Me on the hillside near the summit. Coron’s Mt. Tapyas will literally and figuratively take your breath away.

Amidst the sweltering heat of the afternoon sun, my travel companions and I were ushered by our much younger guide towards the first few steps of Mt. Tapyas. “Dito na po yung simula (It starts here),” she said nonchalantly. And so, we began to climb.

Our guide, young Hannah, was clutching a bottle of Gatorade when she came to our rented apartment, shyly introduced herself, and told us about our first stop. On the way to Mt. Tapyas, she told us that we’d be climbing approximately 718 steps. I had climbed Baguio Grotto before but its 250 steps seemed like child’s play compared to that of Mt. Tapyas.

Read the rest of the story on my travel blog, La Manileña Viajera!