Patibayan sa Buscalan! [at ang mga di matawarang batok mula sa Mambabatok]

HOW TO GET THERE: (a lot of possible routes but I will only mention the few practical / economical / possible-to-find-love routes. hehe)

Baguio Route:

• BUS - Victory, Genesis, Viron, Dagupan. 5-6 hours travel time. P500-900.00 (depends on the bus line and type of class). Bus leaves every hour.
• From Baguio, go to Dangwa Terminal (taxi! taxi fare in Baguio is very affordable)
• Ride GL Lizardo Trans or D' Rising Sun bound for Bontoc. 5.5-6.5 hours. P220.00. Departs at 8am, 10am, and 2:30pm.
• In Bontoc, ride a jeepney bound for Tabuk. 1-2hrs travel time. P100.00. I can't remember if they have a proper terminal so just ask around. Use your charm. Most trips to Tabuk are until 2pm only.
• Get off at Bugnay Junction.
• Hike for 2 hours to Buscalan Village.

Tabuk City, Kalinga Route:

• BUS - Victory Liner (Kamias, Cubao Terminal) going to Tabuk City. 12 hours travel time. P640.00. Last trip is 7:30pm 
• From Tabuk City, take a jeepney or a bus heading to Bontoc (bus and jeepney terminal is just near the St. Williams Chapel and near Victory Liner Terminal). 2-3 hours. P220.00. Departs at 8am and 10am. 
• Get-off at Bugnay Junction.
• Hike another 2 hours to Buscalan Village.
• (But our local friend suggested that we get off at Brgy. Bugnay because she has uncles with motorbikes aka habal-habal that could get us to the nearest drop-off going to Buscalan. 30mins habal-habal. P75.00. 1hour hike going to Buscalan Village)
• WE DID THIS ROUTE. 

TIP : Leave Manila at 7PM so you'll be in Tabuk by 7am. Saktong tulog lang entire trip then breakfast pagbaba sa bus. There's a yummy pansitan right where the bus stops. In front of St. Williams Chapel. It's not hard to miss. Kulitin/remind the conductor to drop you there. :)

OPTIONS FOR ACCOMMODATION:

Charlie Pan-oy - Awesome guide. Awesome house. Awesome host. P250.00/night/person. +63998-188-8697. With CR and water! :) Guide fee: We paid P1,500.00 for 3 persons including board and lounging (3D2N), sundo from Tabuk City or your drop-off from Manila. Tagabibit ng bagssss during the hike. Unlimited coffee, grass (hihi), and occasional gin bilog. 

Francis Pa-in - +63915-769-0843

Whang-od's - P250.00/night/person. With CR and water! :) And para chummy-chummy kayo. :p

THE-HEY-STOP-BEING-AN-IRRITATING-TOURIST-AND-KNOW-HOW-TO-LIVE-LIKE-A-LOCAL TIPS:

• It's not hard to look for a place to spend the night. Almost every house in the village is open for guests. Just don't expect for a hotel type accommodation. Immerse. Eat like a local. Sleep like a local.
• Bring canned goods or any food that you can offer to your hosts. They'll do all the cooking or you can help them too and share to them your awesome "urban" dish. haha. They mainly serve veggies fresh from their farms. :)
• Most houses have electricity. Yayy. No worries for dead batt gadgets.
• Butttttt mobile services here are limited. There is a Smart mobile signal at the top of the mountain.
• Bring lowtech cellphone. It detects signals better than smartphones. Trust me.
• Hey! When someone offers food, take it! It's a sign that they can trust you.
• Matches are the currencies here. So when you meet someone on the trail, give them matches. When you take their pictures, give them matches. When you happen to chit-chat with them, give them matches. When someone offers you food or drink or anything, give them matches. Malay mo along the way, may magka-spark. hahaha. Seriously, matches. (We only had lighters when we went up so instead of giving them matches, I distributed my 1x1 picture with my signature. Artista mga bai! Joke lang. hahahha)
• Bring candies and any loot bags for kids. They're gonna enjoy it.
• Over-the-counter medicines are needed here. For cough, colds, flu, antibiotics. Nearest hospital is about 4hrs away from the village. Pack some and label them (e.g. meds for brokenhearted, take 3 times a day after crying...ganyan. hahhaha)
• Farming is the main source of livelihood here. So if it's not too much to ask, bring shovel or wheelbarrow or piko on your way up please.
• If you are staying for more than a day, take time to help them in the terraces. Or play with the kids.
• In their culture, more tattoos = more beautiful. Alam na this.
• Whang-od (read as Fang-od) loves dog meat. And during our stay, our hosts served us dog meat, pampainit sa malamig na gabi. lels. She is 80ish or 90ish. No one exactly knows. Even her.

TOP LOADING FTW! Do not sleep. Hold on tight to your belongings and lock your legs and feet in preparation for sudden turn of events. Hahaha

Wild Pigs here are pets. They literally are running wild in streets.

"Excited" faces of my ka-lakwatsas! hahahah
 I didn't lakwatsa alone this time. I tagged along with mea good doctor friend and my lakwatserang sisteret too.

Yep. There are trails only about 12inches width. Tapos bangiiiiiin na. Ingat madalas ka pa naman ma-fall.  IYKWIM. hahah

After 1hr hike, finaleeeeeh!

Kuya Charlie's dainty  awesome house. 

Unli COFFEEEEEEEE!

Whang-od (read as Fang-od) animatedly sharing to us her love story...and sex snippets. haha

The legend!

Whang-od seldom smiles in front of the camera. So apply your paparazzi skills when taking good shots of her.

Knives maker. Lolo meticulously  weaves native designs on the cover of the knives.

Sticky rice with peanutssss after a hard day's work. Photo Credit: Eric John. 

ARE YOU GETTING A TATTOO? YES? Here are some tips:

• I would like to remind you that the mambabatoks [tattooists] are using the traditional method of tattooing. Citrus thorns as needles stuck on a wood. And the ink? They use the black soot found underneath your cooking pans. And the mambabatok will make pukpok the wood with citrus thorn onto your skin. NO KIDDING. Yes, no sterilizing. No cleaning of skin with rubbing alcohol before the session. But I guess...just a guess, the thorn is being replaced naman per person.  But so far no reports of serious illness or infection caused by the traditional method.
• Bring your own pack of wet wipes. 
• Do not drink alcoholic beverage before the session. Alcohol in body = fast blood flow = bloody tattoo session. Relakkkss. Same thing goes if you are nervous at mabilis ang tibok ng puso na para bang andyan si crush.
• Whangod has books where you can choose your designs labeled with their meanings. 
• Tattoo price range depends on the design and size. Price starts at P300. One liner tatt is P500. Tatt around an arm or leg is around P1000. Tatt here is affordable. Way way cheaper compared if you get it done in machine tatt shops.  You can get full arm tatt for P1500-2500. Reminder: Do not ask for the price before the tatt session. The mambabatok will tell you the price after. 
• MASAKIT? PAINFUL? YES. And it will swell like hell.

Grace is Whangod's granddaughter and successor.  And girl, she knows her art very well.

I am so lucky to travel with a doctor in the making. Girl scout. She brought with her, her tools of trade.

One of the best parts of lakwatsa is meeting new friends for keeps.  Kuya Charlie is the guy at the leftmost.

So girls and boys, I will definitely be back in this place very soon. And if you intend to donate some farming supplies to the tribe, do not hesitate to reach me. And also, anyone of you there knows how to setup a medical mission? Yes in the mountains. It is an adventure packed medical mission. So I am looking for people who are in the medical field who are willing to do the adventure with me and do their thaaaang in the mountains. Hehe. Who's in?

PS. Some of these cool and awesome photos were shot by my sister, Kate. Nindot kaayo no? :))  

Live life!