Great day for hiking I thought when I woke up, so studied the map and decided to go for the smaller Bokong waterfall (unguided) and the larger Bomid-ok falls (guided). Bought some water and crackers for on the way and started walking early. Bit cloudy so not too warm, perfect weather. There are no signs whatsoever and the map is not detailed (more a fun map) so need to ask for directions all the time.

Eventually found the right path and could see the smaller falls in the distance. But easier said than done, the path goes straight through the rice teraces and thats a maze of little pathways.. Backtracked a few times, ran into a woman working the rice fields and sat down a few times to take in the view on the valley. Made it to the falls and made my way back to the main road again. Now it's time for the real hike.. First, a 4 km hike to the next village of Bangaan along more rice teraces, happy kids that keep asking how you are and where you are from and pine forests. Reaching the town, register at the tourist center. Actually a shed of plain wood with a handwritten sign "tourist center".

Here i get a guide, more water and we start the 1,9 km hike down into valley, through the oldest village in the area and down to the rice teraces and waterfalls. My guide tells me a lot about the area, the rice and the culture. We are at 1500 meters above sealevel here.

The people of this village only have one way in and out and thats the trail we are doing now: 4000 steps down and 4000 steps up. Pregnant women need to leave the village at one point when they still can, since there is no doctor. They only return after giving birth. There are porters that carry older people or tourists that can't continue the hike. And i can totally imagine that, this is tough! When you die, you will end up in a hanging coffin. This village still practices this procedure. The first cemetery only came when the missionaries arrived in 1904. Since there were a lot of wild animals and dogs, the only way to keep the dead safe was up there, hanging from the mountain side as you can see in my pictures. A clear sign the US missionaries are here and teaching is the fact that my guide speaks fluent English with an American accent.

The hike continues through the rice teraces, green in colour now, golden later in july when the harvest start. The rice here is strictly for the own area only, it is not sold onwards. Other harvests will contain sweet potato, paprika, carrot, cabbage. Also beans are experimented with. After the rice we reach the waterfalls, 60 meters tall and quite intimidating. But its coolness and beauty are a lot to take in.

Walking back i notice snails in the water. Since they damage the crops, they are handpicked out and prepared to eat: escargots!

Obviously the hike back up is double the pain and it never seems to end. Eventually we reach the starting point and we are back in 1 hour 50 minutes. Not bad, they assure me, for these 3,8 kilometers of hell. But the beauty of it compensates for all the pain. The record is held by a couple of Germans, they did it in 1 hour. Those Germans man...

Guide fee is p500/€9,00 and I thank them and leave back towards Sagada, only 4 km back but luckily most of it is downhill.

Hostel, shower, dinner at local restaurant and early to bed, i am exhausted! Tomorrow to the caves!

By the way, the Mountain tea that I ordered tastes like weed. Well there is a lot of that going around here so i might sleep even better than i think i will!