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| View from Taraw Cliff. Overlooking the El Nido town proper. |
EL NIDO, PALAWAN - I thought we were in for a 30 minute hike. But no!
Locals say that if you're on the slow side, it'd take you 45 minutes to climb Taraw Cliff. I allotted an hour, knowing how 'fit' we were. To my surprise, it took us two whole hours just to go up and another two to go back down.
Four hours! I never expected it to be that hard.
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| The first wall of rocks. This is when I realized that it won't be a walk in the park. |
Climbing Taraw Cliff has got to be the most difficult thing I've done physically. No amount of Zumba could have prepared me for it. We were literally rock climbing. And we didn't have any gears! There wasn't an option for it anyway. We just had our bare hands and slippers.
Being physically 'fit', I got tired 10 minutes in. My hands and knees were shaking. I was drenched in my own sweat. And it didn't help that I saw blood on my legs.
Good thing our guide would always tell me that we were near... even if we weren't.
They're huge, steeply formed, and very sharp. I remember how painful it was to hold and step on them--even with slippers on. It didn't help that these were damp and slippery that day.
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| Seeing the view, even from this halfway point, made up for all the pain and exhaustion. |
It was the first time I actually got scared of heights.
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| My most wa-poise moments. |
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| "Kuya, may pamaypay kayo?" I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion! |
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| On top of the world. Best feeling ever! |
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| Battle scars! |
The cost of this tour is Php 300. Don't worry, it's guided. It's advisable to start at around 5am to hopefully catch the sunrise.
TIPS:
1. Wear rubber shoes or extra thick slippers. Havaianas will do, though sayang!
2. Allot ample time for this. I'm sure you can do it in less than four hours, though.
3. Don't bring a big bag. It'll be extra difficult to climb.
4. Bring water and trail mix--nothing salty to prevent dehydration.
5. Bring a face towel and a fan of sorts to deal with the heat and being all sweaty.
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| Dead tired. Super thank you to our guides for being extra patient with us! |
I'm proud to have conquered Taraw Cliff. I don't regret doing this. All the blood, sweat, and the big tear on my shorts were definitely worth it.
But I don't think I'll ever do it again.
