It was July, 2013 that we decided to tie the knot and not the usual wedding anniversary celebration that we do eating out or preparing a little "salu-salo" or feast with family at home, this time we tried something new. A hiking adventure it was to a place where devotees make their "panata" or solemn vow bringing their prayer and petitions to the saint climbing up this mountain peak where the statue of the child Jesus stood,- the Sto. Niño Shrine located at Tindog-Bato Peak.
And today's blog shall be about Our Memorable Hiking Adventure to Sto. Niño Shrine at Tindog-Bato Peak: A Weekend-Engagement celebrating our Wedding Anniversary!
The Story Behind the Rise of the Sto. Niño Shrine
You might wonder how come there's this shrine standing at the peak called Tindog-Bato. Tindog in the local dialect means stand and Bato means rock! The story has it that a local from barangay Manlagtang whose family happens to own the land where this big rock stands had this dream that there's a statue of Sto. Niño lying hidden at this rock at the mountain peak.
Motivated and curious about this dream, he really climbed up to this highest part of the mountain where this rock stood and discovered that the dream was really true. The statue of the saint was really there! Being a devotee of Sto. Niño, it was then, that the family decided to build a shrine for Him.
The Journey
It was about 7:00 a.m. (a bit late I guess) that we left home and went to the drop off point at Manlagtang, Tabogon, Cebu. The place where we left our motorbike about 10 minutes from home to start our hiking adventure- our own kind of date with the hubby!
We may have different things we are into but exercising is our kind of weekend date. This time was a more challenging one. Mountain climbing! Whew!
It was actually my second time to climb to this peak and that was about three years ago. It was during the Holy Week and ascending to this part of the mountain was because of a religious activity -following the Station of the Cross with many other devotees.
But this time, I and the husband took this hiking adventure without anyone guiding us to our target destination. Honestly, I was not confident myself If I could still remember the way. (lol) I have trouble with reading maps myself but I thought I should trust my memory and instincts because my hubby neither have any idea where the Sto. Niño Peak was. It would be his first time climbing up there, too!
The Hiking Adventure Starts
When we reached this vast field of cogon grasses, the confusion started!(lol) The tall coconut trees with parallel sizes stood proudly in this area making it a lovely sight complemented by the beauty of the morning sun!
I had my regrets not able to load my phone for mobile data connection and as a result, we couldn't use the Google map to help us find the right path. (I wasn't sure though if this location was accessible through this navigation guide). Anyways, on my lead, we just took the other trail hoping we're on the right track.
The Uphill Climb
Seeing this first twin mountains assured me we were, indeed, at the right path. Yahooo!
And it seemed our entrance to the foot of the mountain was welcomed as we heard a loud sound up in the air.
It was then, we saw this flying helicopter hovering up in the sky and then continued its flight towards the northwest. When you seldom see airplanes and or helicopters flying up in the air, witnessing them first hand in the countryside surely brings so much joy especially when you're in the middle of nowhere!(chuckles)
The past few days of rain made the trail a bit slippery, manageable though, but the blessing of the heavens to the farmers through the rain made this wide fields of corn plantation productive.
The dark green leaves and bright yellow tassels proved that these corn plants were well-taken care of in this valley and that farming remains to be the primary source of food and income of the people in this village called Manlagtang.
Continuing further, the fresh scent of the morning dew and the lush greenery around was so energizing and refreshing that encouraged us to enjoy this memorable walk!
As we took a left turn passing by the foot of another hill at about 15-20 minutes from the starting point, we reached this place with a house secured by a wooden fence made out of forest trees.
The dwellers of this house surely had no problem with the cost of this fence! That's the advantage of living in the countryside.
This abandoned little sari-sari store in the local dialect which means neighborhood variety store in English, stood silently by the trail. The first time I passed by this location, I wondered what would be the possible market here when there were no other people around living in this very secluded place.
Walking farther up, we discovered this small village at the top of the mountain with about 8-10 households, and then, I concluded the market to the store should be the residents of this little village. But this was quite far from the store! I thought that was why the store was closed.
I am truly amazed at how these villagers are able to live a life at the top of this mountain.
The Scenic View at the Top of the Village
The Most Challenging Part of the Trail
Our strength and endurance were tested reaching this very steep slope with rocks in varied textures, sizes and shapes and served as path to mountain hikers. You really need to hold onto another rock or stem of wild bushes to be able to ascend to the upper level.
It seems like climbing up takes forever and that when you get to the next level, you need to make more steps to climb to the next upper level. Whew!
It's this part that you need to catch your breath more.lol
But if you see this magnificent view from the top, you will surely feel it's all worth it!
Do you see the red roof from afar? That's the Barangay Manlagtang Covered Court! It's where we left our motorbike to climb up to the peak. You can start counting how many mountains we've crossed to reach this far. Whew!lol
Taking a few more strides, we finally reached our target destination. Yes!!!!
The cross standing at the peak was our cue we we're at the right spot!
The Sto. Niño Shrine at Tindog-Bato Peak
For about 45-50 minutes, we have finally reached the Sto. Nino Shrine. No one else was there but us and we had the place all by ourselves!
There's this sense of accomplishment to have come here the second time around and it brings so much joy and delight to us, both!
Not only we have achieved our weekend routine of exercising and sweating out, but this hiking adventure brought us together to more breathtaking and magnificent views that are very rewarding and fulfilling!
Climbing up to this highest part of the mountain, I discovered that these two barangays Mabuli and Manlagtang are just separated by mountains. These two villages I thought are quite far from each other but they seem so close when you get to Tindog-Bato Peak.
The View of Barangay Mabuli
Barangay Mabuli is situated at the western part of Tabogon and barangay Manlagtang at the eastern part.
The View of Barangay Manlagtang
As it was about almost 9:00 a.m. and we're still enjoying the picturesque beauty right in front of our eyes, we just had crackers to satisfy our hungry stomach. Having no breakfast but coffee and hot milk chocolate when we left home, I thought having a light snack would suffice. After all, it's not good to climb with full stomach!
After lighting candles and saying our prayers and petitions, we left the Sto. Niño Shrine feeling accomplished and happy of this memorable hiking adventure, our own kind of wedding anniversary celebration!
And this is all for today's blog dear Hivers. Thank you all for reaching this far. See you again in my next blogs. Until then...
Lead image edited thru Canva. All photos are mine unless stated otherwise.