I Got Lost in the Middle of Nowhere — New Year

Before new year’s eve, my friend Jay told me that he’s going up to Norzagaray, Bulacan, to a place he just saw on Fb and has never been. He showed me the photos of the place, and I got excited as I didn’t have any place yet to celebrate new year’s eve. I searched the place Fb page and I told Jay that I am going there. I contacted the admin and asked him how to commute via bus. Jay and his friend were already there but about to leave. He didn’t know that I was going. I took a bus from Philcoa to SM Fairview and from there, I rode habal habal instead since it was very traffic. To make my travel story short, I paid 600 pesos from SM Fairview to Banahaw Elementary School were hiking starts. The habal-habal driver and I didn’t expect that the place was quite far and I almost sang the song of Sandra Brooks, Road is Rough and the going gets tough. Do you know that song?

Anyway, so after I paid the habal-habal driver, I asked some people who were singing karaoke where is the way going to the Secret Haven. They politely asked me if I need a tour guide because it’s already dark, and it was 6:30 pm, imagine that, but I refused because I thought the place is not that far and that there are people that I could ask for the way just in case I get lost. But I was wrong.

Climbing down the mountain is easy if there are lights and houses everywhere. Unfortunately, there were none and I was alone. I thought of going up again to hire a tour guide because I couldn’t figure out which way to go, whether to go left or right and there was no signal. But my adventurous self stopped me from doing so. What I did was I followed the bike trails since my friends used their bikes to go to the place and that was the first thing that came to my mind. I prayed to God and all the mystical creatures in the forest that they guide me to the right path. I wasn’t scared at all because I was talking out loud all the time and that helped me to not think of scary things that I might encounter.

After more than an hour of being lost, I came across a creek, and again, I got confused because there were two ways until I saw a horse and a house on the right. I thought that I could easily get to the house, but the soil was muddy. I thought of shouting for help but I talked to the white horse instead to feel some sense of companionship while I was losing my patience and hope. Fortunately, I found a way where I could get to the house by using my sense of knowing things by watching youtube and a lot of stuff online. I used a twig and checked if I could step on the mud without getting stuck. After that, I saw a bridge to the house and shouted at the people there. I didn’t expect that there were lots of dogs, and I was scared stiff because they were running towards me and I thought they would bite me. I covered my face instead of running. Jeez.

Luckily, they didn’t, and I got to talk to the woman and helped me reach my contact with the place. After a few minutes of waiting, a boy riding on a horse arrived, he’s name is Patrick and told me that he was the one assigned to assist me to the Secret Haven. The horse named, Princess was a little bit wild but we eventually became friends as I did what I saw on Heartland on Netflix, one of my favorite equestrian movies. I massaged her forehead, talked to her a little to make her comfortable with me. I tried riding her for a few minutes but she was so fast and the trail was downhill and I was afraid that I could be thrown away. After another almost an hour of hiking, I breathed a sigh of relief because I finally arrived at the place.

I rented a tent for 400 pesos per night and the boy; Patrick helped me set that up beside the river. It was cold, and I could hear the sounds of crickets, birds, and geckos. It was relaxing and challenging as well because I was alone in the tent and there were only 7 of us, people that I don’t know, and we’re all surrounded by trees and animals. But my favorite part of spending the nights there was I wasn’t alone at all as there were dogs who slept beside my tent, watching over me.

I woke up at around 6:00 AM and saw the beauty of the place. There were trees, rivers, rafts, birds, dogs, caves surrounded by mountains. I came across people who went fishing and asked them to teach me how to put fishbaits and fish. The experience was relaxing and it added to my first-time experiences list.

After that, Andy my little tour guide, met him when I was taking photos, he was looking for crabs, we went swimming in the river, the water was cold but bearable. I asked him what to do next and told me that I could visit their cave.

We went there, and the cave was like the Lumiang Cave in Sagada, the mini version. We needed to be cautious. And I expected to see bats inside but all I found are fascinating speleothems or cave formations.

I’d been asked not to touch those because oils and specks of dirt can damage them. I enjoyed my overall experience here in Secret Haven and I feel fulfilled because of the first time experience that I had during my stay. And I advise that every time you go places alone, always check your map, be ready for anything that you might encounter because you wouldn’t know when you will get lost.

This is how I celebrate my new year, to be extra with nature. Until next time everyone! Happy 2021!