I remembered being envious of my then-girlfriend years ago when she went on a solo backpacking trip to Tawi-Tawi and hiked Bud Bongao. Not only was the mountain located in the southernmost province of the Philippines, it was also considered a sacred peak. Two preachers mentored by Karim ul-Makhdum—the Arab missionary who brought Islam to the Philippines in 1380—were said to be buried on Mount Bud Bongao in a location called the Tampat Rocks.