Tarak Ridge: First Major Climb

Tarak Ridge: Adobo version

Tarak Ridge

This is one of my memorable climbs not just because it was my first major climb but I realized I can climb a mountain with major difficulty. Mt. Tarak  (1,130 MASL) has a difficulty of 4/9 and to be honest I wasn’t ready.  My last climb was back in 2012; I don’t exercise and I am usually sleep deprived. The night before our climb I slept at 12 midnight; I cooked adobo for our lunch and because internet.

I woke up at 3 in the morning to cook for breakfast. Yes, I am that nice. Hahaha! I was still sleepy but my nescafe 3in1 creamy white was doing its job well so I got that going for me. Our call time was 5 am but we left the house past 5. WOMEN, that’s why.

Our trek mates were getting impatient for waiting because we were an hour late. We arrived at Alas-asin at around 6 am. We paid the registration fee (which is left of the road) at the barangay hall then headed to Aling Kurding. You can walk from the highway or ride a tricycle to Aling Kurding’s. We chose the latter. Aling Kurding is an adorable old woman who guards Mt. Tarak. She’s been there for almost a hundred years yet she has the strength of a 30 year old woman. I’m just kidding.

With all seriousness, Aling Kurding lives at the foot of Mt. Tarak and that’s all that I know about her besides her being so nice. Her grand daughter, Ate Beth, was our guide that day. She has the strength of a horse. She has been climbing Tarak for a long time and what amazed me was she used slippers and she only brought 500 mL of water. Damn!

Anyway, let’s get back to Mt. Tarak. The trail has two parts: the easy at first which get harder and the hard which get extremely hard. The first part takes two hours and the latter takes one and a half to two. On the first part, the trail was easy but we walked through fallen trees and sometimes big rocks and giant roots. The moment you see talahib weeds the trail gets challenging: steep but manageable. Just be careful on holding on to plants because some are thorny.

When the going gets tough

After an hour of holding on to anything that looks sturdy we reached the Papaya River. It doesn’t offer a nice picturesque view but it’s a good place to rest – the water was refreshing and you can refill your water bottles here.

Papaya River

Papaya River

After our photo ops at Papaya River we decided to continue and boy it was hard! We have to stop every now and then because the trail, up to the ridge, was steep. You have to hold on to branches and roots of trees because you have nothing else. And every time I ask our guide, Ate Beth, how far the ridge is her response is always “One hour more.” She’s a joke.

View at Tarak Ridge

Tarak Summit

Well anyway, no matter how hard the climb was, when you get to the top it’s all worth it. The wounds I got from the thorns are worth it. The sprain didn’t matter because when you’re on top everything is just beautiful.

Itinerary:

0600H	Register at Barangay Hall
	Ride tric to Aling Kurding
0630H	Arrive at Aling Kurding
0700H	Start trek to Papaya river
0900H	Arrive at Papaya river
	Rest
1000H	Start trek to Tarak ridge
1200H	Arrive at Tarak Ridge
	Rest and eat
1400H	Start trek to Papaya river
1530H	Arrive at Papaya river
	Rest
1600H	Start trek to Aling Kurding
1800H	Arrive at Aling Kurding

How to get there:

For those coming from Metro Manila, ride a bus bound for Mariveles in Fivestar, Cubao. Look for Bataan Transit buses, their trips start at 1 am. Tell the bus driver that you’re going to climb Mt. Tarak. If he doesn’t know where that is, get off from the bus and go to Genesis. Kidding. J Tell them to drop you off at Alas-asin Barangay Hall.  

Major Expenses:

Guide – 900 (for the group)

Tric – 100/pax (roundtrip from main road to Aling Kurding)
Bus (from Cubao to Alas-asin) – Around 250-260/pax

Important reminder:

Unless you’re a pro, do get a guide. There are a number of mountaineers who get lost at Mt. Tarak (as per Ate Beth). Because Mt. Tarak is sometimes a troll.

Contact (Guide):
Ate Beth: 09495869556

-goodnight-
donna

A Day At Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

It’s a holiday, and it’s Wednesday; you’re staying in a housing compound (somewhere at Bataan) where the only source of entertainment is the internet. The city is an hour away (riding on a minibus).What are you gonna do? 

The Location

Besides being a historical place (the infamous Death March started here), Bataan is also known as the location of the Nuclear Power Plant which never experienced a star-up; never been commissioned. Speaking of the Nuclear Power Plant, there were plans of rehabilitating it but it eventually became a tourist attraction. 

The Plan

Together with my colleagues, we decided to organize a summer outing for the department or for anyone who wanted to come, since most us won’t be going home on the said holiday. There was a challenge tho: each of us should only draw out an amount of P500 or less. 

I was browsing the internet for budget friendly beaches located here at Bataan and one resort caught my attention: the Westnuk Beach Resort (it is located west of the Nuclear Plant thus the name Westnuk). The pictures on their site were very nice but before I made the reservation I checked if the beach is safe for swimming; it’s within the nuclear plant after all. I asked my workmates who are from Bataan about the beach although some of them don’t even know that Westnuk beach exists. There was no negative response so I made a reservation; it was relatively cheap (P100/guest). 

The resort is maintained by the government so there are not much of facilities but it looks comfortable enough.

Getting There

We hired a jeep for the whole day activity (we’re a group of 20) and the ride to Westnuk from Batangas Dos (Mariveles) is around 1.5 hours. Being the “punong abala”, I stayed in front of the jeep with one of our OJTs and she kept me awake for the whole trip. :D

The Nuclear Plant

We passed two gates before we entered the gate of the resort. At the first gate I just gave my name and he confirmed on the list if we made a reservation. At the second gate we all get down from the jeep. I guess the guard needs to check all of us. The nuclear plant feels so isolated and abandoned. It has this eerie feeling but upon arriving at the beach it's as if the beach is not within the plant's premises. The two gates I mentioned are far from each other and between the gates are supposed to be the housing for the employees of BNPP. 

2nd gate

After the 2nd gate

At the Westnuk beach

We rented two cottages but the caretaker was so nice that we only paid for one cottage. Also there aren't a lot of people at the beach, which is nice. 

We rented a boat to bring us to a near island (c/o our boss).

View of resort from the boat.

Almost there

View of BNPP from the island

After an hour at the island, we went back to the resort. Time for games and hotdogs!

Credits to Mack

Itinerary

6:30 AM – 8:30 AM – Travel to Bataan Nuclear Powe rPlant (We had a stopover, that’s why)

8:30 AM – Arrived at BNPP

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM – Breakfast and coffee at Westnuk

9:30 AM – 10:00 AM – Boat ride to an island near the resort

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM – Swim at island

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Boat ride back to the resort

11:30 AM – 2:00 PM – Lunch

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Card games/Swim

3:00 PM – 4:00 – Hotdog party J (and beer)

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Games J

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM – Prepare for check out

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Picture taking at Resort/BNPP

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM – Travel back to Batangas Dos

Remark: The resort also offers a tour around the nuclear plant but only during the weekdays.

Budget: 

P500/person

    Entrance fee : P100/person

    Cottage: P150

    Food: P4850 (breakfast/snacks/lunch/snacks)

    Jeep: P3000

How to get there (from Metro Manila)

By Car