TRAVEL DIARY # 2: MY JOGGING ADVENTURE TO MT. PONGKAY, CABADBARAN CITY, PHILIPPINES Weekends are the best thing that all working people are waiting for at the end of Friday. Most of the fellas would go out clubbing and spending out for beers with circle friends and colleagues at work. Some would hop in for a dinner date with a special someone or rather go out to watch movies at movie house. My kind of weekend was rather different. And there are particular places that you guys might expect me to come over. It’s either spending time at the gym or going out for jogging elsewhere. It was Saturday early 4 AM in the morning when I effortlessly woke up and thought about plans for the day. I have groomed myself for “fitness day” , barely wearing simple athletic outfit with a pair of well-fitting rubber shoes without bringing anything along. But suddenly, my friends called me through phone and asked me out if I wanna join them hiking to a mountain. I decided then to rather go with them instead of entering to the gym… http://i.imgur.com/1CAL0wE.jpg Me and my friends went to this mountain called Mt. Pongkay, which is located at small town of Barangay Kauswagan, Philippines which will take 15 minutes ride from bus terminal of Cabadbaran City , Agusan del Norte going to the destination. http://i.imgur.com/UXEzASg.jpg I was really fascinated that it turned out to be my another Pilgrimage just like what I have blogged few days ago **(TRAVEL DIARY #1: My Pilgrimage to El Salvador's Statue of Divine Mercy).** Despite the fact that it is not yet famous to foreign tourists, this Mountain is known as "The Prayer Mountain" and a beautiful pilgrimage for anyone who loves nature and adventure wherein beautiful scenery can be seen overlooking the wide sea along RTR, Agusan del Norte. This pilgrimage spot has been under the maintenance of the local government of Cabadbaran City and Saladaga Family for several years. There is an entrance fee that costs only 10 pesos (0.22 US $) per person as funding for its maintenance. We all started jogging from the foot of the mountain going up using the man-made staircase made up of bamboo, large rocks and soil lumps. It took us 30 minutes to one hour and approximately endured the struggle of 700 steps before we got to the summit. So if you are interested to come over to this place soon, you better bring loads of drinking water to fight dehydration. I really enjoyed a lot not only the company of good friends but also the struggle which turned out to be a good exercise other than jogging/ running 50 meters sprint. (As you can see on the image below, my fellow Steemian @annesaya was also with me at that time along with my other friends here in Philippines.) http://i.imgur.com/0G5IeUm.jpg The best moment and time to go up during the morning is at exactly 5am where the sun has not yet risen and when you could still see the fog covering the dense woods. http://i.imgur.com/QNB5Nqx.jpg I found the steep slope quite challenging to walk through because of some rocky surfaces and weak bamboo to step on. I could use most of the branches hanging to keep me from falling and we passed through tricky path one by one. One friend almost fell down because she missed a rock. It was indeed struggling and tiring to step all those stairs so we have to take a few stops and rest in between. I could consumed more than a liter of water on this. Approximately we had passed through 4 sets of long staircase and rocky surfaces. Caretakers told us that these pathways can be very dangerous on rainy days and storm. http://i.imgur.com/OE3xshf.jpg After almost an hour, we finally reached the top of the mountain and it was almost sunny. We had seen the large Cross made up from bamboo that stood sturdy at the peak of that mountain. We saw the beautiful aerial view of Cabadbaran City where dense trees and seaside of RTR can be seen from above. I could only see “green” everywhere. http://i.imgur.com/pHyNVfD.jpg There was this small shade built made up from “nipa” where we could sit over, chatter and see the perfect view of another beautiful mountain afar. http://i.imgur.com/OsvjKPb.jpg http://i.imgur.com/pdF9M96.jpg http://i.imgur.com/W8NORzf.jpg Rural place like this is way more different from the busy lifestyle in urban places. There’s no pollution but fresh air, no noise but the sweet chirps of birds and small wild animals, no chaos but tranquility and things could be thought over very well. http://i.imgur.com/oklOkXX.jpg I wish I could go back on that place with my family and love ones to spend memorable times with them. As I enjoyed the beautiful sight of such scenery, I instantly thought of some things in my mind. **God made me realized why it breaks His heart to see mankind gradually destroying His wonderful creation such as Mountains, forests, seas and beautiful landscapes. The nature must be fostered with care very well because this is the greatest wealth that we can have in this world beyond money and temporary material things.** **And for Every Struggle in Life, in the End.. You will realized that you have made it to the Top. Hiking to the Mountain is like Faith, you have to believe that you can do it because God is watching over You. Just believe unto Him and everything will be just worth struggling for.** http://i.imgur.com/zHeg2hi.jpg That' s all for my adventurous memorable weekend with my friends. I am looking forward for more adventures in the latter days. Thanks for viewing! If you like my blog I am very grateful if you will follow me on steemit. com @rachelrach25 You might want to read by blog about my previous pilgrimage in El Salvador, Misamis Oriental as shown on the link below: https://steemit.com/travel/@rachelrach25/travel-diary-1-my-pilgrimage-to-el-salvador-s-statue-of-divine-mercy