We arrived in the Banaue scene at 7:00 am. Our bus had 2 major flat tire episodes during our trip. But I was so sleepy to care about it all. I think Lindsy heard me say' "I don't care," and continued to doze off to sleep. But it was one scary drive. The bus conductor at one point informed all the passengers that they'll be closing down all the bus lights and close shut all the curtains. (I think we passed through an NPA infested area and are just doing measures to avoid unnecessary stopovers and checkpoints. I had to admit I was praying in tongues for 30 minutes straight before I felt some peace run through my system).
But the day when we were to leave Baguio, I was already texting my Batad contact. He didn;t reply the whole day so I gave him a break. I just said, "He might just be busy with stuff" or "Maybe he slept early that's why he didn't reply". So when we arrived at Banaue, I was a bit worried about this whole thing. So having gone down the bus, we followed a local guy who was supposedly offering his services as a guide. We had to use the comfort room above all else. (I had this wee wee episode from the foot of the mountainous region until we reached Banaue). No pitstop for the past 4 hours. All the water in my systems are nearly leaking... ewwww!!!
We had breakfast at the local cafeteria. I was amazed they were offering brown rice to the customers. (For Manileñas, Brown rice is a tad expensive...) We were having a cup of my hot chocolate when I noticed that I have several missed calls from an unknown number. I immediately called the number and ALAS! It was Annalisa, the niece of our Batad contact. We agreed to meet her at her house in a certain district in Banaue. She told me over the phone that her aunt recently arrived and was on her way to Batad that same day. She just had to confirm it.
So we exchanged text messages during breakfast. Yes. Her aunt will go to Batad. We will have to share the cost of the hired van. As we arrived at her house, we were greeted by Rose, Annalisa's sister. She ushered us in their receiving area and there waited for Annalisa to come back with the hired van. We were also waiting for the aunties (Malou and Aida) to finish up their packing.
The van arrived, we loaded and off we went on an hour drive of smooth versus rough roads to Saddle point. We paid 700 for our share and we proceeded to our hike DOWN to Batad. We had to rent walking sticks to support our walk since we had no prior knowledge about the place. We didn't have to pay for a guide because the aunties were locals of Batad. They knew the place like the back of their hand.
Talking about God connections, we found out that Auntie Aida was a Christian and is married to a foreign national. We had an easy climb down to Batad. We would have stopped for photos if we were with a regular guide. But the aunties were trudging down the mountain with an aim to reach the Binalit house before lunch time. We didn't have enough photos of our Batad trek.
Nevertheless, we arrived safely in the Binalit house, more known to tourists as Ramon's Homestay. We had lunch and a bath and immediately went down to Tapiya Falls. Clad in our bathing apparel, we walked yet again another hour just to reach the beautiful and icy waters of Tapiya. We didn't bring any food with us because we had to head back to the house before the rain fell again on the mountains.
I had a short frightening experience on our trek to Batad. My slippers weren't able to grasp the loose rocks of a sloping trail and I was almost on my way down to the bottom of the cliff, the rock river from Tapiya. If not for the guide referred to us, I would be down the cliff and no blog that you'll be reading. Thank God for angels! (Auntie Aida prayed for us before we left the house. I praise God for her wisdom.)
Lindsy and I sat on the edge of the pool. The water was soooooooo cold, it was so unreal! We experienced the waves of the waterfall. I was kinda irked that all the stronger waves were lashing at me and not at Lindsy. She was the one excited for the waves. (Nakaka-relax daw, sabi niya). I tried varying my position but still, the waves seem to look for ME and not Lindsy! talk about freaky!
And then... it got cloudy! Lakas ng faith ni Lindsy para hindi umitim!!!!
A few minutes later, it started RAINING!
A moment or so after that, LINDSY had cramps.
We had to go back to a shed nearby and have the cramps go away before we made it up the mountains. Our guide left us for a moment to assist a bigger group of tourists (or so we thought, we found out that he hiked a bit upward to join some locals in their PICNIC!) and the rain kept on pouring! And pouring! And pouring!
(Rainy Batad)
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