Mt Madja-as, Antique, Panay Island

Climbing Mt Madja-as ( “mataas” in Karay-a, the language spoken in Antique and also spoken in some parts of the Panay island) was a grand moment for us who have been to most high peaks in the country. I was not so sure how sore I would be after the climb but darn, here I am with a painful knee. I probably tore a ligament because I now limp when I get up in the morning. It did not help matters that right after Madja-as, i had to fulfill a photo assignment in Negros and Iloilo. In Negros, it was a long 4 day-trip via motorbike to visit and shoot many upland areas that were former areas of conflict and may soon experience more conflict if the mine operations go full-blast. It was a good trip that made me see the way other people live. It has made me see things in a new way, maybe also because I am no longer a wide-eyed girl. Haha.But I hope I can say more with my pictures. Find out if you get intrigued with the stories when I put up the pix at Banyas Tales, my other blog. I have so many thoughts about each place I visited although I spent more time in the hinterlands of Sipalay, southern Negros. For now, here are some pix from the climb.
Nong Dimas (guide since the 70s, left)Nong Arsenio (from Bgy Flores), C, J and R on Peak 1 from Bgy Alohipan, Culasi, Antique,Panay Island.

C at the ridge on Day 2, when we trekked at 1am so we could avoid the unbearable heat.
Day 2, moving towards Camp 2, Mt Nangtud, nearby.
Breakcamp at Camp 3 , Day 2. That’s H’s tent.
Nong Dimas Makiling, guide since 1979 for the first explorers of Antique, Antique Mountaineering Society,Inc. (amsi).
Nong Arsenio and Nong Jilly with Nong Dimas, at the last campsite before Bgy Alohipan.
J, Nong Arsenio,Nong Jilly,Hajji, Nong Dimas, and R at last campsite.
Campsite view at 1750 m asl. Not bad. Madjaas, astig ka!

We took the Iloilo Cebu Pac flight at 4:50pm on a Thursday,March 18. Everyone except H was present for this climb to Mt. Madjaas in Antique. R spent time and effort to get details for the climb.
It was a hassle as always -getting to tha airport on a holiday weekday. Everyone wanted to leave the pollution and the chaos of Manila behind. We arrived in iloilo and got a van for San Jose,Antique. We stopped by SM Iloilo to eat dinner. When we arrived in san Jose, we checked in at a cute beach house that had ac. Wow,mabuti naman. We finished re-packing our stuff just before midnight. At 4am, our alarm went off and we had to get up. Ang hirap.Hajji and Rodel from Antique Mountaineering Society (amsi) were there to bring us to Culasi, a 2 hour drive. Only Hajji joined the climb. In the pick-up, we slept a little more and woke up to a bright day and a beautiful view of the Madjaas range from the window.

Culasi. We met our guides -Nong Jilly (ex RPA) and Nong Dimas Makiling. They were from Bgy Alohipan and had climbed the mountain so many times before that they had lost count. After breakfast of mostly fish and rice, we left for the jump off at Bgy Flores at 1pm. We had lunch of adobo and paksiw na isda . After a short nap-and several revisions of our original IT later, ( too many revisions that we got confused about where and what time we were supposed to go) We arrived in Suli (ranch area) at 2:30pm. It was damn hot! It must have been one of the hottest treks in my life ever. But it was nice to see a hut and a great view! Hajj had this bright idea later that day for the team to sleep til 12 midnight and start trekking at 1am.This was so we could avoid the heat! We all said fine and as soon as we had dinner of good vegies cooked by the Ms J, we settled inside the hut (which had open walls on 3 sides) and tried to go to sleep. I couldn’t sleep. Mosquitoes bothered me. The heat bothered me. I just could not sleep and that was rare for me. Days later, we would hear that the guides and Hajj had been unable to go to sleep too because they felt a different presence in the same spot where we tried to sleep. It just wasn’t about the mosquitoes. Nyay!

We trekked at 1am and enjoyed the cool breeze as we walked The moonlight also illuminated some of our path even as we had our headlamps on. By 5am, we reached a spot where we spread our tarps and went to sleep for an hour until 6am. The sun was up and the breeze was cooler at that height. Breakfast and off we went again at around 8am. Nong Arsenio, our guide from Bgy Flores was a funny guy who liked to have his pictures taken. Here, he shows us a bunch of pitcher plants he found just below this viewdeck area. Nong Dimas in the foreground.

We reached Camp 2–a place which wasn’t conducive for setting camp because there was a small stream in the middle of it plus a lot of wild vegetation that didn’t look good. We all agreed we would push on to Camp 3. We got to Camp 3 at 4:30pm. It was a multi-tiered campsite–you might say.J and I shared a tent at the upper level next to the guides’ tent while H’s tent housed C and R at the lower level next to the kitchen area.

Next day, we woke up, ate the breakfast prepared by C and J and set off again at 8:48am. Ridging was not so easy when you think about all the wild plants that stopped us every now and then. It was not a fast climb but we got to Peak 1 at 2030 meters at 11am. One would need to leave theri backpack at one area and trek up slowly to a perch that wasn’t visible from below. It would take about 2 minutes to reach the highest point where R is seated in the pix here. R at Madjaas’ highest peak–2030m asl. Good enough for us!

Nong Arsenio didn’t tell us about this surprise! But it was good. We took pictures and enjoyed the view of Panay. Wow.There were 2 other peaks, the guides said but the highest one was where we were. Below, I bravely looked down and saw the sheer drop and the side of black stone that seemed to hold the mountain together. Nong Arsenio was our guide from Bgy Flores up to this point. From here, Nong Dimas would take over and lead the way. I followed Nong Dimas but I kept getting lost and I had to keep calling out to him. Finally, Nong Arsenio stayed in front of my trail after Nong Dimas and made sure I could follow the way. It was better this time. I think this is one climb where the guides were the best thing that ever happened to us. We reached an elevation of 1750 m and this was the boundary of Aklan and Antique, according to Nong Dimas. It was also 5:30pm. It was getting foggy and we were hungry and cold. We were still high up and we could see the mountains around us. We did an accounting of our remaining water and agreed that if we had enough water or if water was nearby, we would stay and sleep at that campsite. The guides said they would go down and get water. Nong Dimas and Nong Arsenio go down to look for water.
Foggy campsite.

In a few minutes they had put down their packs and gone for water. In the meantime, we set camp. J’s TNF tent would be a good wind breaker, she said so we set up camp in front of the less sturdy tent of the guides.Next was C and R’s tent and then Hajj’s. Mang Jilly cleared the campsite and flattened the wild plants near a bushy area that seemed impenetrable. Camp that night was not so comfy but at least we were warm and even if there was a big rock underneath my thighs, I was able to go to sleep. J also seemed to enjoy her sleep.
C woke up early and we followed soon after. Breakfast!

Next day, we broke camp and trekked down at 8:30 am using a very steep and unenjoyable trail. The trail variety was unimaginable that for sure, I will remember Madjaas till my dying day, I swear. I slipped many times and landed on my butt. On the trail, to break the monotony, we would often talk about “friends and neighbors”. In the ikddle of one conversation, J was so engrossed in my tale that she slipped and fell a few feet from the trail. She might have fallen further down if not for a tree that broke her fall. She screamed. I went down to help her and pulled her backpack up which I passed on to C. J then tried and successfully went back up the trail. So much for gossiping along the trail. Not a good habit. Tsk Tsk..

The trail was a classic! I will always remember how that downtrail tore some of my knee ligaments –because after the climb, I could not walk really well. ( I still need to go have a medical check -up).
At 1:30, we passed by a hut where some men (one of the guys was good looking,ehem) were processing abaca. They gave us a certain root crop which I had not tasted before–they call it palawan. Later in Bacolod, they would say that only the pigs eat that kind of root crop. Hmm…We ate it for lunch and left soon after. Earlier that day, Hajj and Nong Jilly had requested that they should go ahead and prepare our lunch of chicken tinola. We let them go. It was so hot and by the time we reached the cogonal areaat 3pm, we were ready to jump into any river (which was far away) just to cool off. My feet began to hurt terribly–something that I thought I wouldn’t experience again since I had clipped my nails and used two of my fake TNF socks! C went on ahead down to a shady tree and had a cow chase her! J and I slowly went down too and sank gratefully under the shade while we raised our legs and rested them against the tall trees. After an hour, we trudged on again and by 4pm, we began meeting people–barrio folks who looked at us with pitying eyes. We just smiled slowly. Then, we reached Bgy Alohipan and Nong Dimas’ home. The chicken adobe was ready and at Nong Dimas’ kitchen, it got demolished in a flash! By 5:20, we were on a habal to Culasi. I like the small community though and will like to come back someday just to shoot pictures again. My film camera was a good companion but I wasn’t able to shoot the community–no time. And the Madjaas background that we saw from a nearby barangay near Alohipan was dramatic. I want to go back and shoot it. And maybe say hello to the guides. We bought them groceries and gave them a good tip for their trouble. Joke we had afterwards in case we came across people who complained a lot (yung mga maangas) was-”Nag Madjaas ka na ba?”
And if he or she says “Yes”, we would counter by saying, “Traverse?”. Hahahaha.XXXX