The Sagada Saga: Power Trekking to Pongas Falls



The day after our successful spelunking activity, we all woke up early the next day, excited to catch the Kiltepan sunrise. Unfortunately, it was raining... so no sunrise. :( We'll catch it next time, then. (Yes, there will be a next time. Definitely going back!)


So we ate breakfast (the cheapest we've had during the entire trip -- "bottomless" pancit canton) at the Residential Lodge and waited for further instructions. We were supposed to trek to Bomod-ok Falls that morning. However, the locals had an ongoing tribal ritual that weekend so we had to change our plans and go to the less famous Pongas Falls instead. Pongas Falls was not a bad option at all, and we had tons of fun there. They say that the trek to Bomod-ok is longer and more tiring, but the trek to Pongas was more challenging. 


Before going on the journey, here's our guide, Dexter, trying his hand at cutting firewood. It's not as easy as it looks like. :))



And then the trek starts. We walked for about an hour and saw endless rice fields and neat little rice terraces.


After a while, we crossed a hanging bridge. It looks stable, but it creaks and it moves and the view from there made me a little bit weak, so yeah, I was happy to get to the other side. Hehe


The challenging part was the second half of the trek, wherein we trudged narrow paths on the side of the mountain, hoping not to fall off the edge. :)) Also, there were countless rocks to climb over/go under and slippery slopes. Not many photos were taken because safety was top priority. Oh, the things we have to go through to see the most beautiful works of nature.


It wasn't a very long trek. Once we heard the sound of running water (one of my favorite sounds in the world), we knew we were close. We got to the falls in an hour or so and were instantly amazed. I could almost see fairies hovering over the ferns.


We climbed higher and higher, and went as close as we could to to the top.


We passed through this crack on one of the huge rocks. I don't know why we had to, when we could have gone around it.haha Good thing no one got stuck.LOL

And finally, we made it! The whole gang (with Dexter and a couple of other guys from the tour group) celebrated by taking lots of photos.

We took a quick break and just basked in the beauty of Pongas Falls. 


Mandatory couple pic!



The water was freezing but we couldn't say no to the challenge of going up to the highest level. So up we went. It required some Spiderman moves and luckily we made it. Going down was another thing. 

We had a really great time. Aside from the high nature gives, these kinds of activities make me appreciate how strong our bodies are wired to be. After working long hours at the office, there's no greater feeling than being outdoors. :)




One of our sneaky friends took this Tabing Ilog-inspired lovers' shot. I think it's cute. haha Too bad we couldn't stay long.


Next stop, Echo Valley to see the famous hanging coffins... :)

Photos from Eliel Sarmiento and McBeau Babaan.


~o~

 Read about the rest of our Sagada Saga here:
* Food Trip
* Stopover at the Banaue Rice Terraces
* Spelunking at Sumaguing Cave
* Power Trekking to Pongas Falls
* Hanging out with the Hanging Coffins at Echo Valley


xoxo,

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