I saw. I came. I conquered. I SURVIVED Asia's Longest Dual Zipline
Sunday, June 17, 2012
We just came from a short trip to
Bohol for a family reunion. It was too short we never really had a chance to
revisit the tourist spots and take snapshots of the beautiful landscapes and
man-made wonders we Filipinos are proud to show the world. Dad wanted us to
stay with our relatives for the reunion activities, so we sat there, enjoyed as
much as we could. It was nice to meet cousins we only had a chance to see every
three years. I have a different blog for that Bohol trip, so let’s focus on
this Dahilayan Escapade post. Are you ready? Here you go! J
You’re never going to fly if you’re
afraid to fall.
To make myself a little better from
the bitterness of the cut-short Bohol trip, I asked Dad if we could drop by
Bukidnon to try ziplining. I don’t know why I even said that, I was scared of
heights! I’m too scared; I haven’t taken a slide to a pool or anywhere since
grade school. I have backed out from ziplining treats prior. See, I was gonna
tell him to just forget about it but then Tita Beth was so thrilled to try it
too, she forced Dad to go to Dahilayan.
And the roadtrip began! We had no idea
where in Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon the
adventure park was so we just tried to check out every road sign. Fail! We got
past through the next municipality. Dad wanted to just let it all away but
majority won, he can’t resist us! Haha! So, we went back and thanks to our
twitter friends, we managed to find our way to Dahilayan Adventure Park. Yehey!
See, we went through a very rough road, in the middle of a pineapple
plantation. And there it was, about 20kms from the main road, finally, the
Adventure Park.
I was in awe when I saw the many tourists who
were there! Long lines of people eager to try the zipline were there. There was
a Baguio City vibe – cold weather, strawberries, mini horses. Everything got me
excited and I can’t wait to take the rides. Yeah!
Excitement and fun was all I
felt until I strapped the ride pass on my wrist. Everything just sunk inside of
me. I got a little scared until the staff asked me to wear the safety helmets
and harness. Whew! My palms got sweaty and I was starting to get really
paranoid, I was about to just let it pass, again. I was ready to just forget
about how I wanted to try, I was afraid I was going to fall during the whole
zip line ride. All the worst case scenario flashed thru my mind. The staff
handled me well, they have encountered lots of worse case before, people who
had panic attacks, and he reassured me that I wasn’t gonna fall, everything was
tested and SAFE. And the moment came, I was about to let go and just let my
weight help me ride the 340m cable. I screamed my lungs out. My sister giggled
and made fun of me. Then my harness turned and I got really scared, even
thought of jumping off! Wahhh! But I did it! I survived it and the 150m cable
ride back didn’t scare me that much. Much to prolonging the agony, the final
ride, the 840m Superman ride would be after lunch. I didn’t eat heavy lunch coz
I was afraid I was gonna expel gas when I get scared! Haha.
If you’re afraid to do something, do
it scared. If you’ll wait for fear to go away, you may not be able to
experience it.
We had to take a cab, pass through the
ATV course to go to the drop off area. It rained, and again the agony was
prolonged to almost an hour til the rain stopped. Then finally, when the sky
started to clear again, we were instructed by the staff the do’s and don’ts
during the ride. We were asked to wear the safety gears. I was smiling and we
took pictures but I started to feel that my hands were cold and I got a little
pale, I know. Blood may have forgotten to go up my head.
And when we were all set, we had taken a few steps up for the much awaited take off of the 840m ride! Woah! They said it would only be a 50seconds adrenaline rush! Whew! I don’t know but it was really scary, I saw how far we were from our destination, how high we were, a few more feet above the tall pine trees! Then all I can remember was I started to have a panic attack. People would never understand, they may see me as exaggerating everything but I was really scared to death.
I felt my chest tighten, I could hardly breathe. My heart was pounding real hard, I could hear every beat, and it was ready to come out of my chest. I started to cry and got really cold, I was shaking a little. My sister was almost in tears coz of frustrations. She said that fear is a useless emotion. She didn’t understand what I was going through that moment. I begged her to wait for me til I was ready. They were going to abort my flight but I insisted that they let me do it. I just needed to relax. I wasn’t really relaxed, I was scared as hell when I gave in and allowed them to fix my harness and the safety of my flight. The staff even tied my feet together so I won’t move and attempt to jump off when I start to have panic attack again in mid air. I closed my eyes 90% of the time! The few moments I opened my eyes to see the view, I thought I was gonna die!
And when we were all set, we had taken a few steps up for the much awaited take off of the 840m ride! Woah! They said it would only be a 50seconds adrenaline rush! Whew! I don’t know but it was really scary, I saw how far we were from our destination, how high we were, a few more feet above the tall pine trees! Then all I can remember was I started to have a panic attack. People would never understand, they may see me as exaggerating everything but I was really scared to death.
I felt my chest tighten, I could hardly breathe. My heart was pounding real hard, I could hear every beat, and it was ready to come out of my chest. I started to cry and got really cold, I was shaking a little. My sister was almost in tears coz of frustrations. She said that fear is a useless emotion. She didn’t understand what I was going through that moment. I begged her to wait for me til I was ready. They were going to abort my flight but I insisted that they let me do it. I just needed to relax. I wasn’t really relaxed, I was scared as hell when I gave in and allowed them to fix my harness and the safety of my flight. The staff even tied my feet together so I won’t move and attempt to jump off when I start to have panic attack again in mid air. I closed my eyes 90% of the time! The few moments I opened my eyes to see the view, I thought I was gonna die!
I am glad to tell you that I survived
Asias’ longest dual zip line! Oh yes, I was still feeling cold as the weather
after the ride. Little tears were clouding my eyes. And I was just so proud of
myself.
That zip line ride has taught me to
rule over my fears, to rise above the risks and emotional breakdowns. Now, I’m
finally ready to face every challenge that comes my way. I may not be that
strong and brave all the time, but I know one day I can spread my wings and
fly, I can let go of whatever uncertainties in thoughts I have, and just set my
mind to reach my goals in life even if that means taking a few more zip line
rides. Hahaha
2 comments
Yaaaay! Congratulations ate wowo! :))) yawyaw ang kalag ni kate ato ba. haha
ReplyDeletehehehe pirting yawyaw ui! mura nako syag ate! hahaha
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