up and away to mt. tapyas

this isn't in seoul anymore because this blog has to pause for a moment of wintery posts to avoid virtual hypothermia. this post turns this blog into a hot and cold situation after posting up previously a similar overlooking view of seoul. and it only dawns on me now that i seem to be a sucker for vantage points just to get an incredible view of the place i'm visiting.

one of the things that i have hoped for in this blog, is to be like a good collection of where i've been and what i've been doing in my otherwise, ordinary and routine (argh!) life. in just a mere collapse of the tree of my blog entries, i then remembered that once upon a time, i had also scaled ligñon hill in legazpi where i got to see the laid back city, the ocean and the mayon volcano, all in one 360º view!

what then made mt. tapyas in coron, palawan special or shall i say, memorable?

these stairs!

and what kind of smile is this? well friends, this is the smile that breinn could all muster when we found ourselves, facing a great adversity. we could have backed down and walked away. yeah, a consensus in which we won't be telling a single soul of our plain cowardice, was very tempting. we almost could hear inaudible murmurs in our head, trying to coax us not to continue. (go back... go back... go back...)

at first glance, this flight of stairs seems to be easy but multiply this a hundred times! although i might be exaggerating but i swear it felt that way!

oh boy, we were euphoric that we didn't listen to our faint-hearted alter egos! this astounding view of the golden sunset was enough to numb our exhaustion and fend off our impending collapse. we didn't pressure ourselves to get to the top fast so, we momentarily breathed into this wonder.

but seriously, are we there yet??? breinn and i were encouraging each other even if we likely had thought the exact opposite! we didn't hold hands though because we're not cheesy like that. lol

ahhh... this breathtaking view! who's complaining, huh? not us! at least, not anymore. haha!

"The hills are alive with the sound of music

With songs they have sung for a thousand years

The hills fill my heart with the sound of music

My heart wants to sing every song it hears"

were you just singing? hah! don't worry it's not only you but me as well, although i'm totally tone deaf. every time i see hills, the sound of music suddenly pops to my mind. meanwhile, i noticed that coron has plenty of hills although, it might not look as many as the hills in bohol. but they're pretty hills nonetheless.

in order to savor the moment that we were on top of mt. tapyas, we walked around the perimeter fence of the cell tower and saw these hills with withered grasses. one important thing to note is never let your small kids (if you have) wander on their own because this part doesn't have railings and tumbling down this hill is a no joke.

the protective railings can only be found on the side facing the coron town and there are also benches to rest your tired knees and feet.

mt. tapyas is by far the most exhausting ascent ever in my adult life because i had scaled mountains when i was a kid and i did a bit of mountaineering in what it seemed, years ago. i'm not sure if it makes sense blaming it on the man-made steps. because of this flight of stairs, your ascent is composed of almost equal steps and no horizontal turns that can alleviate the climb. plausible?

o-O