What started as a drizzle became a shower after just a few minutes on the boat. I was not even aware if that was water from the sea, the clouds, or both. Besides, would you really care when you are already getting sprayed at from all directions? Now I could empathize with the people who rally at Mendiola. Improvise! I just used the bright orange life vests to shield my face and whenever possible, my shirt from getting wet. I was wearing two shirts and the one underneath was not that wet except for one sleeve. Nice. We got off at a makeshift port, no wading-through-the-shallow-waters drama.
We're off to see a statue of the Virgin Mary on top of a hill which requires 500 steps. I've been branding myself as agnostic since forever but then there I was hiking and panting with my shirt dripping wet with rain and sweat. I'd say it was worth it. That trip up the hill made me realize a lot of things and one of them is taking care of my health. You think being a tourist is fun? It's not all picnic and sunshine. Caramoan took that quite literally. Sometimes you'd have to walk a lot, swim a lot, and eat a lot. It requires stamina and you don't get that overnight. You have to build it up over time so you wouldn't have any difficulties enjoying your trip. Judging from the way my legs reacted to this situation, I think it's about time I exercise and eat healthy. While I didn't faint and roll all the way down to where we started, there's no preventing that from happening in a future trip if I don't get my act straight.
Back to the Virgin Mary, the one standing there now is actually a replacement of an older statue struck by lightning. Scary! If lightning would not even spare the Virgin Mary, what would make you think that it would spare you? Well as they say, lightning does not strike the same place twice. Lucky enough, this was true while I was there. Aside from this tall statue, there's also a cell site tower behind her, which kind of ruins the scene. It makes it look as if she was endorsing Globe or Smart. Why not have her hold an iPhone to her ear to maximize the ad, no? Or make it look like she’s texting Jesus!
The view from the top is amazing because you get to see the islands of Caramoan. In a bright and sunny day you'll also see Catanduanes. It was not a bright and sunny day so no Catanduanes for me. The trip down was easier, duh. On the way down I saw a sign saying Mount Carmel, so I think that's what that hill is called. It rained hard on our way to the boat so we had to seek shelter in a Nipa hut where we joined a group of tourists eating rice and luncheon meat straight from the can. We had to leave while it was still raining because it seemed the weather was not going to improve anyway. Wet, wet, wet!
[CARAMOAN] 500 Steps to Mama Mary
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