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On May 23, 2019, at noon, I found myself on top of a hill. Ilian Hill is a popular landmark of Senator Ninoy Aquino, Sultan Kudarat. It is surrounded by a large expanse of pristine forest clinging to the limestone mountains.
How did I get there? Let me start my story in the early morning of the said day.
I woke up at 6:30, had a 2-minute-long conversation with God, and immediately took an ice-cold bath. Then, I put on my house clothes. I brushed my hair and stared at myself for heaven knows how long. We will be having visitors, so I conditioned myself that I would not go out today, not even from my room. Unless it’s time to eat. However, around 8 o’clock, my mother called me, telling me that my fellow young people are outside and are asking if I wanted to go out and climb the hill with them. Contrary to my previous plan, I said yes! Climbing Ilian Hill had been my dream ever since, but I never got the chance. Simply because I hated going out and I despise walking.
It took us 45 minutes of motorcycle ride before we reached the house where two-wheeled vehicles are left. Usually, the ride only takes 30 minutes. But, as I remember, we are 5 motorcycles in total and one of the drivers is a girl, she was very careful not to create any scratches on her ‘brand new CRF150’, which I think is inevitable given the fact that we are traveling in an off-road rocky trail, causing our delay.
After two exhausting hours of hiking, we finally reached the foot of the hill. Yes, just the foot. The entire duration of the walk was hellish. The rain poured out, and the clay soil got wet and became more sticky making it harder to take a step forward.
If the hike was already tiring, well, the climb is much worst. The trail was too narrow. The steps are made up of chunks of smooth, sliding rocks that are too slippery to walk onto. The rain made the track impossible to climb.
During the hike, I was imagining the magnificent view of landscapes and the viridescence of the trees. I could sense the freshness of the breeze, the fragrance of the grass, and the warm sunshine. I could picture the bright blue sky with multi-colored birds. But to my disappointment, no bird had welcomed me, only annoying little insects. Gladly, the scenic view was enough to compensate for my broken expectations. On top, you can see the beautiful view of the unspoiled forest and the magnificent blue sky highlighted by the rays of sunshine. Indeed, everything worthwhile is uphill.
I wasn’t a fan of traveling, most especially hiking, but this first experience of mine made me realize that life is draining. Yet, I learned that even if the hike is tiresome, in the end, it’s always worth it. It’s okay to pause, breathe and take a timeout, as long as you’ll keep moving forward, no matter how many times you’ll say you’re tired of life. Because you’ll never see the awe-inspiring view from the top if you won’t walk the miles of difficulty.
It was so fulfilling to finally reach one of my many dreams. However, the sad part was that we only got to stay there for more or less 30 minutes, just enough for some photo sessions. Because the sky became gloomy once again. To avoid further trouble, we decide to go down, even if our 30-minute long stay didn’t give justice to the hours we traveled. Yet again, the rain poured. We headed to a small sari-sari store in the middle of the trail for shelter. We drank soft drinks to quench our thirst and ate some of our favorite childhood junk foods. Those packs of snacks made us reminisce about our sweet memories back then.
As I went home, I promised myself that I will never go back to that place again. Not because the view was bad, but because the walk was utterly breathtaking, literally.
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