benguet’s gold and copper mines, and the surrounded mountains. It was a remarkable site that you should not be missed when visiting Baguio.
Before leaving the place, we went to Cordilleran Museum. Inside you can see different native products of Cordillerans; like manually made sculptures, different kind of knives and wood works, and of course souvenir items. My visit is not complete without buying some souvenirs as a collection. We failed to go to the other places that we planned because it is already late afternoon, and it is drizzling. In our way home we visited the “Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral” in Baguio City. I spent a little minute offering my personal intensions and guidance as I journey toward my vocation.

I am not yet contented since this is our last day in the city of Baguio. In the evening we went to the night market; half of the Harrison road is closed during 9:00pm to 1:00am and made open to vendors and shopping public. On both ends of the night market stretch are food stalls that sell the usual street food like Barbeque, Balut, and fried chicken intestine or even exotic food that you never tasted before. I’ve been through many night markets in my province but have never seen anything quite like what I was witnessing here in Baguio city.

As we came back in the parish, some of them including the parish priest were already sleeping, but some of my companions were playing Uno cards. I was not newbie with this game since we were playing this in the seminary long time ago, so I joined. Playing with them was so fun, in fact we don’t even notice the time, it was already early morning.

DAY 6 (October 17, 2015)

I was very tired as I woke up around 7 o’clock in the morning, because I lacked time for sleeping. Preparing my things made me so busy, and saying farewell to everyone made me a little sad. In my last day,  

I met a great pioneer missionary named Fr. Mike Seys, CICM. He is a Belgian priest that arrived in the Philippines for a mission, specifically in Cordillera last 1957. We had a short talk about his experiences being a missionary, and it inspires me to continue this missionary formation.

It was very dramatic to say that this was already our last day. I need to accept the reality that there is always an end if you start something. As I seated on the bus, I was staring at the window, as the bus moved forward little by little leaving the city. I could still see pine trees and fogs along the highway, and it remembers me all my priceless experiences I had since the day I arrived in the place, and now I am leaving. As I closed my eyes I fell asleep. I woke up but the bus is still moving. I couldn’t see any pine trees anymore, and it was replaced by rice field and coconut trees.  Well, semestral break is over, and it is the sign to go back into the track of my formation in the seminary.

Benguet is blessed with rich human and natural resources and a unique climate, making famous to inhabitants in or outside the country. It was a great opportunity for me to simply experience and feel the real essence of fraternity; bonding together as one family. I did not completely discover all the hidden beauties of the province and it makes me a reason to go back and continue the journey that I started. See you soon! :)