Mt. Famy

Yesterday on Aug 21, 2009 together with some of my school mates and sir Ed and sir Bong we climbed to the peak of Mt. Famy in Siniloan, Laguna. It was a 2 hour car ride to get to the foot of the mountain and it took us another 3 hours to get to the top. When we got to the top there was a beautiful waterfall that flowed down and made a lagoon like place for hikers to swim and relax in! We settled down and had lunch then after about and hour or an hour and a half we got ready again for the long trek back from where we started. The hike back was shorter by an hour so it basically took us 2 hours instead of 3 going back ;) The whole trip was a blast and was such a different experiance that i will never forget it. Although, i was disappointed though with one thing i saw. Apparently the locals use native horses found there to carry the heavy bags of hikers up and down the mountain. These poor malnourished horses were being forced by means of being whipped in the back to climb up the steep and slippery trail we had to walk through also the only main difference is that these horses were being loaded with 50-60 pounds of bags and things. It would have been okay if the horses were well maintained but by one look and you knew they were utterly and completely malnourished :( this photo above is exactly how the horses look with 2 basket like things hanging on each side which usually is full of something heavy every time we saw a horse and sometimes not only was it loaded with things there were people actually riding on top of them with those 2 baskets full of things. Its definitely something sad for me because the horses looked really gone and out of it...

**tsk tsk sir bong :( haha