🇵🇭 BONTOC • Ganga House, the Ruined Pig Pen and Goodbye Mystical Mountain

"Still, it is significant because it is an ancient mark, an evidence of prehistoric civilization. The trek continues..."

I can't get over it! As I write this post, I'm thinking like I'm writing a fictional series because everything I encountered in this expedition is like tower Babel trying to reach the sky knowing it is impossible. If you followed this series, you know I wasn't able to provide the right answers to the mysteries because I can't really find resources to prove them (and no one has presented an accurate datum, even my tour guide, on which I am required to have as per LGU order, can't give me an answer).

Following the direction like a twitter follower

So what is Ganga House? Please forgive me, but again, I'm going to answer you like we're watching the transformation of Cinderella to a cyborg in barefoot.

Ganga House is a mysterious low-ceiling, house-like, stone-made, pyramid-y roof huge stone situated on a slope of a mountain in Alab Oriente, Bontoc. The photo below will help you figure out what I am talking about.

Ganga House (Stone House)

I can even hardly sit

blehh...

Inside the Ganga House

So what is the significance of those selfies? Well I just want to show you how low the ceiling is. This stone house is believed to be made and/or arranged and/or/mini-mini-maynimo designed by the early inhabitants of this ancient village. For what purpose? Maybe for security, as a form of shelter, and for fun, maybe.

My guide told me that the Ganga House has been used by the warriors during the great World War as shelter and hiding place. Ok what else?

Ganga Pig Pen

What about this? Well I have to tell you this is a real pig pen now ruined (by the pigs that used to live here for merry-making). It is weird (based on the concepts of the modern world) why people those days immemorial have to build pig pens at the steep part of the mountain that requires 2-3 hours of hiking. Hmmm... How I wish those pigs have burial grounds too and see their piggy skeletons and tag them "prehistoric pigs." Why not?!

But definitely, this ruin has nothing to do with the great ruins of Angkor Wat, definitely. Still, it is significant because it is an ancient mark, an evidence of prehistoric civilization. The trek continues...

...about to finish the expedition

After seeing the Ganga House and the Ganga Pig Pen (spots that archeologists and curious explorers should not overlook onto), we are already trekking on our way down to the exit point. This will take us about an hour or more than an hour if you are slow (Note: it could be up to 24 hours if you are sprained and there's no one out there to help). Warning: It could be up to one week if you are trekking with severe arthritis. Hire someone to carry you to at least cut the time 5 days shorter.

As we go down the trail, I noticed stone formations that I believe, not naturally-formed. There must be a human intervention for this. Please help me identify which is which through a mid-term exam below in multiple choice form.

Lion head: (a) natural (b) man-made (c) all of the above (d) none applies

Bust-shaped stone __ Bontoc (Fill in the Blank)

(a) of (b) Jeane Napoles (c) 2 ways to loss weight (d) ways to cure bad breathe

Towering pine trees: (a) true (b) false (c) trulse (d) Tapatan with Tonying!

I asked my guide if those are natural or man-made but she wasn't able to answer my question. For me, there must be someone responsible for those rocks piled over the other forming obvious shapes and forms.

I am leaving Mt. Data now and soon the village of Alab Oriente. I have written 7 articles for this mystical ancient village. 

Saying goodbye to Mt. Data: an ambiance of Goodbye :(

I love you, goodbye.

That rock out there, is one of the burial caves.

I have learned a lot from this prehistoric hinterland. I will forever cherish the people I met and the knowledge I acquired. And for Part (8), I'm going to share the best human encounters in Alab Oriente and how they welcomed me with open arms. I miss them. I love them. I sure will be back here :( /to be continued...

*ALAB ORIENTE DOCUMENTARIES SUB-SERIES | 1

Alab Oriente, Bontoc | An Ancient Village with Sacred Grounds

TEASER: "Prehistoric mountain dwellers inhabited this place leaving a mark that became an evidence of their existence." | 2

Mt. Gotong, Mt. Data | Hiking the Mountains of Myths and Urban Legends

TEASER:"...there is still a little regret in me that I didn't just even notice the summit of the first real mountain I ever climbed." / Photo: Photo: Mt. Gotong | Bontoc, Mountain Province | 3

Alab Petroglyphs | Prehistoric Etchings, Mind-Boggling Patterns

TEASER: "It was carved inside a space of time from another dimension of civilization even far from the dawn of Christianity..." | 4

Finding Shelter in Alab's Mt. Data: Happy Memories with Strangers

TEASER: "By time, I may forget them, so, I have to write a story about that experience that I may still remember those precious memories every time I do the recalling of happy moments." | 5

Ganga Burial Caves | Mystical People, Mysterious Grave

TEASER: "I experienced goosebumps upon entering this area of dead bodies that made me feel I was in a different dimension." | 6

Evidence of Jar Burial in the Philippines as seen in Bontoc

TEASER: "They left an evidence to let us know they once existed but the complete details on why they have to do this is a thing only known to them." | 7 | 8

The Last Generation of Overt Igorots in the Cordilleras

TEASER: "Each second counts, and each second that has passed means losing another second of their generation."

Bontoc #TownExploration Series

Map showing the Location of #Bontoc

Click map to view latest articles covering Mountain Province

MORE POSTS FROM THIS CATEGORY: *HERITAGE*

Evidence of Jar Burial in the Philippines as seen in Bontoc

TEASER: "They left an evidence to let us know they once existed but the complete details on why they have to do this is a thing only known to them."

Ganga Burial Caves | Mystical People, Mysterious Grave

TEASER: "I experienced goosebumps upon entering this area of dead bodies that made me feel I was in a different dimension."

Alab Petroglyphs | Prehistoric Etchings, Mind-Boggling Patterns

TEASER: "It was carved inside a space of time from another dimension of civilization even far from the dawn of Christianity..."

Alab Oriente, Bontoc | An Ancient Village with Sacred Grounds

TEASER: "Prehistoric mountain dwellers inhabited this place leaving a mark that became an evidence of their existence."

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TEASER: "Appreciation of our great history and heritage does not need to be embodied to grand structures because the greatest parts of the past were built from small details."

Tagudin Church and Belfry | Of Augustinian, Greek and Baroque Style

TEASER: "The church has been restored several times since but the original appearance is maintained."

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TEASER: "Tagudin Sundial, being the oldest sundial in the Philippines is the only sundial used by the Spaniards during their era in the country."

Tangadan Tunnel of Abra | Decoding the Mystery of the Symbolisms

TEASER: "I swear, there is no such thing as mystery because there is a reason for everything but for me, those horse-symbolisms are mysterious still being unable to investigate the real meaning of it."