Madlum!!!

July 15th, Sitio Madlum Bulacan. ESS Ecotour. A day of spelunking, trekking, swimming and bonding. That day was just incredibly amazing. We had so much personal accomplishments that the Php350 we paid was more than worth it. We managed to climb and descend to places we never thought we could, squeezed through rock that shouldn't have been able to accommodate us, and jump from heights we haven't jumped off from. There is so much that happened that if I put it into writing it will be very very long. So I'll just try photo blogging. Photos taken from multiple sources. Visit ateneoess.multiply.com for more pics.




Crossed the river - Go Xie





Went Spelunking | ------->





Trekked ---------------------------------->








Yeah, we jumped from that :D








And just enjoyed swimming in the river


The most unforgettable experience for me there was in the river. Only a few people know what really happened, but there was a point there I got scared because it was deep. Ok, I have to admit, I was acting all tough on that trip; generally helping people and taking minimal help while in the caves and even helping friends from rock to rock while we were forging upstream.

Now looking back, I'm second guessing why I jumped in and let myself be carried by the current down the river. Did I do it because I was acting all tough? I know how to swim - kinda. I can get from point A to B, but if I don't get to B yet and I stop cuz I'm tired, then I'm screwed. I can't thread for my life. Much more to swim to save someone else's life. Anyway, I tried grabbing a rock and I don't really recall if I slipped or not.

We were floating down the river - it was in the middle part of the river and it was kinda deep - and I became worried cuz I can't touch the riverbed and I'm starting to tire. Good thing I managed to swim to the far side of the river (after swallowing alot of water), grab a rock and all four of us - 3 freshies and me were floating down - pulled ourselves out of the water and started laughing our lungs off. Well, that was a personal accomplishment for me right there. I survived the Madlum River! Haha. That river experience was just profound I tell you. But seriously, next sem I should take swimming lessons. Haha. Jumping off that cable 2 stories above the river was freakin awesome too.