A Childhood Experience

A Childhood Memory, reminiscing a group of a friend of mine while tending flocks, and as we all know, we all have storytelling to share and so forth.
When I was young at eight years old, there was a young couple, aged nineteen years, and twenty-one years old who lost their way and had entangled in the mountain where we used to tend our Buffalos. It could have been worse situations they have faced through their journey if they didn’t found us. I used to call them, people who lost their way in the jungle!

A Chapel inside the cave

Jenna and Frank are both from Vienna, Austria, who traveled to the Philippines for three weeks vacation in the region of Cagayan Valley, the northern part of the country. They booked ten days to stay in a hotel called hotel Delfino in the capital city of Cagayan Valley. Their purpose of vacationing to the province is to visit the Callao Cave in Peñablanca Cagayan, my town. On their second day of the stay, they decided to go to Callao Cave a thirty-five minutes ride to the hotel where they stayed and left the place at six-thirty in the morning, to start the trek without a guide or flyers to lead them to the site. They avoided asking people for help to direct them on the location, thinking that they wouldn’t drive the right way because most of the people are staring at them and are not used to it; they thought of a negative thing. The early morning boat trip should only be for two minutes to take them to cross the river to reach Callao Cave, somehow, ride a wrong boat that led them elsewhere, joining passengers who are returning to their respective houses. As all passengers get off in the wooden boat, so they did the same as well.

Callao Pinacanauan River view

Farther away, took the wrong path in search of the Cave until to the extent they arrive at the area where kids are tending the herds.

Upon arriving at our place where we are tending flocks, we are all in tremendous shock and afraid because we are just kids, all girls, and the oldest is eleven years old. On the other hand, Jenna and Frank are gazing at us with a composed utterance. There was a quiet moment of silence until I broke the silence. I ask where they come from and where they are going. I got no answer, but instead, they ask if we can show the right way to the Callao Cave. Suddenly, Frank interrupted everyone and replied with my question; he said that we came from Tuguegarao city, but we are tourists., originally from Austria. However, instead of showing the direction in which way to go, we decided to guide them for four kilometers walking—fun, many talks with different types of topics., as a kid, I like questioning.

Peñablanca Pinacanauan river

Jenna is tall, a timid type of person who loves traveling and enjoys anything, especially adapting cultures of any country she has visited. At the same time, Frank is an athletic body and ambitious not much in moving far, but he loves diving.

We accompanied Jenna and Frank back to the riverbank, where the wooden boat stationed and instructed the boat chauffeur to bring them to Callao Cave. However, Jenna insisted that if all five of us can join them, that would be fun, said she and they would shoulder all the expenses, we accepted the offer because it takes only twenty minutes of the journey to get to the Cave. At that time, I don’t know any better, telling Jenna and Frank about the Cave, which is interesting to see inside. A stone that grows in different shapes, and it is a cold place to spend the entire day.
As we approached the site, Jenna gave me a piece of paper written her address on it, keeping it for yourself she said, one day we will see each other again.

Lastly, over two decades later, we met in the Algarve, Portugal, she was shopping in my grocery shop or shall I say convenience store.

These days they are my family friend residing in Lisbon, Portugal, formerly from Vienna, Austria.

Thank you for reading.

© 2020 Leonie M.