The first time I heard of the word “spelunking” was during the prep meeting for the Sagada trip. It was when I googled it that I found out that it’s just another name for caving.

Upon arrival in Sagada and before checking in at George Guest House Extension, we had lunch at The Yogurt House, I would say that the food was good but be prepared to wait in line to be seated & wait for your food to be cooked. As Theodore (our guide) told us, “walang fastfood dito sa Sagada”, which means the food is being cooked as it is ordered. Also, be prepared to pay a little...

This year’s SMB Mountaineer’s outing was set for February 9-12, 2012 – the destination, Sagada in Mountain Province. A total of sixteen (16) participants joined the outing/trip, twelve took the bus from Sampaloc (Manila) to Banawe, Ifugao and the 4 of us were in a private vehicle from Cavite.

The last time I witnessed this festival was during the 12th Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in 2008. I was alone then, this time I’m accompanied by my wife.

I’ve climbed several mountains and yet I never had a course in Basic Mountaineering. My entry into the world of mountaineering in the mid 90′s was influenced by my friends, I won’t say that we were unprepared, but looking back, it could have been beneficial to me (or us) if we had the training.

Our journey to Anawangin Cove starts with a 4 hours trip from Manila to San Antonio, Zambales. This was my first trip to the cove, I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about the place since 2007 but never had a chance to visit. We went with the group of (Pinoy) tourists who availed the tour package.