Napulauan Traverse : Hungduan to Hapao

Its been a month now since the last time I climb, and it was a 2 days mt pulag akiki-ambangeg trail . I have been quite busy with work so I have been resting for quite some time now. Then one day, an Idea came to me. To climb another great traverse in Cordillera. The Napulauan traverse hungduan to hapao. I spend most of my time gathering information on the internet.When all the facts and contacts had been arranged and budget was predicted. I assemble the best people I could find at the moment to join me in this climb. Im not really a fan of big group and mass climbing . So I limit my team to only 5. Brave, adventorous , funny and supportive 5 man team was assemble for this journey.
Of course the 5 man team that we have dont have an option to rent a jeep , so I find ways to climb Napuluan without renting a jeep. With help from a lot of people, We are able to manage the climb well rested, without renting a jeep and stay within the projected budget.

We assemble in Victory liner kamuning at 11pm to catch the last trip going to Solano.. To our surprise theres a lot of people in the station and there are no reserve tickets anymore.. Luck is still on our side when we found out that there are one last bus to solano . Bus depart at the station at 12:30am

We arrive in Solano at 7:30am , And we were told that the first jeep bound to banaue would be at 9am , and the one that goes directly to hungduan was at 11:30pm. So we have free time in our hand. We ate breakfast at Jollibee. You can do your shopping in Solano, because the supply in Banaue, hungduan might be limited. There are also Mcdonald,chowking, small store, atm machine in Solano.

We still have a lot of time, so we spend it by waiting on the sari sari store near the jeep terminal . And on the scorching heat of the sun, we are doing the socials to keep us company..

Then the driver of the jeep is calling at us , its time to board and begin our journey to hungduan. At first we thought we are only passenger to hungduan, so we rest and lay our tired and wasted body to every position comfortable to us, Only to be awaken on the later part of the journey with screaming native pig. We were awaken and theres a lot of people inside the Jeep. We have no Idea when and how did they get inside. The travel from solano to hungduan will take about 5 hours or more, because local passengers drop by at the front of their houses. We have a 15 mins stop over in Banaue before going to Hungduan. We use this time to secure our return ticket home. If we didnt do that we might end up staying in Banaue for another day, because the bus layout to return to Manila was almost full .

We arrived in hapao at 5:00pm and register in tourism office. Then proceed again to poblacion hungduan , We were met by Mam Jascel to accompany us to our lodge, where we would spend our first day in Hungduan ..

 The call time for the next day trek was 3am , we prepare our breakfast , and packed lunch in the lodge. We start trekking at 5:30am in the morning when the sun was not fully up. Its nice to walk around the village ,look around and you can see the majestic rice terraces, and feel the cold wind touching your face. We met the guide and start the trek with an assault.

 The hardest part of every hike is the first part,when your body is still trying to adapt to thin air and altitude and you still starting to find your pace and tempo. It was almost assault on this part of the trail , an hour or more we found a water source. The water was cold it was like it came from a chiller. The trail of mt napulauan is mossy and covered from the above..I love it, and I enjoy every moment of it. I love to be in a forested area that walking in an open shade. We have our lunch at the trail , took some pictures, have so much laughter,before proceeding to the summit. After 7 hours of walking in the grand forest of napuluan , We arrived at the summit at 1pm , when the sun was high in the sky.. We rest,took pictures ,and celebrate our safe and fun climb.

 The next day we start our descend at 7:45. It is still the same mossy forest that you will encounter on your way down. The trail was clear,there are no confusing fork, We are divided in to 2 groups. Lead and tail to walk in our own pace. There are parts of the trail that you need to go under the roots or logs of trees. And it was a long way down. The last part of the trail was the most difficult of all, it was open to the Sun's heat. There are tall and sharp talahib and it doesnt have any water source. After 6 hours of descending we are finally out in the rice terraces of hapao. We have lunch in the highway and once again celebrate and congratulate ourselves for a job well done.

Climbing Napuluan is not an easy task but with a lot of help from the right contacts and when your with the group of people you can trust and have a healthy laugh with.,,then I can say,,what the hell,Lets do it again..

                                                the start of the trek

                                       Assault to the forest of napuluan

                                               The mossy forest ..

                                           The summit of Mt napulauan

                                    Standing on the summit of Mt Napuluan..


Heres our real time i.t.

11:00 assembly time solano
12:27am etd kamuning to solano
bus fare : P333
02:12 : first stop over
6:17 aritao stop over
7:30 : Arrival in Solano
wait for the jeep bound to hungduan
eat breakfast,lunch , buy supply
there are atm machine, mcdonalds,chowking,greenwich , carinderia in solano

11:20 etd solano to hungduan
Jeep fare : P140
01:40 eta lagawe
02:30pm eta  banaue / rest stop
you can buy return ticket to manila in ohayami bus terminal
P450 ticket to manila

3:00 proceed to hungduan
5:15 eta hungduan poblacion register in tourism office , meet tourism officer proceed to lodge
reg : 10 / lodge fee : P100/head


day 2
3:00 wake up call / prepare breakfast //
05:30 start trek to jump off
08:00am water source
11:30 lunch in the trail
12:15pm proceed trek to summit
1:05 eta summit/ picture ops
relax, rest, enjoy life
pitch tent
5:00 dinner
6:00 socials
10:00 lights out

day 3
5:00 waker up call / prepare breakfast
6:00 break up camp
7:00 break camp
7:45 start descent
2:00 eta hapao / lunch on waiting shed
3:00 arrange tricycle to banaue
P 500 / tricycle
3:30 wash up station
4:00 proceed to banaue
5:00 eta banaue / dinner post up climb
7:00 etd banaue to manila
4:18am eta sampaloc terminal
4:36 bus to sm farview
5:14 eta olympus. home sweet home


How to go to hungduan

1. Ride ohayami bus to banaue
2. Rent jeep or tricycle to hungduan
or
1. Take victory liner bound to solano
2. From solano wait for jeep bound to banaue or hungduan