The sorry state of Mt. Apo

Imagine yourself climbing the Philippines' highest peak - Mt. Apo. The grandfather of all Philippine mountains. Just a few tens of meters shy of 3000m. Wouldn't it be great?

I need not imagine anymore. I know it's great because I have done it a few days ago. And I would like to write about the epic adventure I had with my friends. But I couldn't. Something else has to be said.

A few years ago, I told my ex that we should climb Mt. Apo. He snorted. He asked why I would like to climb a mountain that's mostly turned into a banana plantation. And so we didn't. We broke up eventually but my desire to conquer the mountain remained and totally forgot about what he said.

We used the Sta. Cruz Trail for our climb. It's not the easiest. But it's what our organizer assigned to us and it is the shortest. On our way to the jump-off point, we stopped at a place called Kapatagan to buy breakfast and packed lunch. At first I thought the place was a small town. There was a market, a public transportation terminal and a small hospital. There was even a Petron gas station! But apparently, it is just a barangay.

Later on I learned from our guide that just a few years ago, Kapatagan was different. There weren't much people before. The market was a rice field. And what brought those changes are the private businesses; those banana plantations! Yep, bananas dominate the place.

Roy, our guide, thinks it is much better to have those big businesses rather than the kaingin method employed by local farmers in the area. And although I aggree with him, I still don't understand why the government would allow this. (Or maybe I do, because our government simply sucks.) Why declare a place a national park and then use it for farming? It's supposed to be protected and not taken advantage of. For sure, the Philippine eagle wouldn't thrive in bananas. They aren't even trees!

As much as I want to bash the government for this current sorry state of Mt. Apo, we the climbers and the local residents are also to be blamed.

Along the farm trail (which is so called because it was farms everywhere) we passed by to sitios. I have been to many far-flung settlements and it was always the same. There were garbage everywhere. I kind of expected it to be a little cleaner because it is inside the park. And, you know, it is part of the trail. They get visitors regularly and so it is supposed to be presentable. But it isn't. I guess where there's people, there will always be trash nearby.

And since there are people going in and out of the forest, I should have expected how the trail would look like. I thought climbers/trekkers/hikers (whatever) were a different bunch. But we are not. What has happened to the leave-no-trace principle?

At first it was just bits and pieces of plastic wrappers which we could pretend to be accidentally dropped by someone focusing on tackling the very steep trail. But when we reached the base camp, it was evident that people voluntarily leave their trash in the area. I wonder if the kapre that was said to be living near the camp was showing himself to scare disrespectful people off the mountain. I remember Pulag and how strict it is therr because it.is a sacred place for locals who believe that their gods live in that mountain. But do we have to be told about those gods to do things (or not do things) which we are supposed to know even at a young age?

I brought up the issue of cleanliness to our guides. Roy said I should see the mountain during the holy week climb. And I should be a little thankful that we didn't camp near the peak. Because it is much, much worse. He added that clean-up climbs are done yearly. But do we really need those? I mean, you don't (literally) clean up after other people's mess. People don't learn that way. You tell them. How hard is it to carry one's trash down? Roy assured me that their (our) group brings down everything they brought up the mountain.

While at the peak, I picked up a candy wrapper only because it was distracting me from savoring the joy of finally reaching the summit. I would have also done the same to the bottle of Emperador but it was impossible to put it in my pocket. (I seriously wish that whoever left it there bites his/her/their tongue(s) whenever someone gets to read this.) I did enjoy the climb but I was somehow feeling bad that I was contributing to the demise of Mt. Apo.

I'm not saying that we should stop climbing the mountain. I still definitely want to come back to Mt. Apo and witness the sunset and sunrise from the peak. And I don't want to deny this beautiful experience from others. All I'm saying is that let's do it responsibly and respectfully.

the secrets of angkor

Nope. It's not about any anthropological or historical secret that still baffles Angkor scholars. It isn't about nooks unknown to most tourists. It's not even a secret. These are just simple stuff that are good-to-know before and good-to-share after visiting the Angkor Archaeological Park.

Dress code There isn't a strict dress code. It's not as if one would not be allowed to enter the park if he or she is not wearing the proper clothes. But almost everyone we saw were wearing pants and sleeved shirts.

What are prohibited? Self-explanatory.

There were only a few parts of the temples where one must be properly dressed. That is, at least the shoulders and knees must be covered. Of all the temples we visited, only Baphoun and Angkor Wat requires some modesty. Good thing we decided to wear pants before leaving the hostel because I swear I would have really hated my self if I were not able to climb the stepped pyramid of Baphuon Temple. (I saw one girl wearing a skirt who was not allowed to go up.) Even though the climb to the top was exhausting due to the very steep steps, the view was one of the best that I've seen in the park.

The thing about wearing the right clothing isn't exactly about being obedient. It's about respect. After all, the Khmer dress modestly. I didn't see anyone wearing revealing clothing while we were in Cambodia. And besides, the temples are sacred sites of the Hindu. You wouldn't want to offend their gods, would you?

One of my favorite views.

Mode of transportation The tuktuk rules. It's like there were a thousand of these staple vehicles in a single day going around the park. You're lucky if you get a good driver. If not, well, you're in the Angkor Wat. It's a good day.

We visited the park twice. The first time, we got a really good jolly driver who acted as some sort of guide. He spoke good English and gave us some background about the temples. He even included free drinks in his service. The tuktuk rent for 8 hours was 15 dollars. We wanted to be there from sunrise to sunset. It was for more than 13 hours and he charged us 23 dollars. I think we got the better end of the deal.

At the back of the tuktuk

The next day, our driver didn't talk to us. He only asked if we had already paid the rent. (Which we did beforehand at the hostel.)

When to visit the park I was really thankful that we decided to do our Vietnam-Cambodia trip in December. When I was still planning, I realized that it was the only time when my friends would be free for several days as it was the holidays. And so when we got there, we were surprised that the weather wasn't what we expect from a tropical country. Early mornings and evenings were cool. During the day, it was always pleasantly warm. With all the temples that we climbed (six to be exact), we would have been really exhausted if it was the high summer then.

We were glad that we had our jackets and pants on when we left for the park (See dress code) as it was really cold at 5am riding a speedy tuktuk.

Itinerary What itinerary? Leave it to the tuktuk driver.

Well, we were really lucky with our driver as he was the one who decided where to take us. I didn't plan ahead because that's how I am I think if I am traveling with friends. We watched the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We covered the whole of Angkor Thom. We then proceeded to Preah Khan and Pre Roup before having our really late lunch. We then visited Ta Prohm, the 'Tomb Raider Temple' but it was under reconstruction and we weren't able to see the most famous tree. We were supposed to see the sunset at Phnom Bakheng but we ran out of time because we haven't gone inside Angkor Wat yet. We were busy munching breakfast when our driver thought we were going around the temple.

We were really satisfied.

Eating Food inside the park was relatively expensive. But at the kiosks near the temples, the price isn't fixed. We didn't want to pay 1.5 dollars for a can of coke so the vendor said she would give it to us for a dollar. We didn't ask. During breakfast, the lady didn't want to let go of us and sold us the breakfast set for 2.5 dollars each instead of 3.5. Again, we didn't ask.

Chasing the sun We were up really early that day. We left our hostel at around 5am and when we got to the park, there were already hundreds of visitors waiting to see the sun slowly rising behind Angkor Wat. The best place to take photos were already occupied so we had to make do with the space left. But a few shots later, I realized that I would never be able to capture that magical moment even if I was at the perfect spot or I had the most expensive lens. So I hid my camera and just watched nature.

Worth the wait.

We also wanted to witness sunset at Phnom Bakheng since it is where guidebooks tell you to go. But since we haven't explored Angkor Wat yet, we chose the latter.

So we went for another visit to the park. This time, we were there early. We didn't go up the moment we got there since there was a rule that only 300 persons are allowed at the temple at a time. A lot of guards were regulating the entrance so we assumed that one can only be at the top for a limited amount of time to allow other people to visit. We were wrong. When the line grew to a couple of hundreds of visitors, they allowed everyone to enter. There were surely more than 300! Rules are meant to be broken then.

I didn't mind paying another 20usd for this. Priceless experience.

Bonus: Filipino-speaking Khmer There were a lot of them. Really. And the thing is, they knew we were Filipino the moment they laid their eyes upon us. One said that it was because of the way we talk. I'm not sure though. Some already knew even before we opened our mouths to speak.

We had a chance to chat with one of the ticket inspectors at the park. He said that they knew Filipino words because their English teachers are Filipinos. We're everywhere!