English

Exploring 
New Grounds, 
New Adventures

 (Travelogue of SMC Group 7 Banahaw Trip. Contains Pictures with Captions and Cutlines)

 By: Leo Gamolo









A student’s last year in high school wouldn’t be complete without an outbound 
trip. It is one of the activities that no high school student would want to miss.

About a week before the outbound trip, I was still suffering from Dengue. I was

discharged two days before the outbound trip. I really had a hard time whether I’ll go
with the class for the outbound trip or not because my body and immune system wasn’t back to its normal condition yet. I was about to say no but few of my classmates insisted, and so I made the unexpected decision. My classmates were happy and so am I. (But to be honest I
wasn’t really sure of my decision)

A night before the outbound trip, I prayed for myself and the class’ safety.

Finally, the day that we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. This outbound trip will be our last as a student in Marist. When I arrived at the bus, the first thing I did was to look for my seatmate; and that is Ervin. We were seated on the front right side, of the bus.

Never Alone

I was siting in the bus with my seatmate, Ervin Buenviaje, 
at my left in our way to our destination, Mt. Banahaw.

When the bus started moving, we decided to start the trip by praying the rosary. As we finished the prayer, we were almost in our first stop-over in SLEX. We had this time to buy the things we would need for the rest of trip and also to have some snacks.

Time-out

Our trip was paused for us to buy some of our needs and use lavatory if we need at the different stores in our stop-over. 
As we load the bus and continue our trip, our tour guide, Kuya Robi, gave us some reminders about the area we are to visit.

It was a sunny morning when we arrived at Mt. Banahaw. The trip almost took four hours but the long trip was soon forgotten after having a glimpse of the place’s beautiful sight. Before climbing up to our destination, Kuya Robi gave us some or the hand signals and whistle codes to be followed I the whole field exploration. The tour guide instructed to leave all of our valuable things inside the bus so it won’t get lost or get wet. We are told to only bring a small bag which would contain our lunch, water, and cameras. We first ventured the village of Ciudad Mystica where we were given a chance to know their way of living and their religion. Inside the village, Kuya Robi informed us about the activities we will be having and our route for the trip.

Gate to new knowledge

The gate of the village, Ciudad Mystica, has the flags of all the countries in 
the world and some other designs related to the village's religion and beliefs. 

Listening to other's brain

SMC students listening attentively to all the knowledge Kuya Robi is 
sharing to them about the different places they will be going to. 

Before continuing our journey, we have a short set of warm-ups only for our muscles to be stretched and avoid cramps. We had some simple muscle stretching, jogging in place, and some jumping-jacks.



Jump of safety

The class did twenty jumping-jacks as warm-up to help
prevent any injuries for the rest of the trip.
Our next trip stop is at the Husgado Cave. Before going in the cave, I took off my shoes as well as the others so that it will be easier for us to move inside the said cave. Luckily, I was able to move in the cave easily without any wounds.



Out of the worm hole

I successfully got through the narrow tunnel of Husgado Cave 
with a smile on my face and without any wounds. 


After getting through the obstacles of the cave, our class had our lunch in a nearby hut. It was like a little feast of success.

Feast of success

The class of SMC eating their lunch altogether after 
experiencing the difficulty of going through the Husgado Cave. 
Our next destination is to climb the Mountain of Kalbaryo. The mountain or hill, as said by Kuya Robi, was formed by the boulders that Mt. Banahaw spitted when it erupted. It is not easy to climb the mountain because it is so steep and some rocks are slippery. We weren’t expecting the rain to fall down since the weather was clear and dry. So I didn’t bring any extra shirt. Unluckily, upon reaching the top of Mt. Calbaryo, the rain fell on us. Almost all of us are literally producing smoke due to the heat and the evaporation of the rain. Our last destination is the Lagnas River. The water is so cold and it was like I was dipping I a pool of ice. I asked assistance from some of my classmates since they all know that I just came from the hospital. Everyone whom I asked assistance helped me whole heartedly. I started to feel comfortable and started to insist help from any of my classmates, I don’t want to be a burden to them, I also wanted them to have fun.

After the outbound trip, I thanked everyone who assisted me as well as our kuyas for a very memorable outbound trip for, unhopefully, the last time.

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