Tarlac: Capas National Shrine

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

Our route to Mount Pinatubo took us to Capas, Tarlac. Capas is a very historical town in Central Luzon. This is the site of Camp O'Donnell, an American army facility turned Japanese prisoner camp during World War II. This was the final stop in the historic Bataan Death March.


In memory of this episode in Philippine history, what now stands in the site is a war memorial dedicated to the Filipino and American soldiers who endured and fell throughout the 97-kilometer march. The site is now known as the Capas National Shrine or the Paggunita sa Capas.


The shrine is 54 hectares of parkland. In the center is a 70-meter obelisk surrounded by a black marble wall on which lay inscribed the names of the soldiers known to have died in Capas as a result of the death march. Thousands suffered the brutality and the inhumanity throughout the march. Many died en route to the camp.


It's by visiting places like these you get a sense of who you are and what your place is. You become humbled by the enormity of it all. The things you read in textbooks back in grade school start to mean something. They're not just words. They're people and places that changed the world as we know it.


My travel companions commented on the way home that we were lucky we weren't born during the war. I agree. At the same time, there is this huge responsibility for us. At the very least, we should never forget events like these, no matter how horrible and gruesome they may be. They are part of history, our history, our story. More than anything, it is that we should always remember.

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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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