my near-death experience

during my sophomore year, for our alternative class program, i decided to go to mt. banahaw. it was my first time to go on a serious trekking (since our high school senior year trip to mt. makiling was kind of like a joke. we spent like an hour or two lang.)

we left school at around 6 then we arrived at banahaw around 9. we were introduced to some locals there and they did some explaining on their religion. they believed that rizal is the present day version of Christ. after the shor talk, we went uphill. i remember we stopped in a place where we "inscribed" our names on a rock which the locals believed that it was st. peter's list of those who would enter heaven. the path was a bit challenging and dangerous. the rain made things more difficult. we got to the top of the first mountain by lunch time and it was my first time to be literally on top of the mountain. and it's really true what they say that when you get on top of the mountain and you see the view, makakalimutan mo talaga yung pagod mo. i took some pictures, but they would have been better.

after lunch, we went up the second mountain, which was more slippery and more difficult. but what was worse was when we were getting down. for some physics reason (gravity and all that shit), it was not an easy task, and i remember that a lot of us got scratches and almost fell down the path. and you have to trust the people in front of you to help you out.

by three in the afternoon, we were to go inside this sacred cave. they believed that if someone is sinful, he/ she cannot go out of it. and if he/ she had successfully pass through the cave, then he/ she would be cleansed from her sins. we were barefoot. the cave was dark. our guides had to light candles. another thing with it was since the cave was small enough for one person at a time (meaning no 2 people can be in the same spot at a time), it would be a hassle if one would go back to the entrance. so all along, i thought it was easy. but towards the end, i got stuck. and so did the people behind me. for like 15 to 20 minutes, i was running out of air to breathe and i couldn't get myself to fit in the small space to the exit. i was really helpless. i felt bad that there were people behind me waiting. i seriously thought i was going to die. when i got out of it, i felt blank. and my classmates were making me drink water. i was sweating real bad and i lay on the floor for five minutes and closed my eyes, trying to get oxygen circulated around my body.

i guess it was my sins that made it difficult for me to get through that cave.