At my travel blog, I sometimes get comments such as – you’re so lucky you get to travel for free to so many countries in your job! Standing at the bottom of a mountain where the only way up was a steep, holey path which had to be tackled on foot, I could not say I felt terribly ‘lucky’ at that point of time. But, there was no turning back.
The Anilao mountains, Panay, Central Philippines – The only way to go was up. I needed someone to pull or push me along, never mind which! My legs simply grew too heavy to manage another step! We were told that there were people waiting for us up there. A lot of people. They had prepared lunch for us. They were expecting us! Huh… they might have to wait a few hours. We finally made it over the most treacherous parts of the uphill climb, and then we heard the welcoming sound of a motor-bike. Phew, it was time to hitch a ride, bumpy though it would be, for the rest of the way!
Negrito children on the mountains of Panay Central Philippines
There were indeed very many people waiting. They looked happy. The children didn’t mind having their photos taken. They loved it! The mothers laughed and shared friendly banter one with another as they served lunch. And even though we couldn’t understand all they were saying, we couldn’t help but laugh and smile at them.
happy mountain people serving lunch with a smile - in the mountains of Panay, Central Philippines
They were the mountain people; they live in small thatched huts, they get their water from a well, their food from the crops they grew or the chickens they reared, and to go to the town or the city, they had to walk all the way down the mountain paths, and all the way up. They had little, but they were happy. I wonder why?
A wise man… I think it was Abraham Lincoln, once said – “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” Hmm, hmmmm!
And another one said – “We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
Wow, now, that’s reeeally something else! And me, with my leather handbag, nice clothes, expensive shoes, mobile phone… up on the mountain, was actually as happy (to have finally gotten there!) as these mountain-top folk with no leather, no shoes, certainly no mobile phone. 
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