Our Day 2 started around 5am because we wanted to see the sunrise in the summit of Mt.Amuyao. The sunrise was very interesting to watch because you can literally see a vast ocean of clouds and you can see the sun rising above the clouds. It is very cold at the summit so you have to make sure that you bring jackets and socks, or even gloves. We have to wait until the weather suited us before we started our trek. Today was our descent from the mountain but I can say that it is harder than our ascent.
There were a lot of leeches and bees in the forest plus the roots were all slippery because of the moist. It is a very difficult descent but it if you appreciate the solitude in the forest, you will definitely love it. The trail was less obvious because but thanks to our guide we made it through the forest. We had our lunch at the river. The water in the river is very cold and also very refreshing, especially after the hard trek from the forest.
After our lunch, we started trekking again until we reached the Pat-yay community and we camped there. Pat-yay is very beautiful especially because of the rice terraces that can be viewed from there. The people there are also very accommodating; in fact, there is a house there which can be used as shelter by campers but we still used our tents. Day 2 was a short 7-hour hike. Short because the view is very beautiful and the river will wash away all your struggles for the day.
I had to ask about the leeches Cordillera Hiker. In my part of the country we just have leeches in small warm lakes or along muddy beaches sometimes. The leeches we have get on your skin and suck your blood. To get them off we just put a lighter under them and heat them up and they fall off. Some people will put salt on them.
But how do you get leeches in the forest? Or is it like a dense jungle where it is so humid that leeches just live on leaves and stuff….weird!
I think we have the same kind of leeches in our place. Whenever they suck our bloods, we just put salt and they will detach, and some of us would just let them suck blood until they eventually die. The only problem with the latter is that the bleeding can go on for days, but you don’t need to worry because it is not fatal and you won’t even feel that the blood is dripping