Quezon: Pahiyas Festival in Lucban

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WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

There was another thing that I thought was missing in my Philippine travels. (Yes, I'm speaking as if I've traversed this country north to south, east to west. Haha.) But yeah, I have never been to a small-town fiesta or pista. Not since I was a kid, at least.


The last pista I remember going to was in a small town in Baras, Rizal. I was still a kid back then. From the very few things I recall, the one thing that stands out is this palpable "pista" air. People were on the streets, decorating their homes, cooking their handa with their big casseroles and woks. It was joyous and somehow, it was all very Pinoy.


Thankfully, I got to breathe that air again last week. A football teammate of mine was from the Quezon province. And around mid-May, a little town in the province, Lucban, explodes into all things bright and colorful into what is now known throughout the country as the Pahiyas Festival.


We left the city really early, around 3 a.m., passing through the eastern route (the Rizal-Laguna-Quezon highway). This proved to be a very wise decision. Had we taken the southern route (the SLEX route), we would have been stuck in traffic and the drive that usually took three hours would have become seven.


We got into town really early and dove right in. We had breakfast at a place called Buddy's. I had Longganisa Lucban in Lucban! Nothing can really compare to that. I enjoyed the food even though the place was packed. Literally. Well, the whole town was already packed. And it was only 7 a.m.


After breakfast, it was time for the walkathon. That was the only way to see all the Pahiyas-decorated houses in town, really. You had to walk through Lucban's small and narrow streets. Might as well really. A van, a car or even a trike would not do you any good. The streets are littered with people.


I like that my teammate knew where to start walking. We started with the big Spanish Lucban church, of course, and wound our way through the town going from very rustically-decorated houses to big, bright and rainbow-colorful three-story buildings.


It was all very festive. Every part of the family, even those from out of town, of course, got into the pista atmosphere. It helped that thousands of tourists, including us, were there celebrating with the locals.


Around midday, we were tired from the walking. We were not really that hungry. We were munching on the street foods while we did the walkathon: from cotton candy, to pancit habhab, to samalamig drinks and even strawberry-flavored scramble.


Since our ride was parked way out of town (since it was impossible to park inside the town), we still had to walk another kilometer or so. From there, we headed to Sariaya, to the coast of Quezon. I will admit. The sea on this part of the country is not that picturesque. Still, it was the first time I met the Pacific Ocean. It was saying hello. It'd be rude if I just walked away, wouldn't it?


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More photos in my Flckr set:

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Central Luzon: Trek to Mount Pinatubo

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WALK FLY PINOY:
Travel, Photography, Asia
www.walkflypinoy.com

Having grown up during the 1990's, my view of Mt. Pinatubo has always been that of volcanic disaster in monumental proportions. Its June 1991 eruption destroyed much of the region, ending a way of life for many of the nearby residents, impacting global environment in its aftermath.


Now, almost two decades later, its 1991 caldera has formed a brilliant blue-green lake. Lake Pinatubo, they call it. Seeing it, how serene and peaceful it looks, you almost forget how much power it wields.


The idea of seeing it for myself came about last year when it became a popular site for mountain hiking and trekking. Some research told me how easy it was to organize a trip. It became even easier when I saw that local travel groups offered to take people there. So we signed up and away we go.


The whole adventure begins in the Pinatubo tourism office in Capas, Tarlac. From there, you take this 4x4 jeep. Indispensable, really, as it can negotiate its way through the desert-like lahar wasteland you need to pass through to get to the trek's jump-off point.


Getting to the caldera is easier now. Just a few years back, the trek would take one to two hours, as opposed to the 20 to 30 minutes it takes today. Back then, you spend more time on foot, than on the 4x4. What changed the whole game is this road they call the Pinatubo skyway.


The vast lahar wasteland ends at some point and all you have is this valley, this canyon, whose very rough terrain is only passable by foot. Thus, they paved their way on top of the mountain range, creating a road on the plateau--the skyway--bringing the trek's jump-off point closer to the destination.


The trek is easy enough. You can even follow the very clear trail to the crater by yourself. For those uninitiated in the ways of mountaineering though (such as myself), it will best to go with the guide the tourism office dispatches with the 4x4.


The morning we hiked our way to the crater, the weather was a little foreboding. The air was a bit cold and definitely wet. And there was this mist over the mountain peaks. Strangely enough, it heightened the whole experience. For me, at least.


The short trek was well worth the pay-off, excessively, if I may say so. Especially when that which will welcome you is this grand scenery, this beautiful landscape you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the country. At this point, the best thing to do is to sit down and take all of it in.

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