After we registered at the barangay hall of Alab Oriente and had a brief conversation with the barangay officials, we carried our backpacks filled with pints of mineral water, cookies, few bars of chocolates and packed lunch and embarked for the scheduled mountain journey.
As we ascended thru the narrow and zigzagging pathway, the giant frog rock formation that carries the ground and base of the St. Barnabas Church, an Anglican church established at Alab Oriente, caught our attention. Beside it was the bluish and shallow Chico river that meandered downstream.
On top of a gargantuan rock near the rice paddies was an open shade made of wood and GI that was funded and constructed by the Alab community thru ub-ubbo (bayanihan). This structure was constructed purposely for farmers to seek comfort from the scorching sun. Spectacular scenes can be seen and enjoyed in this deck such as, the breathtaking view of the Palali rice terraces of Alab Oriente, Balili rice terraces of barangay Balili, the circuitous national roads that lead toward central Bontoc and an upward short cut route to Sagada via Balili, the thick forests and rocky mountains of Sagada and Sabangan.
My companions and I were gasping due to the long and winding uphill steps when we were suddenly engrossed by the dazzling Bacdangan water falls, which hummers down into a shallow pond. The water was crystal clear and potable. The water from the falls is used to irrigate the rice fields.
After less than an hour hike thru intertwining branches and twigs of bushes, we reached the Ganga caves. Inside were some pine log coffins with cadavers that were piled on top of the other. A burial jar with skeletons was also found at the mouth of the lower cave. As a traditional practice and sign of respect, our guides and I offered San Miguel gin and lighted cigarettes, respectively, to the spirits of the dead.
Above the caverns was the Ganga stone house. Sometime in the 1980s, this was bombed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines due to an allegation that some members of the New Peoples Army took solace here after a series of ambushes. The rock stood still.
A few meters above was the evacuation area of Alab folks during WW2. Several structures were built here but the only relic that can be seen was a pigpen. Others were destroyed due to erosion and wear and tear.
One portion where our student companions from the Benguet State University-Community Development Department enjoyed was crossing while having selfie on a twin pine logs that bridged two edges of a mountain slope that is dissected by Matey-ak creek.
Matey-ac brook is potable and one of the tributaries of the Bacdangan falls. Beside it was the Matey-ac rice terraces that the Alab folks constructed before they were believed to have been killed by an anito.
The next destination was Alab petroglyphs. It is locally termed as binutbuto because it is likened to a circumcised male organ if seen below. On top of the rock were several drawings that are believed to have been inscribed by a male individual or more from Alab in the olden times. Our escorts related that a certain foreign photographer took pictures of the inscriptions. When enlarged, the drawings depicted the organs of females.
The zenith of the rock has another significant story. Accordingly, one time when a group of males of Alab was resting on top of the rock saw an alleged old woman below working in one of the fields at Palali. Due to curiosity, they got pieces of aterba, a mountain shrub, and targeted the woman. Unknowingly, someone threw the farthest aterba and inflicted the old woman.
While the male folks were having nap after eating lunch, they were found dead by their female counterparts who went up to get the kitchen and dining utensils. For fear, the Alab elders decided to place the dead bodies inside pine log coffins and brought them immediately inside the ganga caves.
At a mountain range covered with mossy forest was Gadagad. It is here where the people of Alab perform the walit. Walit is a traditional ritual where Alab folks offer a chicken or pig to an anito in favor of a sick relative. The elders chant or pray for the bad spirit to desert the sick person.
Snaking down thru thick forest was a mountain lake called Pusong. According to Bontoc Ili folks, they related that one day, a man used dynamite to kill and catch fishes in the pond. Later on, the man got sick and died. They perceived that an anito or a group of anito abound in the area.
They further disclosed that during WW2, some Bontoc warriors attempted several times to dig an irrigation ditch from the lake to their temporary farms at Pinaching, where some Bontoc villagers used it as an evacuation center during WW2. Whenever they returned the following the day, the trench was refilled with soil. For fear that an anito dwells in the lake, the folks abandoned Pinaching. It is here where a potable spring freely flows the whole year round.
Tablaan fawi is a sacred place that is found along the pathway. The members of Palop-o ato of Bontoc Ili conduct manerwap or mangiyag, a cultural practice of calling for the rain. The elders offer tobacco, tapey (rice wine) and inasin (salted meat) and chant to Lumawig to send forth rain to water the fields.
As we descended the pine scented pathway and listened to the reverberating chirps of different species of birds and insects was Lamfagan. It is a place where Bontoc women elders perform walit. They offer salted pork meat or chicken, tapey and tobacco to a bad spirit for the latter to abandon and let the sick person recover the soonest time.
Mount Kamaliton is another place which is noteworthy to the people of Bontoc Ili. A story that was transferred from one generation to the other revealed that some Bontoc Ili warriors killed a giant snake here called ichiw that swallowed a pregnant Bontok woman while she was on her way to bring food for lunch to some male worker who were constructing a ricefield at Adlem.
As we trudged downward was a glimpse of the Kadchog rice terraces, a group of rice paddies that was aesthetically carved and stone walled by Bontoc ancestors. This reveals that despite of nil formal education, the Bontok tribe had already possessed some engineering competencies.
The trek is not all encompassing without having a footstep on a momentous marker that is locally termed as palikot aso. The Bontok tribe believe that it was here where the Igorot god Lumawig including his pet rooster and dog rested after a long, long journey from heaven to join other creation here on earth. Some traces are visible on top of the stone such as where Lumawig sat down, a small hole where his spear was placed, a scratch of his rooster and where his dog slept.
The group exited thru the Kadchog hanging bridge that swayed in cadence as we walked through it.
Indeed, despite the agonizing shank and leg muscles, dying toe nails, feeling of dehydration and too much fatigue, we were compensated with pleasurable experiences of breathing fresh and pine scented air, drinking spring water, communing with nature, lowering bad cholesterol, learning some cultural and historical accounts and listening to the enthralling tweets of birds and insects. Thanks to Alab Oriente kagawad Ben Dapig and Bryant Pacudan for their time of accompanying us from the barangay hall of Alab up to the Alab Petroglyphs.