Mount Cristobal, Philippines - It's all about great company & good food!

It's tough to be a vegetarian deep inside the provinces of Philippines, far away from the cosmopolitan Metro Manila! I would have been forced to survive on cup noodles for almost thirty hours if not for the new friends I made on the trek. The plan that began with a seventy-five percent chance ended up with me on the top of Mount Cristobal in Philippines. 

"You'll have to bring vegetarian food", cautioned Cbass, my host for the trek. I amassed as many cup noodles and snacks I could for the trek. I was hoping someone would bring a burner to boil water for my noodles (I was lucky that Josh had enough gas to "burn down the mountain "- his exact words).

When I landed in Philippines I hadn't thought I would take a local bus ride to a province almost three hours away from the Makati City. A bus ride, my first jeepney ride, surviving loud snores, Emperador shots, meeting wonderful people and about four-five hours of trek later I was on the top of Mount Cristobal.

My journey began on a bus trip to Dolores, Quezon from Makati City. "You're the first foreigner I'm taking on a trek", said Cbass while the bus made its way through the rush-hour traffic. Although I felt I was prepared for the trek, after all a mountain in Philippine is same as any mountain in India!

However there was still a bit of anxiety (to put it mildly) that lingered in my mind. I was in a foreign land with people I had never met before! Ain't that exciting! All this was dispelled by the warmth shown by my new friends. The trek was perhaps one of the smoothest rides I ever had (barring a few slips & scratches).

At the jump-off for Mount Cristobal we hired a jeepney to take us to the starting point. The smell of the sea food filled my nostrils. The jeepney makes a powerful noise from its engine! The market was busy and I quickly bought a sweet cake from a street vendor for 20 Pesos. The jeepney tried its best to reach the warp speed!  

Almost forty-five minutes later all of us were ready to venture into the cemented path taking us to the house of a psychic (which is the start of the trek). I wondered whether I would have the luxury of the cemented path all along - it would be cement-walk! Alas, I was fortunately wrong.

As we reached the psychic's house if felt as if the nature had come to life suddenly. The house was full of banners previous expeditions had left as a proud reminder of their conquests. A side note, you've to enter your name in the logs before you begin the journey, the guys managed to spell it - Puskar (almost there).

Thus the journey began; about an hour into the trek we were already exhausted. It was the same time I realized why Cbass calls his group - Saunter Expedition. A few of us were blazing the trail and followed the principle of "Leave No Man Behind". Well, partly because Marc, Cbass and I were the end of the line.

Anyways, about four hours later (a lot of things happened on the way - including a tree that forced a split) we were at the rim of the crater. This is an interesting place; the crater provides a good campsite. It is surrounded by trees all around and has a small lake that is formed in the rainy season.

For me it was the end of an arduous saunter. We're not alone - I don't mean in a cosmological way but there were already tens of tents around us. We began cooking around eight in the night (Mau & Clare, did most of the cooking) and I got my boiling water for my noodles.

The trees around us swayed in the strong winds that made the flames of the burner to flicker precariously. It was a tough environment to cook but about an hour later I enjoyed my noodles (and fried eggplant with rice). It was time to sleep and get some rest before we begin the hike to peak in morning.

The night went fine despite of the strong winds which I must add weren't able to drown the noise of snores! Heavy rain welcomed us in the morning and I think we unknowingly decided to get some more sleep. Around 8:00 am in the morning we were all-packed and ready to climb the peak.

The trek to the peak is surrounded by tall grass that towers about you and gives an oddly beautiful claustrophobic experience. About forty-five minutes later we were on the peak. It was windy and we were soaking wet. The visibility was very low, so I missed the view from the peak.

I missed the view and don't know when I would be back to get the view on a sunny clear day. However all that was compensated by the experience I had with the fellow trekkers. At the end of the day, the trek is an experience of the Mother Nature shared with fellow human beings. Cheers!

PS: Thanks to Josh, Marc & Mau for the pictures :)