Arayat Escapade

A couple of weeks ago I went to Mount Arayat National Park in Pampanga, here in the Philippines. I'd been invited by some friends to spend the day, with a walk in the mountain park in the morning followed by socialising later. This meant first taking a bus to San Fernando and then another, local bus. We wanted to be there for sunrise, which is why I found myself sitting in a taxi at 3.30 am, hurtling through Quezon City at speeds in excess of 100 kph. It was a good adrenaline rush to start the day. I took a Victory Liner coach from Cubao. Many of the coach lines have terminuses there, and the other that serves Pampanga is Genesis. (Yes, the biblical one; this is the Phils.) The fare to San Fernando is 102 pesos. You can pay on the bus but during office hours there's a ticket office which they prefer you to use. You can also get refreshments in the terminus. As ever, food and drinks vendors boarded the coach to ply their wares before we set off. The journey time to San