The morning of the second day of our Christmas Ed Kapangan adventure began way too early, but with so much excitement for what lies ahead, I do not really mind. (By the way, I hope y’all had a nice Christmas.)
This sight is a good thing to witness early in the morning, don’t you think?
After a hearty breakfast prepared by the students of GBDAIS (Governor Bado Dangwa Agro-Industrial School), we broke camp and took a 30-minute jeepney ride to Barangay Beleng-Bilis. A 10-minute hike across ricefields and terraces finally brought us to a, well, rice field on the side of the mountain.
The (I presume) owner of the field, and an official of the barangay, if I remember correctly, was there to show us how the old-fashioned way of harvesting rice goes.
Old-fashioned, I say, because it only uses a small sharp tool. The rice to be harvested are only 4 months old, so it does not really require the use of larger tools and implements.
It was slow-going for us city-slickers. Once again, it drove home the point that every grain of rice matters, considering the sweat and effort put into harvesting it in its rawest form and turning it into the rice that we cook for our meals. So we tried a hand at their small thresher,
After more than an hour of this, we proceeded back to Balakbak, where we are set to do some spelunking at the Longog Cave.
“Longog” loosely translates to “hole” or, for example, the hollow found inside a dead log. The name kinda made me have ideas on what to expect the moment I heard it.
I wasn’t wrong.
Now I understand why the invite for the activity had that warning about this event not for the claustrophobic. It was dark (don’t let the bright photos fool you; it’s the flash at work), and there were steep climbs. Some of the guides even had to offer their thighs and shoulders for us to step on since the walls are a bit slippery. Mind, most of us ditched our footwear because we needed the traction that only our bare feet could give us.
Clinging to and leaning on the rocky walls are a no-no, too, since most of them are “alive”. They might be damaged, and it would take another 50 years before they can “grow” again.
There were lots of rock formations as well, but you only have to look up to check out the stalactites and let your imagination run free.
There was a tight crawl where our main concern was the fate of our cameras. Haha! Sand got everywhere, and I’m just glad I had the foresight to wear something long-sleeved and long as I crawled through the hole.
The “dead end” is a small pool where we just happily jumped in and splashed around. I wouldn’t have gotten thoroughly wet if the others did not playfully splash water away. But it was fun~ Cold, but utterly fun!
After leaving Longog Cave, we had another 20-30 minute ride to the Amburayan Bridge. On the way, we made a quick stop for final photos with Santa. Here’s a failed jump shot with Vice Mayor Fermin (far left).
Just as a background, Amburayan River is a river system that spans parts of Kapangan, Ilocos Sur and La Union. It originates from Kapangan.
One standout memory from my childhood was riding on an all-terrain vehicle that is crossing the raging river, because the bridge was washed out during a storm. To this day, I recall how tense the moment was as I clung to my mother’s hand and my dad was wrestling with the steering wheel. Looks like I am going to get up close and personal with it yet again.
What are they looking at down there, you ask?
Yep. Rappelling.
Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) personnel of Kapangan were there to guide us. I had nerves while waiting for my turn, but more than the nerves was the excitement at trying something new. I had tried minor rappelling before, but I always had somewhere to put my feet on. This had a long drop with no wall to get support from.
We were all really excited to try it out. Some even tried other positions (lizard and superman-like) aside from the standard.
I only stuck to the standard position, but I did it twice. Haha!
It’s totally a different high.
We then crossed the river (she made me sit down on the water. That’s how strong she is.) to get to the other side, downriver, where we’ll have the closing program.
But not after taking a relaxing dip in Amburayan River’s cold water.
This is definitely another experience for the books! Next year, there are plans to let the participants hike to Camp Utopia, which has a historical significance, particularly to the 66th Infantry during the Second World War (if my memory serves me right from what the guide said). Need you even ask if I’m going?
This convinced me to continue this new tradition of going on outdoor hikes/getaways close to Christmas. 🙂
Cheers, everyone! Happy holidays!