It took a day to get from Manila to Kayapa.
From Manila, he took a bus to San Jose, Nueva Ecija. From San Jose, he transferred to a jeepney heading toward Nueva Vizcaya. The paved road ended as soon as they turned onto the mountain road.
An unpaved mountain road. Lee Jae-in looked out the window, saying nothing. He was reading the terrain.
“It’s deeper than I expected.”
Hoon said.
“Yeah. It gets better the further we go.”
It was late afternoon by the time they reached the town of Kayapa. There was a small market. An old woman selling chickens. A motorcycle repair shop. A small convenience store. It was a typical scene in a small mountain town in northern Luzon.
They found a place to stay for the night. It was a small guesthouse. The owner looked at the two strangers with curiosity.
When Lee Jae-in was asked in Tagalog where they were from, he replied, “Korea.” The woman nodded. Koreans came by occasionally. They were mostly missionaries.
Lee Jae-in ate dinner. Hoon just drank water. The lady looked at Hoon with concern. Lee Jae-in told her he was fine.
That night, Lee Jae-in unfolded a map. It was a paper map. He had bought it at a bookstore in Manila.
“Fifteen kilometers east of here. If you go into the mountains, there’s a valley between 800 and 1,000 meters above sea level. A tributary of the Magat River flows through it. Judging by the terrain, there should be some flat land.”
“We’ll have to go and see.”
“Early tomorrow morning.”
* * *
They set out at five in the morning.
They rented two motorcycles. Lee Jae-in rode in front, checking the map.
The paved road ended and a dirt road began. The dirt road ended too, and they were on a path marked only by footprints. Tree roots jutted up onto the path. The motorcycles jolted.
They rode for an hour.
Then we stopped.
Lee Jae-in got off the motorcycle. He looked ahead.
It was a valley. At the end of the narrow valley lay a gently sloping basin. Mountains surrounded it on all sides. The ridges of the Caraballo Mountains encircled the basin. There was a mountain directly ahead, and ridges on both sides. Only the path we had come in on remained open.
There was a flat area inside the basin. There were trees, but it wasn’t a dense forest. It was a mix of woods and open ground. In the distance, he could hear the sound of water. It was water flowing down from the valley.
Lee Jae-in walked silently into the basin.
Hoon followed.
The grass came up to his ankles. Morning dew dampened his shoes. The sound of birdsong came from all around. The calls of the tropical birds were different from those in Korea. They were more varied and louder.
As he walked, Lee Jae-in pressed his foot into the ground. He scooped up some soil with his hand. He rubbed it between his fingers. He sniffed it.
Hoon spoke up.
“What do you think?”
Lee Jae-in replied after a long pause.
“It’s good.”
Those two words held a great deal of meaning.
* * *
They walked around for two hours.
Lee Jae-in studied the terrain carefully. He gauged the slope. He followed the path of the water. He checked the direction and intensity of the sunlight. He also identified the most vulnerable defensive points.
He didn’t write any of it down. He observed it with his eyes and committed it to memory with his body.
As they headed toward the valley, the sound of water grew louder. Clear water flowed between the rocks. Lee Jae-in dipped his hand in.
“There’s enough water. A small-scale hydroelectric plant is feasible.”
Hoon watched from beside him. The water was clear. It was water flowing down from the mountains. Water untouched by human hands.
Lee Jae-in looked out over the entire basin once more. He slowly scanned the ridges in all directions with his eyes.
“What do you think it would look like from a satellite?”
Hoon replied.
"We’d have to check, but with the ridges wrapping around like that, you can’t really see inside. It’s also good that there’s only one entrance."
Lee Jae-in nodded and said,
“It looks like there’s enough space for a hundred thousand people. There are a lot of trees now, but if we clear them out… We could build structures centered on that flat area over there and arrange residential areas along the ridges.”
As he spoke, he pointed in the direction with his hand. Hoon looked at the places his hand was pointing to. Right now, it was just forest and grassland. But it seemed like Lee Jae-in was already seeing something else. Eyes that see what isn’t there. The eyes of an architect.
“Just one thing.”
Lee Jae-in looked at Hoon.
“There’s no one here. Not right now. But whose land is this?”
Hoon thought for a moment.
“We need to check. It’s likely public land or communal land owned by the indigenous people. There’s an LGU in Kayapa town—the local government. We need to go there and confirm.”
Lee Jae-in nodded.
“That’s the first thing to do.”
The two turned back the way they had come. Dew still clung to the ground beneath their feet. The sound of birds filled the valley.
Hoon listened to the sounds as he walked.
This was the place.
It was a certainty that was hard to put into words. It was a sensation similar to when he first saw Dasol. That this was the right place. The feeling came before the reason.
That intuition had rarely been wrong.
* * *
In the afternoon, he visited the Kayapa Local Government Unit (LGU).
The person in charge was a middle-aged man. His name was Lorenzo. He spoke English. Hoon explained that they wanted to learn about the basin inside the Caraballo Mountains.
He said it was a preliminary survey for a community project by an international NGO. It wasn’t a complete lie.
Lorenzo looked for the documents. It took a while. In the meantime, Lee Jae-in looked at the regional map hanging on the office wall.
Lorenzo returned.
“That area is a mix of state-owned land and indigenous communal land. There was a boundary dispute a long time ago, but it’s been settled now. Long-term leases are possible. If you have a development plan, you’ll need to submit the paperwork.”
Hoon asked.
“Is it possible to speak directly with the indigenous community?”
Lorenzo thought for a moment.
“Yes, you can. There’s the Igorot community there. It’s an old community. It’s best to talk to them first. In practice, that’s actually more important than the official procedures.”
Hoon looked at Lee Jae-in. Lee Jae-in nodded.
“Could you give us their contact information?”
Lorenzo wrote a name and number on a piece of paper. Armando Valdo. He was the community elder.
“It’s better to go see him in person. Better than calling. They trust face-to-face contact more.”
Hoon took the paper.
“Thank you.”
Lorenzo nodded and said,
“You’re doing good work, right? Since you mentioned an NGO.”
Hoon thought about the question for a moment.
“I think so.”
Lorenzo smiled.
“People who do good things are always unsure. It’s the people doing bad things who are full of confidence. That’s been my experience.”
As Hoon listened to those words, something tugged at his heart. He would write it down in his notebook later.
He stepped out of the office. The afternoon sun was blazing outside. Lee Jae-in shielded his eyes and looked up at the sky.
"Let’s go see the elder tomorrow."
“Okay.”
"If it works out, we’ll start. If not, we’ll look elsewhere."
Hoon looked at Lee Jae-in. He liked his calm demeanor. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll find somewhere else. Being with someone who thought that way made his fears fade.
“I think it’ll work out.”
Lee Jae-in asked.
"Why?"
Hoon thought for a moment.
“Just because.”
Lee Jae-in snorted.
“‘Just because’ is the least convincing reason of all.”
"I know. But so far, 'just because' hasn't been wrong very often."
Lee Jae-in looked at Hoon for a moment. Then he started walking.
"Let’s just go."