Long Story Short:

Murky Pangi River. In which I was laundered like dirty knickers. All throughout 1.6 kilometers of it.

Blow-By-Blow:

Our day started with a rather peaceful prelude.

One does not simply have enough folk dance shows in a day. Okay, maybe that’s just me.
Coming from Kiamba, Sarangani where we were treated to a dance show by the Lemuhen Dance Troupe Inc. (and were fed traditional T’boli food), we were again entertained with a folk dance presentation upon arrival at the bank of Pangi River in New La Union, Maitum, Sarangani. It was specially organized for our media familiarization trip, and was soon followed by buffet lunch.

My first bangsi. Right  there.

The spread included bangsi (dried, marinated flying fish) which I had for the first time, pako (fiddlehead fern) and salted egg. A combo that will make you stuff yourself crazy. And stuff myself crazy I did, for in my head was a decision not to do the white water tubing. I just flew in General Santos from Manila earlier in the morn with no shut-eye. I was dazed and a little cranky. No way was I to throw myself in frigid, raging water.

But…

Alright, Pangi River. Show me what you got!
“The rapids will wake you up.”

“Minsan ka lang andito.”

“We all do it.”

It didn’t take much convincing, really. I just got kinda worried about all that food I shoved in my mouth minutes prior. Will I throw up whilst at it?

Before my fellow bloggers could even gang up on me, I quickly changed into my swimmies. I put on my life vest and helmet and joined the rest as they crowded around a guy distributing small pieces of paper. The assignment of guides was determined through draw lots. One guide per person.

First, a time-lapse selfie of our guide. Because why the heck not?

An extra guide was tasked to do video footage. And he was to do so with my GoPro, which — to be honest — I was hesitant to hand over at first.  A quick learner that one. Took him half a minute to figure out the two buttons he had to use. And first thing he did was to take a time-lapse selfie. How cute.

Snagged the camera back for the habal-habal (motorcycle) ride that took us to the jump off.

Habal-habal ride to the jump off.

It might have lasted a few minutes but it felt like forever. The unpaved road was littered with puddles left by the rain, which we weaved around. And there were a few steep, slippery parts we carefully dealt with. That ride was an adventure in itself.

At the jump off, at last, we partnered with our respective guides. I tried to recall some pointers from the orientation during lunch: “Lay flat on the tire, hold onto the handles tight, don’t worry about falling off the tire, just enjoy(!)“.

Sounded like a walk in the park.

Camera guy took my GoPro. Someone else took my slippers. Then we were commanded to get in the water.

First in. Gay, the sacrificial lamb.
The water was chilly. More raging than usual for the rain poured half an hour before. I froze when I laid my arse on the tube. The tires used for tubing in New La Union were designed (by the guides themselves, I believe) specifically for this activity. There’s a net in middle, for a more comfortable ride. And it prolly helps the guide to get on and off easily (especially when he needs to fish someone out of the water).  There are also two handles on each side, because it is of utmost importance to have a hold of your tire.

The rapids are to be negotiated head on. There’s no other way through but to crash into them. And you never let go of the handles.

Bottom right frame, see where I went? Exactly. Hold tight and your tire will bob back up in no time.
We had one uneventful minute to soak in the greenery and tranquility — which we were about to break with our howls and shrieks. So we reached the first set of rapids. I remember seeing a blurry vision of Irene falling of her tire before closing my eyes and holding my breath. Crashing into a wall of water came as a shock. My mouth was tightly shut but the water entered my nose. And eventually my ears.

I emerged victorious, still on my tire though quite disoriented. I thought, this will be a long ride.

We were grouped every now and then. Everyone was looking out for each other.

Because my guide was positioned behind me, he didn’t have to deal with the same impact. He was seated up, always ready to jump out and rescue me if need be. His hands held my tire, his feet pushed us away from boulders. He navigated the river for us seemingly effortlessly, and flashed a thumbs up sign to the camera whenever he had the chance. Or whenever camera guy would ask him to.

I’m pretty sure this was how I looked like when I was pushing my baby out.
All the other rapids after the first were more intense. I didn’t mind the big waves and powerful whirlpools, but the water in my lungs — or wherever they were in my chest — made it difficult for me to breathe. I spat every so often and didn’t care where it went. On my life vest, on the tire. Whenever we’re grouped on the shallow parts of the water, I was able to see everybody else doing the same. Gasping for air, choking, spitting, rubbing water off their eyes.

In my still-operational brain I exclaimed (because I was too exhausted to verbalize it), “Woohoo, this is actually fun!”.

Here’s the video by our awesome camera guy. Prepare to get dizzy.

And another selfie taken by our guide because it was imperative for him to do so.

Just one of the many other selfies.
I was beyond relieved when I saw the end point. And proud of myself that I never fell, nor did I throw up. That tubing experience was screaming adventure, Vang Vieng’s Nam Song ain’t got nothing on Pangi River.

White water tubing helped this sleepy corner of New La Union flourish. Profit helped build not only the cottages and picnic tables on site, but also more importantly, better lives for the locals. When you get to visit someday, keep this in mind, and give your guide (who you’re entrusting your life to)/camera guy (who’ll risk his life to take awesome photos for your Instagram and Facebook accounts) the tip he deserves.

 

Visiting Sarangani? Go Sarangani Travel can help you organize your trip. Visit their web page https://www.facebook.com/gosaranganitravel and send them your inquiry.