When one mentions 'rappelling', I always remember the classic scene in the first Universal Soldier film where the characters of Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme attempted a daring Australian rappel assault straight down the Hoover Dam. Though our experience at the 155-foot-high Pulangui Bridge at Quezon, Bukidnon ain't nowhere near a UniSol's feat, I definitely felt a massive rat throbbing from inside my chest as our guide prepared my safety gears.
"Are you nervous?" he repeated to me. "Are you nervous?" I gave him a thumbs-up sign, completely betraying what I was truly feeling, just before I kicked my feet off the edge and catapulted my body mid-air. With only a single sturdy rope saving me from a three-second free fall into massive broken bones or worse—death—I quietly recited a short prayer.
Channeling Dolph Lundgren at Pulangui Bridge
The Descent
The whole thing lasted for about a minute and a half as I bravely took my time turning my head to appreciate the lush scenery around me—if only to ensure that in case the rope snapped, at least I got to fully enjoy my last images of Earth. Once I finally got a hold of my nerves, everything went smoothly, but I still felt the intense rope burn on my right hand despite wearing thick protective gloves. Upon reaching the middle part of the descent, I finally felt calmer and much more relaxed.
I heaved a massive sigh of relief the moment my feet firmly touched the ground beneath the bridge. Trying to mellow my adrenaline spikes, I sat down on the ground just a stone's throw away from the rampaging white waters of the Old Pulangui River. I looked up to see my companions still high up on the bridge. I could barely see their tiny heads peeking over the rails. Our belayer asked me how it went; I told him I became deeply nervous at the very start, but once I began rappelling down, things naturally worked out fine and the cool rush of the descent finally set in.
One by one, my #TravelMindanao friends courageously rappelled down. After me, it was Ching; after her, it was Doi, then Ferdz, then Shugah, and finally Alex. Even though I've experienced rappelling before—first from the rooftop of a humble two-story house, and the other from a 50-foot tree at Camp Sabros in Digos City—this one was undeniably the highest and the most thrilling of them all.
Caving and Roadside Hitchhiking
The extreme activity left me completely exhausted and starving, as we had been doing thrilling things since early morning. But for a great cause in the name of raw exploration—my soul was full. Earlier that day, we took a refreshing dip in a pool of water inside Blue Water Cave, where the name aptly describes the stunning color of the water inside. The intense hike to get there took us almost an hour, carefully negotiating through a slick trail of mud, climbing over large formations of limestone rocks, and finally venturing into the gaping mouth of the cave.
Bukidnon is rapidly starting to become a major hotbed for extreme adventure destinations. There are a lot of intense outdoor activities that await travelers in this beautiful, emerging eco-tourism province. This was just the start of the many muscle-flexing and adrenaline-pumping undertakings that we fully enjoyed during the Bukidnon leg of our #TravelMindanao circuit.
As we waited patiently on the side of the road for a ride to our next destination—the tranquil Lake Apo—we congratulated each other for surviving such a memorable experience that morning. It's not every day that one gets to boldly swim inside an uncharted cave and confidently rappel down a 155-foot steel bridge. It was taking us quite some time to flag down a commuter jeepney, so we actively tried hitchhiking, but the massive trucks that passed by were mostly filled with either sugarcane or other heavy agricultural products. We were ultimately able to hitch a free ride at the open back of an empty truck much later in the night, though.
Conquering the Heights
So, did I successfully channel the UniSol version of Dolph Lundgren? The definitive answer is a resounding no. I would be shot down quickly if I ever rappelled down that incredibly slow as a UniSol. However, I was able to further conquer my intense fear of heights—all while dangerously dangling on a single rope. I have absolutely no problems being in a pressurized plane at 30,000 feet in the sky, or standing at the windy peak of a mountain like Mount Banahaw, but physically hanging from a rope? I feared it a lot before. But after this profound experience, I strongly think I will be able to deal with it much better next time—without missing a single beat.
