Lola Smiles
Feb.20, 2005: Cebu, Philippines
Olympus E-1, Olympus Zuiko 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 Digital: 1/200s f/3.2 at 35.0mm iso400
My favorite portrait of Lola from my trek to her villiage in 2005 - she's very well respected as a tribal elder on her Mountain, and a very gracious woman who's always quite helpfull to me when I visit her little community, so I'm planning to have 100kg/220lbs of RICE treked to her place via Caribao (Asian Water Buffalo) next month when I make the trip.
The trek to the Mountain is actually quite an adventure from Naga, beginning with a very bumpy & rough bus ride (on an old bomb of a bus) navigating some tough dirt roads leading to the Mountain.
The bus stops when it can't go any farther, and you have to then get a motorcycle ride (the only vehicles that can actually make the trip) going straight up the Mountain, navigating small rocky dirt roads that narrow to some dangerous dirt and rock mud-paths that go straight UP into the Mountain on the most bone crunching, back-jarring ride you've ever taken....all the time, all of your physical strength is focused with just holding onto the bike, hoping your driver can keep it on the mud-path, as deep ravines flank both sides of that path, and it's a very long way down - if the driver loses control, you're in big trouble if he dumps that bike.
However the Honda TMX motorbikes can only go so far - they have to stop at 25 minutes from the Mountaintop because the "roads" disappear at that point and no vehicle of any kind can go farther, so you have to make that last trek on foot - straight up through the Jungle with all its humidity.
You really must be in top physical shape just to survive that motorcycle ride, and thankfully I was brought to the two top motorcycle drivers at the base of the Mountain for my ride - Kuya Neilo & Kuya Ricky are said to be the best of the best there, as they are the only drivers allowed to chauffer Lola and her Family when they need to come down from the Mountain, so they took very good care of me.
"You beat me up guys!"...but you got me there in one piece, and I'll be back next month so we can take that ride again!"
Thanks for reading today,
PJAMES