Hike To The Panoramic (and more!)

Typing this article right now, my skin is so red like a sunburn, or I think this really is a sunburn. My feet and legs are kinda tired too but not that painful. Wonder how I got these?

Yesterday, me, my boyfriend, and friends went to another famous tourist spot in our province - The Alicia's Panoramic Park. This is the first time that most of us have hiked there, well there were 7 of us in the group. We started driving from 4 in the morning and arrived at Alicia by 6:00 AM. We weren't able to park our Car at the entrance of the park because the road was so muddy and kind of dangerous for our Car to force its wheels. So we had to walk for 10 minutes going to the Entrance. 

Reaching there, we got 2 tour guides with us. There were 4 women in the group and so we rented sticks as the lady told us that we'll need it during the hike. And I guess she was right, those sticks really did come in handy during our hike. As we were starting our way up to the hills, so did the Sun. I think we started at around 7 in the morning since we ate our breakfast first before the journey.

The Sun was getting hotter and the hill was getting steeper too. Our backs are getting wet with our sweat and we were getting thirsty. As for me, of course I was tired but I kept going, I was very determined and inspired to really climb these hills and see the best view up there. I didn't focus myself on the tiredness, or the heat, or the slope, but rather focused on how exciting this journey is gonna be. 

We stopped midway for I think 10 minutes to regain our strength and hydrate ourselves with some energy drink and water. After that, we continued on our way. After almost 2 hours, and as were getting closer to the tip of the hill, the sun felt like biting our skin already due to the extreme heat (9:40 AM). I can literally see the tip already but my legs were starting to shake in every step as well. My boyfriend who was behind me and was very exhausted himself, suddenly felt inspired and energetic when he finally saw the end of the hill. He was the one pushing me and telling me "Dali na love gamay nalang muabot nata. Dali gamay nalang gyud oh duol nagyud. Lezgo love." And so I forced my legs to really step up despite the tiredness and shaking. AND TADA! Me and my boyfriend were the first ones in the group to reach the top! It felt very rewarding and we really did hugged as we stand at the very top. The rest of the group then followed after 1-2 minutes and we all had a hearty rest at the top for an hour.

We took plenty of pictures up there, then we ate up all our snacks, drinks, and even beers while enjoying the view and the fresh air. An hour later, we started to descend as the clouds went dark. And apparently it rained. It rained really hard as we were walking to our parked Car. All of us were soaking wet since none of us had umbrellas. Can you imagine, after getting fried in the Sun, we were then soaked by the rain hahaha what an adventure! 

A long while after walking under the rain, we reached our Car. Unfortunately, two of its wheels got stuck in the mud because of the rain. We even had to push it to move it but still it didn't work. So we ate our lunch there because it was already almost 2 in the afternoon and we were all tired, wet, thirsty, and hungry. 30 minutes had pass and still no progress with the wheels so my boyfriend and Jo had to go and find a house that could let us borrow some tools to dig up the mud. As we were waiting for them to be back, motocross riders passed by on us and 2 of the riders stopped to help us with our situation. Those 2 riders also recruited random people to help push the car out of the mud, the same time my boyfriend and Jo got back with their borrowed tools. All of them got together in pushing the car out and they were successful. Really a big thanks to all those people who helped us, God bless you all.

Before we went in the car, we took off our shoes and socks because it's wet and covered so much with mud. And so we drove out for another 3 hours with our wet clothes and barefeet. At around 5 in the afternoon, we reached Alona Panglao since our friends planned on having a brief swim at the beach to wash off the rainwaters from our head and bodies. So we did. But as we reached Panglao, one of our Car's tire went flat. Nice.

We let it be and went ahead first with our swimming at the beach for atleast 30 minutes before going back to the car. Let me remind you that we were all walking barefoot, none of us wore back our muddy shoes. After that, the boys went ahead to fix the tires for like an hour, and they got it done by 7 in the evening. Finally after that, we drove again for at least 30-40 minutes going to Baluarte's BBQ Eatery. We were all hungry and tired but at the same time we were amazed at how our day actually went out of plan. 

When we reached Baluarte, it was crowded and all tables were occupied. Yes let me remind you again for the second time that we were walking around barefoot, not minding at people looking at us on why we're all barefoot and wet. We decided to just take-out the food and eat it at the Car's parking lot. 

We had a good meal, eating with our hands, savoring the barbeque and its sauce, as if its our reward after all the activities we had for that day and everything that we've been through with the drive, the climb, the sun, the rain, the mud, the flat tire, the beach, and walking barefoot with wet clothes. It was such a tiring but beautifully unique and adventurous day for all of us. Thankfully, we all went home safe and sound by 9 in the evening. 

And guess what? Now they're planning again for our next adventure out! We're still planning and I'm very much looking forward to sharing it with y'all again soon. Ciao!