Bantay Abot Means Mountain with a Hole in Ilocano

Bantay Abot

Narvacan, Ilocos Sur

How wild it was, to let it be. - Cheryl Strayed

Bantay Abot offers the best view of mountain and the sea - ever!!!

The months of March and April of the year 2018 marked a blissful phase for our family because my sister who is based abroad went home in the country for a month-long vacation with her kids, hubby and mother-in-law. Aside from that, my youngest sister also got married in a perfect summer style wedding - pine trees, quaint chapel, vibrant flowers and dreamy night lights. And hey, I was the maid of honor making everybody laugh with my killer and humor-filled speech. Haha!

Those months were jam-packed with activities - from our daily feasts (with my Ate always doing the cooking if we're not dining out), Palawan escapade, Holy Week celebration, Baguio food crawl and a lot of swimming- may it be in the pool or in the beach. Some of this gala, I was the dakilang driver, only requiring coffee and a kiss from my nephews as motivation.

With barely two weeks left in my sister's stay in the Philippines, she finally gave in to her friends invitation in Ilocos Sur. That was around 150km from our place and guess who she signed up to drive for her - ME!!!

Two days after the wedding, we set for Ilocos Sur. We left home around 8am and arrived to our destination at 6pm. The reason for the very long travel was our tourist stops. I brought them to La Union's most scenic places - fancy Greek styled resort, unspoilt beaches to Chinese temples overlooking South China Sea. It was a full day of road tripping, family bonding and food binging.

In Ilocos Sur, we met her friends, the Dait family, who accommodated us for the evening and also prepared an Ilocano feast for all our meals. After our dinner with them, we set-up a bonfire at the nearby Nalvo beach where we roasted giant marshmallows in giant sticks, downed flavored Korean sojus and swam in the dark illuminated by few bioluminescent algae. It was during the bonfire that I learned that Bantay Abot, Narvacan's favorite day hike, is just nearby and some of our companions that night can guide me there. Having planned to hike the mountain over the summer (though my supposed companion flew back to Middle East for work), I grabbed the opportunity to climb Bantay Abot. I requested the Dait siblings to bring me there early the morning after. They agreed and so we called it a night to be able to wake up the next day - with barely a couple of hours remaining for sleep.

Bantay Abot is more of a hill  rather than a mountain with its relatively low height.

Since it was just a spontaneous decision, I brought no hiking shoes with me. I hiked the mountain in my slippers and a crop top. Good thing it was an easy hike, we also started very early in the morning so we did not get burned from the scorching Ilocos summer sun unlike the grasses and shrubs that were all brown suggesting they got roasted by the summer heat. At the peak, the views are of the Narvacan Sea in the west, Ilocos Mountain range in the north, and flatlands planted with corn and tobacco in the east and south. At the foot of the hill (Bantay Abot is more of a hill than a mountain), there is the Narvacan Outdoor Adventure Hub (NOAH) which offers activities such as paragliding and rope/steel ladder climbing ala Via Ferrata of Kota Kinabalu. 

First time to hike in my slippers, at least it's purple and matches with my bag.

Typical Aren Garden pose.

Yoga pose high above the sea.

With the Dait siblings.

After the hike, we went back to Dait's home and had our Ilocano breakfast. Then we drove to Pinsal Falls for a dip, visited Ate Sheree's home for another Ilocano feast, and then checked out Vitallis Villas resort where my recently married sister was having her honeymoon.

I drove home, I timed it to be 2 hours, ~150km distance, maximum speed of 120kph and tried not to go down to 80kph.

Back home, yes, my eyes, shoulder and feet felt heavy but that's perfectly fine for my heart was so filled up with love - family love. The kind of love who will stay with you no matter what. Family would always be home. And home will always be where the heart is.

Climb Date: April 13, 2018

Summit Elevation: ~300masl

Difficulty Rating: 2/9

Jump-off Point: north side of NOAH (Narvacan Outdoor Adventure Hub)

Exit Point: same (back trail)

Days Required/Hours to Summit: 0.5 day/1-1.5 hours depending on fitness level

Features:  Views of South China Sea (Narvacan side) and Ilocos Sur flat lands

Geology:Quaternary clastics

Guide: Dait siblings

Check out my Ilocos Sur summer adventure in this vlog (which I'm proud of because in my opinion my vlogging skills in here starts to level up).