Still reeling like a junkie who just smoked a bundle of weed from the previous night's "Bikini Open", I woke up from a dream where I found myself trapped on an island along with eleven other bikini-clad contestants. Only to find later on that "number 3" was really an alien from outer space intent on killing me while I eloped with "number 2" and "number 4". To understand what I'm talking about, you can read the background story here. Anyway, back to real life. The sun was up early and I heard the birds chirping by the window of the guest room of Barangay Kapitan Bibo Porras' home. I stood up from my bed half wishing my dream was real, went outside, and saw our two guides Inggo and his cousin Wladimir already waiting for us on the porch.
Romblon: Looting Scenery on a Day Hike to Gomot Falls
Minutes later, Dazzling Dazzle (her superhero name), Voluptuous Pam (her moulin rouge alias), and Josiah Strong (his GI Joe name) also started to wake up one by one. We were all excited for the hike, even though we wouldn't be pushing through with our original plan of hiking to a waterfall on Sibuyan Island said to measure 350 feet high. The hike to that alone would take a day and a half, and since we were running on a strict schedule—Pam and I were returning to Manila the next day—we settled for a quick day hike to Gomot Falls.
Trails of Sibuyan Island
Since the hillside we were passing through is inhabited by the indigenous people of Sibuyan Island, we asked permission first at the National Commission on Indigenous People office, located near the town hall of Cajidiocan on the day we arrived. Kapitan Bibo told us that years ago, members of the ethnic group lived entirely on their own and were wary of outsiders. Today, they are an active part of the whole community, participating in livelihood projects and even having their chieftain act as their representation in the local government.
Our guide Inggo also proudly hails from the ethnic group living on the mountainside of Sibuyan Island. After our hike, Dazzle dropped by the house of the chieftain to have a short chat about our trip while I waited outside. The next day, while having breakfast at the house of the town Mayor, I met the chieftain again, who went there to have the scholarship papers of a young IP student signed by the Mayor.
We started our hike at around 8:30 am, stopping by an eatery to take out some burgers as our packed lunch. The trail was gradually steep with a lengthy level path and occasional bends and turns offering a clear view of the sea. If you're lucky, as legend has it, if you happen to see the peak of Mount Guiting-Guiting without it being covered by thick clouds, chances are—you will find your true love in Romblon.
I saw the peak of G2 clear as an azure sky. That is if Inggo wasn't messing with me when he pointed out the peak of Guiting-Guiting. Dazzle also confirmed that it was indeed the peak of G2. So she ended up teasing me about "Number 3" from the previous night's Bikini Open. I still like to keep my choices wide open and not limit my future "the one" only to Romblon, but who knows if the legend about the peak of G2 is true or not. It remains to be seen, brothers and sisters.
An hour into our trek, we stopped by the houses of Inggo's mom and aunt. We chatted for half an hour, and they were pleasantly happy to have us in their homes. They even insisted we have our lunch there, but we politely told them we needed to get to the waterfall as soon as possible, as we planned to reach at least two other waterfalls that day. I almost fell asleep on the porch when the cool wind patted me toward sleep, humming like a lullaby where all that was missing were the moving shadows of the moon and stars on the walls. Before we could all take an early siesta, we decided to get going and pick up our pace (Pam—meanwhile—might have missed the "pick up the speed" memo), passing miniature wooden bridges, toppled trees, and small streams along the forested trail.
Gomot Falls & Uncanny Encounters
Along the way, we encountered an old man. He was crying unabashedly, wiping tears with his torn-down shirt. He asked if we could help take his wife to the hospital by carrying her down the mountain. Dazzle immediately worried and offered to help. Inggo, however, sensed something was amiss, so he summoned his cousin Wlad to check the old man's house to see if he was telling the truth. It turned out the chieftain's father, whose face covered in lines of hardened years made him look older than his 70-plus years, was having a delirious moment and was actually remembering his late former wife's illness from years ago.
After realizing that it was already the year 2012, he settled down, stopped crying, and wished us luck on our hike. Another hour or so later, we passed another small house where we were cheerfully greeted by Inggo's grandmother, who quickly made us feel welcome by telling random stories. Since she was speaking in a Romblomanon Visayan dialect, Pam translated what she was saying. She said that all her belongings were packed and she was just awaiting her sister to fetch her so they could meet their other sister living in Manila. I felt sadness in her story, as it conveyed her longing for her siblings and the promise of going away and traveling—a necessary anticipation for something that was not going to happen, as it was obvious she was imagining that scenario.
Since we weren't eager beavers, our hike added a couple more hours to our intended itinerary. We finally reached Gomot Falls at around 3:00 PM, just in time for the almost perfect position of sunlight for photographing the waterfall. Dazzle took some amazing shots when she flanked the waterfall to its left from an elevated position and had Inggo jump into the water while asking him to stare at the falls. Without a tripod, I took some less awesome shots, and after a while, I jumped into the cold waters to cool down my tired, aching body (currently 86% muscle, 14% body fat).
War Tunnels & The Dark Descent
We spent an hour by the waterfall before proceeding to another tiny waterfall. Dazzle and I continued on, while Josiah and Pam headed straight to base camp (Kapitan Bibo's house). Later during the night, we found out that both of them got lost on the way back. It was an eerie moment because Pam and Josiah met two elderly women along the trail—which, in a place where everybody knows each other, was strange because neither Inggo nor Kapitan Bibo had heard of anyone matching their descriptions before. Dazzle and I went ahead on a separate trail and crossed a monkey bridge into a man-made tunnel used by American and Filipino soldiers during the war, and by the Japanese in the last days of the war.
It was pitch black, and armed with only a flashlight, we passed through a long stretch at the foot of the hills, crossing river streams. With the wind blistering through my ears, my inner coward self started imagining the sound as whispers from ghosts. I looked back and saw pure blackness, while the sky was covered with a few stars and a moon just a few days from full, illuminating us as if saying, "I got your back."
I heaved a sigh of relief when we started seeing houses reached by electricity—the lights became a symbol of civilization for me. We were finally out of the dark forest, and only a drunk old man became the remaining tiny obstacle lying across our path for the rest of the night.
