It's More Fun in the Philippines Day 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On day 4 we continued our trekking around Sagada. By this day my legs were water, my back was beat, and my neck was burned. But I'm in the Philippines! Seriously the Philippines is just so beautiful, and the people I was with were just so wonderful that those annoyances were minor and irrelevant. I was ready for anything. On this day we set out early in the morning for a 4 hour round trip hike down to the Bomod-Ok (Big) Falls. This trek definitely wasn't as tough as the one at the Batad Rice Terraces and the weather was quite fair. You start at the top of a hill and hike down through some local neighborhoods. It felt a bit intrusive actually, as you're literally walking through people's backyards with their bathing children, barking dogs, and chickens. But it's also fascinating being able to see some locals and meet their friendly kids. They are obviously used to these strangers walking through and some have set up shop to sell us some much needed beverages.
Philippines 042013001 Philippines 042013002 Philippines 042013003

This is about halfway down. Almost there! Or at least, that's what they kept saying.

Philippines 042013004

As usual...  beautiful rice terraces.

Philippines 042013005

Bomod-Ok (Big) Falls


Philippines 042013006 Philippines 042013007

And it's definitely worth it! It's absolutely beautiful here at the waterfalls. Several groups of people were swimming and so we also had to jump in, with cameras too! We're all bloggers after all.

Philippines 042013008 Philippines 042013009

It's like a worldwide mandate that men much splash women. And this is the point where I ran away, camera protected under shirt.

Philippines 042013010 Philippines 042013011

After that we hiked back up the hill, but half of our group actually got lost. But we found them eventually.

Philippines 042013012

Julia modeling for me again, unknowingly. :) Thanks Julia.

Philippines 042013013

Our tour guide, and a super nice lady.

Philippines 042013014 Philippines 042013015

After this we went back to the Rock Inn Hotel, the beautiful hotel I mentioned in my last post. Here was a typical lunch. Lots of vibrant vegetables and overly salted proteins. Haha.

Philippines 042013016

This dog kept giving me the eye during the lunch....

Philippines 042013017

Sumaguing Cave


After lunch we embarked on another journey to the Sumaguing Cave. This was... INTENSE and AMAZING. Definitely a highlight of this trip. We had around 10 people in our group and 3 tour guides between us to help us get down. Getting to the bottom takes around one hour and each little step needs to be guided with lanterns so each of the guides stayed in front, middle, and behind. To be honest it was a bit scary. The rocks are wet and slippery, the slope is steep, and most of the paths have precarious falls on either side. Also some points require very specific directions for how to get through. For example at one point you have to sit on a ledge, grab the guides arm, rotate your body around, use your feet to guide yourself down the wall, and then make a small hop into the arms of the second guide. This isn't to be discouraging, anyone with a moderate level of fitness can do it, but the slight danger made it all the more interesting.

Philippines 042013018 Philippines 042013019 Philippines 042013020 Philippines 042013021 Philippines 042013022 Philippines 042013023 Philippines 042013024

And inside the cave you'll find some amazing sights. These pictures are taken near the bottom of the cave where flowing water and pools have created beautiful designs.

Philippines 042013025 Philippines 042013026

 

I hope you enjoyed this edition of my trip in the Philippines. Days 5-8 are still on the way, stay tuned.

Popular posts from this blog

5 of the Best Jajangmyeon 짜장면 in the City of Seoul, Korea

5 of the Best Gamjatang Restaurants in Seoul: Korean Potato and Pork Stew

Calories in Soju and other things I Know about Korea's Famous Swill