This past weekend both my physical and mental strength were tested. I went on the long journey to meet the famous Apo Whang Od, the last mambabatok (tribal tattoo artist) in her village, Kalinga. At 102-years old, she is seen as a celebrity to many travelers, and people come from all ends of the Earth to get tattooed by her. The 2-day journey was one of the hardest experiences I’ve done, but one I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Our journey began Friday evening, when we took a bus from Manila heading towards Bontoc. If you are travelling from Metro Manila, we took Coda Lines from Cubao towards Bontoc. We booked the tickets online ensuring us a seat, which I highly recommend because on the bus home they actually pulled out plastic chairs and placed them in the aisle so they could fit everyone who wanted a ride. The tickets were 1450 roundtrip. It took us a little while to find the bus terminal at Cubao, but it is inside the HM Transport terminal, at a little window near the bathrooms. The bus picked us up at 8pm and it ended up taking 11 and a half hours before we got to Bontoc. We had a few stops along the way for food, bathroom, and gas. We took the 45-person bus and it did not have power outlets or wifi, which wasn’t a big deal to us, but I think some of the bigger buses do have that if you are wanting that. My favorite part of the drive was watching the sunrise through the mountains and then seeing the Banaue rice terraces. Both were so beautiful, so I didn’t even mind the windy roads we were taking. We got to Bontoc around 7:30am and got a coffee and ate snacks we packed before finding a Jeepney to take us to Buscalan, the village of Whang Od.

After asking a few friendly people, we finally found where the Jeepney’s pick people up, which was just around the corner from where we got dropped off. It was only 100 pesos for the trip. All of the blogs we read before coming up said to ride on top of the Jeepney to get the best view, and they were right! Every single corner we turned, something more beautiful awaited. It was an hour and a half ride, but I never wanted it to end. I felt so genuinely happy just taking in all of the beauty and nature I was surrounded by. At around 10:30am, we were instructed to get off at the next stop because we had arrived. Well, almost. At the stop, we were greeted by many motorcyclists who were to take us to the walking point of the hike. I had never rode on a motorcycle before because my dad says they’re dangerous (sorry dad!), but it was so much fun! And it was so much easier than walking, so it was worth the 100 pesos. When we got to the walking part, we found a tour guide (we did not prebook one in advance, but it is possible) and filled out a form. Our tour guide was super sweet, her name was Lanie and she was the same age as us. She had lived in the village her whole life. It cost us 1500 pesos total for the two days. The mountain we were hiking was a very steep downhill followed by a very steep uphill. At the bottom was a beautiful flowing river with many waterfalls which we were able to swim in to cool off a little. We made the long journey up the mountain and it was so much harder than I expected! I am a pretty active person so when I got to the top and looked at my apple watch to see that we had only walked .71 miles, I was shocked! It had only taken us 20 minutes but I was breathing so heavily, you would’ve believed I had just competed in a race. We paid a 75 pesos environmental fee that everyone who comes into the village is required to pay then our guide took us to our home stay. Our room was pretty nice actually, it was just a bed but that’s all we needed. The house had a bathroom and shower, however these were not what I am used to seeing. The toilet was a hole in the ground and the shower was a spout and bucket, but I adjusted quickly. We set our stuff down and our guide told us it was time to go see Apo Whang Od to get her signature tattoo.

We walked over to the tattoo hut and I was so ready to get those famous three dots on my arm. I decided to get them on the inside of my left arm and I had mentally prepared for the pain (so I thought). The tattoo technique is with a thorn, bamboo stick, and ink. We had to wait a while, probably about 40 minutes, and with every person to go before me, I got more nervous. Norah was more nervous than I was, so I told her I would go first to tell her how bad the pain was. It was finally my turn and I showed Whang Od where I wanted it and she marked the three dots with a piece of grass and ink. I gave her my thorn (you buy your own for 100 pesos for sanitary purposes) and was nervous, but ready. The initial tap sent a shock through my entire body and all the successive taps did the same. I tried my hardest to keep a pokerface because I didn’t want to scare Norah. I have two other tattoos, but this pain was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Thankfully, it only took about 3 minutes, then it was Norah’s turn. She got hers in a similar spot, but her middle dot was heavily bleeding, we think it must’ve been directly on a vein. We paid her 150 pesos each then headed back to the house for lunch. Both of our arms were extremely sore and would stay this way for the next 24 hours. Norah and I are both vegan, so we brought canned food because we didn’t want them to have to cater to us too much. They heated up the chili, refried beans, and corn and gave us some rice and coffee to have with it. We saved what we didn’t finish to have for dinner and we decided to take a nap because we were both exhausted from the long morning.

I woke up and went out to the living room to see the people who were to do our design tattoos were there waiting for us. Because Whang Od acknowledges she is aging, she has taught her nieces the art of giving the tribal tattoos. There was a wooden board filled with a bunch of designs and I was instructed to pick one. After a few minutes, I decided on getting the one labeled “traveler” because I liked the design and meaning. I showed her where I wanted it and she began stenciling on my upper back. Once finished, I approved of the design and she began tapping the thorn into my skin. Initially, it didn’t hurt very bad, especially compared to my arm, but after a while, it started to really hurt. The whole thing took over an hour and by the time we were almost done, I was holding back tears, praying for her to be done. She finally finished and I paid her 500 pesos. I was so mentally and physically tired. I took a shower (with the bucket) to wash both of them, then smothered them with antibacterial cream. This was the part of the journey that was hardest for me. Getting a tattoo sounded like a great idea, but now that I had actually done it, I was so scared. Like I mentioned, I had two others before, but this was different. After my first two, I immediately knew I loved them, but these didn’t feel the same. I wasn’t sure if I loved what I got and was questioning my decision- tattoos are permanent. I wanted to call my mom so she could comfort me, but there was no use in looking for signal because the power was out due to the rain. I fought through the urge to get upset and told myself I was just tired and would feel better in the morning. We had our leftover beans and chili with some rice and coffee, which is delicious by the way. I didn’t even put any cream or sugar in it and it tasted so good! We ate next to a candle so we could see, then said goodnight to everyone. It turns out Norah was feeling the same way as me, so we talked about it and laughed it out, hoping our new tattoos would grow on us.

We woke up the next day, had some coffee, then left so we could catch the Jeepney back in time. The hike wasn’t as hard today, but we still worked up a sweat. As we were waiting for the Jeepney to fill up (they won’t leave until they’re full), I was able to better reflect on my new ink. I realized that I would’ve regretted not getting the tattoos because they will always remind me of such an amazing weekend of growth for me. I’m glad I finally got to this point, I knew I would but it still was comforting knowing I made the right decision. The Jeepney filled up around 9:30am and we headed off towards Bontoc! We sat inside this time instead of on top because we didn’t want the uncomfortable seating again. However, the way Jeepneys are set up is there are two rows of seats facing each other, neither of the rows looking out the front windows. The windy roads caused both Norah and I to feel super carsick, so we were so happy to get to Bontoc. We found a bakery and ate some pandesal and Sprite to hopefully settle our stomachs. It was only 11am at this point and our bus wasn’t picking us up until 3pm. We charged our phones a little and let our families know we were safe, there was finally some signal! After this, we walked around and found a place to hang out and eat some lunch. At around 2:30, we went to where the bus dropped us off and just waited. The bus didn’t end up coming until about 3:30pm, and we were both so tired at this point, we just wanted to be home. The trip took 11 and a half hours again and my phone was on 10% so I ended up turning it off about 4 hours into the trip, knowing I would need that last little bit to call a ride home from the bus station. We arrived to Cubao around 2:30am, and I got back to my apartment around 3am. I took a shower (with warm water and an actual shower head!) and got into bed.

Looking back, I am incredibly happy I decided to go on this journey and to challenge myself in new ways. I love my tattoos, they are healing pretty well. I would have always been curious as to what it would be like if I never went, so I am so glad I did. Not to mention, it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. If you are considering going on this trip, go! Be prepared for long travels and for the pain, but go! I have been so lucky to be able to explore the Philippines and learn about all the aspects of their culture, I am so grateful to have two things to forever remind me of this weekend and this loving country.

• Price Breakdown:
• Bus from Cubao to Bontoc: 1450 pesos roundtrip
• Jeepney from Bontoc to Tinglayan: 100 pesos
• Motorcycle from Tinglayan to Buscalan: 100 pesos
• Environmental fee: 75 pesos
• Homestay: 300 pesos
• Tour guide fee: 750 pesos (1500 total)
• Tattoo thorn: 100 pesos
• Tattoos: 650 pesos
• Jeepney from Buscalan to Bontoc: 100 pesos
• Food we brought/bought along the way: 400 pesos