Footsteps and Picturesby Bam Azores | 01-02-2016 11:13 |
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      Yesterday morning, my friends and I went on a very spontaneous trip to Mt. Balagbag which is located in Rizal Province here in the Philippines. The mountain is about an hour and a half by car from my dorm in Manila and about another hour and a half by foot to reach the peak. Upon arriving, I did not know what to expect since the only memory I have of trekking was when I was still a young boy. However, what I do recall from those trekking trips was a short saying that goes "Leave nothing but footprints, and take nothing but pictures." That saying is one that I have lived by my entire life and have applied not only to nature trips, but to my everyday life. We parked the car at the foot of the mountain at the drop of point of vehicles and right there I already noticed the loads of trash scattered around the area which composed mostly of chips, candy wrappers and soft drink bottles. This greatly disappointed me because I interpreted this as a sign that the locals are not making much of an effort to keep their surroundings clean. This disappointment continued as my friends and I slowly trekked up the mountain along the long roads and trails of dirt. Before we reached the peak, we first made a stop at Otso-Otso falls which was along the way. I already saw pictures of the falls on the internet and that made me very excited. Little did I know that the first thing that would greet me at the falls was a lot of trash and a floating slipper. I did what I can with what I had and just tried to enjoy the moment and continued with the trip. An hour later, we reached the peak of Mt. Balagbag and we took some pictures of its beautiful view. Thankfully, there was not a single piece of trash in sight at the top of the mountain. We ended the the day with a view of the stars and some good songs. Let us all do our part in keeping our mountains pristine for ourselves and for future generations. All it takes is to follow the words "Leave nothing but footsteps, and take nothing but pictures." |
