For the longest time, I had wanted to see the famed rice terraces in Batad, Ifugao and that dream finally came true over the weekend. As per usual, I couldn’t find anyone free to come along so I ended up joining a local group tour. It’s not my first time so I knew it’ll be fun, and I was right. Coincidentally, the other people who joined me on the adventure were all female solo travelers so I knew right then and there it was going to be a blast. I wouldn’t really go into the logistics since plenty of other blogs have that covered already and if you want to ask me about it, you can always ask me in the comment section. I wanted to focus more on how I felt during the entire trip.
We arrived in Saddle Point around 10 in the morning and I rented a walking stick for Php10. It was probably the best decision I have ever made in my life as it saved me from plunging headfirst countless times. We soon started our descent to Batad and I thought I was doing fine for someone who‘s form of exercise for the past several weeks was the daily 2-minutes walk from my apartment to my work building, if you can even call it that. This was the “shortcut” way and I felt proud upon reaching the bottom and finding out I had just descended 412 steps!
 |
| Our accommodation in Batad. |
 |
| The view from our window! |
We reached the famous Hillside Inn where we’ll be staying for the night, had lunch,and started the trek to Tappiyah Falls. This one I dreaded. I was actually thinking of skipping this part since I’ve read far too many nightmarish tales about it online but a fool that I was, I felt confident because I had no problem with the trek to Batad earlier that day. Boy, was I wrong! We walked along the narrow rice paddy walls and despite me wanting to ogle at the majestic rice terraces around me, I was focused on where I’m walking. One wrong move and I’d be plunging 10 feet down the muddy field.
Our guide decided to take a different route so we’ll have an even more stunning view of the Amphitheatre, only it meant climbing down several hundred stairs. I was feeling woozy at this point. That song and bible passage “as I walk through the shadow of the valley of death” came to mind right then. It certainly felt that way. Of course, we weren’t all too serious, we would sometimes stop and marvel at the beauty around us and to take some photos. After descending the hellish stairs, we stopped to rest for a bit and our guide had this brilliant idea for us to take a jump shot. Of course, we’re all game! We jumped, I felt my knees gave way, and I swear I wanted to die of embarrassment that very moment. I landed on my fvcking knees! Good thing (?) the same thing happened with my new friend so I wasn’t so alone in my misery haha. Suffice it to say that we were out of the frame from that epic fail of a jump shot photo.
 |
| My travel buddies. I wasn't caught in this photo along with another friend because our knees gave way upon landing. 😂 |
It should have served as an early warning for what awaits me further down the trek. So we went further down, treading dirt soil and concrete steps for almost two hours. All the way down I was thinking how I was going to manage the climb up. Along the way our guide would try to make us laugh and share anecdotes about previous experiences while trekking the same route. He mentioned how one their guests demanded for a stretcher since she can’t make the trek back on her feet anymore. And how they came across one foreigner slung on a makeshift bamboo carrier with his hands tie like a wild boar. And we laughed heartily.
 |
| The falls that almost crippled me 😅 |
We arrived at the falls, took a dip at the ice cold water and laughed some more. And then we had to go back. I climbed the first 50 steps maybe and that’s when it dawned on me: I was gonna crawl my way up. I certainly wasn’t laughing anymore. I’ve never felt this exhausted before. Not even when I joined a mandatory CAT training in secondary school (it’s like army training for both male and female students) and had to spend an entire summer living the life of a GI Jane wannabe. My heart was pounding too loudly and I can hear blood ringing through my ears. I was slowing the group down and I felt sorry but at the same time, I just had to stop since I don’t wanna collapse. That is even more embarrassing right. One of our guides had to literally pull me up however I told him my legs are too tired. I still had to make that motion of stepping up on each stair right and my legs didn’t have the energy to move. I didn’t know how I managed but I did reached the top where the others were waiting.
 |
| Because there is no electricity so we had a candlelit dinner. |
 |
| Inside are chopped tomatoes and cheese. |
 |
| Looks greasy? It tasted greasy too 😁 |
So it was time to go down once more towards the village in the midst of the rice terraces. As we were treading the rice paddies, I had to be extra careful since I couldn’t trust my knees anymore. I am really thankful I had a walking stick. We stopped in the village to rest and I bought a soda for $1.5( my nth bottle). After that came the final lapse: the climb up to our guest house. Yea, it was a nightmarish series of climbing up, down, up, and down again. At that point, I was developing a phobia think. I hated seeing another flight of steps. We arrived before it got dark and I was a mess. I couldn’t find the energy to scream “I survived Batad!”. I was just ready to fall down and sleep. I was that worn out. The next day we climbed back up the saddle point and we took the long route since we can’t possibly go up the same 412 flight of stone steps again. Again, walking was a painful chore and I just keep telling myself “just put one foot in front of the other”. How hard could it be? Mind you we hired a porter to carry our bags for us this time so I was just carrying my weight ( 48k for my 4’11” frame – still within the ideal range). Seeing the Saddle Point just a few meters ahead of me, I was tempted to ran into a full sprint but then I thought my legs would give up on me so I decided against it.
Despite all these however, did I feel any regret spending what could have been a laidback weekend in my apartment? NO! It was surreal walking in the middle of the 2000-year old rice terraces, I marveled at the breathtaking Tappiyah falls, and reveled in the company of other travelers. For me that experience is worth the hard labor my heart had to go through, worth falling on my knees in front of people I’ve just met, worth risking falling down and spending a week in a hospital bed, it was worth every drop of sweat and labored breathing. This is what I live for: seeing God’s wonderful creation.
Comments
Post a Comment