N A P S T E R ' s R E A L M: CONQUERED....

Saturday, October 4th, 2008, 1:40pm.....Mount Arayat, Pampanga......

It all began last October 3rd, we came all the way from Manila and arrived at Magalang, Pampanga at around 11:00pm. Exhausted as we were, yet we still prepared our breakfast and lunch for the next day and manage to down 2 bottles of "Mang Jose" Cuervo tequilas. I hardly slept at around 3:30 am and woke up 5:30 in the morning (WTF!).

Then D-day comes...

We ate breakfast and then prepared for the trek. Arrived at the base of the mountain at around 7:50am and started the ordeal by 8:00am.

All hell breaks loose!

Around 11:30 (i think) was the time when all hell breaks loose! We have hired 2 guides and assigned them, one at the front and one at the back and then the front guide disappeared. Well he did not disappear in an instant but he disappeared trying to clear our trail from grasses and other unwanted objects. That's not it, we summoned the back guide to go to the front just for us to continue the hike, but to our mistake, the guide didn't know where to go! WTF! WE WERE LOST AT THE MIDDLE OF THE WOODS!!! F*CK!
We've decided to go back to the camp using our own sense of direction(WTF is that). After 1.5 hrs of waiting and searching, the front guide re-appeared and as if nothing happened he summoned us again back to climb uphill because he said that the peak is near. So, there we are, 1:00pm, with only a bottle of water left for 20 thirsty and hungry stomachs, and with very exhausted bodies, we went back to the trail.

And then there's glory...

1:40pm we've reached the 1st of the 2 peaks, and God, it was a relief! Well not for the fact that we've reached the top but beacuse we can finally eat! HEHE! After eating, My friend and I decided to take a look from the peak, climbing the overhanging large rock! God, it was MAGNIFICENT! My exhaustion disappeared... Well, not really, but the sight is very very beautiful!

Descent...

We've decided to trek down at around 2:30pm and we headed back to the "refilling station" and passed by a "batis", so we decided to cool our bodies down a bit. we arrived at the base at around 5:30 in the afternoon.

Well, a very very tiring experience yet a once in a lifetime trip to the nether world! hahaha!!!

I've provided some of the pics below...