A few weeks before the holy week, I received an invite from a friend asking me to come with her on a trip to Kalinga. Without even checking where exactly to go or what to expect, I said yes told her that I'm okay with it.
A few days before trip, I browsed some of the stuffs from the blogs on the internet but I really didn't paid much attention. I just want it to be surprising.
We took an 8-hour bus ride (not sure if it was longer due to traffic) to Banaue. Then from Banaue, it was an hour or more going to Bontoc. I'm not sure if it was the last trip but we took a jeepney ride from there going to Tinglayan. I guess it was the longest three-hour-ride I had since I wasn't sitting comfortably going there but instead I was standing, hanging on the edge of the jeep under the burning heat of the sun.
We arrived late in the afternoon so our tour guide decided not to push through going to Buscalan since it would get dark very soon. He said it might be dangerous. Instead, stayed overnight in Tinglayan. We decided to go and swim to the river and on our way back, we drank coffee on someone's house. It was very sweet. Perfect drink for the weather.
We woke up early next morning and prepared to trek to Buscalan, the place where Fang-od lives. We got on a jeepney going up there and then trekked for more than an hour (with our bags.. heavy bags).
I won't get into much details on what happened there as it was pretty much awesome. We met the locals, others got their tattoos, I took a lot of photos, met new people and friends, enjoyed the view and other stuffs too.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay overnight at Fang-od's house since it was already full. Lucky for us, we stayed at someone else's house (related to Fang-od) who was very welcoming and hospitable. Thanks to Ate Evha (with 'h') who prepared us a very delicious dinner and breakfast which she didn't shared the secret ingredients why it tasted really delicious.
We met Fang-od, the traditional tattoo artist who seemed to be quite famous there. We also met her grandchild (grandchild of her sister), Grace, who happens to be doing the tattoos also. It's good that she is working to maintain their culture and traditions.
I didn't get a tattoo. I'm just happy to be there and happy to take pictures of almost everything. That's all I wanted.
Life there is very simple. Before you get there you have to set your expectations aside, leave it at home and just wait for whatever comes in front of you. Though it might be very hard because of the language barrier but you'll be surprised to meet a few who can speak Tagalog or even English aside from your tourguide/interpreter.
We gave matches, candles, canned goods to our host and candies for the kids. I love it when kids comes near and they only speak one word, "Candy". Though I'm not sure why but they pretty much appreciated matchsticks up there. But be sure to bring a lot if you are planning to get up there.
The most memorable moment there when Fang-od asked me if I got a tattoo (though I really didn't understand what she said but her actions showed what she meant). When I said no and that I didn't get any, she just laughed and smiled at me.
When we left, we trekked down for (I'm not sure if) more than two hours to get to the main road and good thing we quickly got to a jeepney going back to Bontoc. We had our goodbyes with the people and friends we met. It was a really nice stay there.
I like travelling. I like to travel to get a lot of pictures and meet new people. But this is nothing like travelling to go on a vacation. This one is different, immersing yourself with the people, the culture, and the traditions. If there was one thing I learned from this trip, it's that we can live our lives with all the simplicity we could have. We don't need to ask for more than anything else as long as we live happily with our friends and family. We don't need to expect more but just accept what is given to us. It's just as simple as that.
You can check out my facebook page to see some of the photos I had during our trip. Thanks!
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