It’s only been at least a month since I went to Imugan Nueva Vizcaya to do a documentation on Forest Carbon Measurement for Trading, I found myself back in Imugan with a few friends. We stayed this time on a dorm near a river frequented by foresters and also closer to the impressive cascades and falls of Imugan can be found. On our second day in Santa Fe, we venture 10km further to Salacsac, where a pine forest can be found.
“Di ka pa nakakapunta ng Tawi-Tawi pag di mo pa na-akyat ang Bud Bongao (You haven’t been to Tawi-Tawi if you haven’t climbed Bud Bongao)” said our Muslim guide Ben as we started our climb one morning in Bongao, Tawi-tawi. Bud Bongao dominates the whole landscape of the Tawi-tawi island. The Muslim people there considers the mountain as sacred and guards the well being of the island and the people that resides. At least once, in every Muslim’s life living on the island, they would climb the mountain and pray at the peak.
On my last day in Zhangjiajie, we decided to visit the second National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie City, Hunan – The Tianmenshan or Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park. This National Park is a newly developed attraction in the north western Hunan Province of China, located only 8 km from the city proper of Zhangjiajie. Standing at 1518.6 meters, Tianmen Mountain is the first recorded mountain in the history of the province and has been revered as the “Soul of Zhangjiajie”. The mountain, boasting intact primitive forest, numerous rare tree species and medicinal herbs, and abundance of fauna.
So many things have been said about Palawan on how wonderful a place it is. Being dubbed as a “Last Frontier” is a well deserved tag along it’s name. Even with those expectation ahead, one can never truly be prepared on what you will actually see. It’s fortunate that when we were there, we were blessed with good weather. On our first day, one of our major activity was to climb Mt Tapyas. It’s a good chance to preview what lies ahead on our day of exploring the islands.
The word Emeishan literally means “Delicate Eyebrow Mountain” describing the quality of its two peaks at the summit. Continuing from where we left, alighting at the Cable Car Station, it is still a few minutes hike at the altitude of around 3000+meters above sea level. At that height, even with the sun already high up in the sky beating down on us, the temperature was still cold, but still ebarable enough without a gloves if have high tolerance for the cold.
Emeishan (Mt Emei, Mt O-mei or Emei Shan 峨嵋山 ) is one of the Four Sacred Mountains of Buddhism in China. Located in Sichuan Province, South West of China, it shares its UNESCO World Heritage Site designation with Leshan’s Giant Buddha. Standing at 3,099m above sea level, it boasts of breath taking views, mysterious natural wonders and historical Buddhist Sites which makes it one of China’s popular tourist destination. And this morning we start our ascent to this sacred mountain.
At the camp, we get to pitch our tents. The Columbia Dome tent is actually very nice. It has 2 doors, one on each side and very spacious iteriors with a hanging compartment at the ceiling and can room 3 medium sized persons. Early morning, it actually rained more but we were still dry inside the tents. At camp we get to eat some pasta, toasted breads and baguettes prepared by the Columbia folks. We get to share some stories as well with the other bloggers. The next day, we had some clearing and we get to do a summit. This is actually the 3rd time I visited this mountain and it’s the first time I did a summit. Maybe because I knew the summit here wasn’t that spectacular as the other Batangas mountains.
Ferdz is a Backpack Photographer and Adventure Traveler based in the Philippines. Ironwulf.net: En Route is a travel blog accounting his adventures travels, travel and lifestyle photography. It's all about the journey and experience.
