As we all know, Philippines is an archipelago. It is surrounded by several bodies of water, it has different kinds of beaches; from pure white sand, to pebbles, corals, black sand beach, rocky beaches, almost all sorts of beach you can find in the Philippines.
Not only the coastal areas were bodies of water are present. It’s also in the mountains. Almost all provinces in the Philippines do have waterfalls maybe because of our geographical locations were we have lots of mountains and a recipient of many rainfalls in a year. Different types of waterfalls in every place and most of them were now a tourist destination. One of this is the Tappiya Falls.
Even before the promotion of tourism in the Philippines, Tappiya Falls is already a destination in Batad. Locals and foreigners coming to Batad already knew of Tappiya Falls. And I must say that when you’re in Batad, a visit will not be complete if you missed Tappiya Falls. For every visitor, swimming in Tappiya Falls is a must in the itinerary.
Everyone must know that the trek to Tappiya Falls is quite challenging and exciting. How exciting is, everybody will experience a hike at the majestic rice terraces thereby enjoying its beauty. Everybody will have their chance of feeling the life of a local when walking at the rice terraces. You will really observe how this was being built and maintained, how they tend their crops and how they managed to survive this kind of farming. There is no other route in going to Tappiya Falls than on the famous Batad Rice Terraces.
On the other hand, how the trek becomes a challenge? It is because when hiking towards the waterfalls, it will all be a descent until you reach the falls. There is an alternative route yet it still is a descent. The challenge is you’re way back to the jump off, all be an assault. So if you plan on visiting Tappiya Falls, prepare for the way back to the village.
From the registration area, the walk will all be just an easy descent like smaller degrees of inclination say 5-10 degrees. Then passing along the rice terraces, there were portions there that you will go down to several levels of the farm and again walk on a plain dike.
Upon reaching a residential area on a small hill at the edge of the terraces, you will start the more than 45 degrees descent. It’s a continuous descent until you reach the walkway near the river. From there, a short walk on the plain before turning left to the waterfalls itself.
At the end of the trek, Tappiya Falls will welcome you with its spectacular view. When we reached the end of the trek, I am so excited to take a dip at the waters. The breeze was so cold and refreshing. They have small cottages built at the center of the river on the rocky portion fronting the waterfalls. You may place your things on the tables and chairs available, I don’t know if it is for a fee or for free because when we went there, nobody collected from us. Just assume there is.
When going to the cottages, you must have to cross the shallow portion of the river. We were excited to cross the flowing waters and eventually swim at the waterfalls. However, another challenge is the cold waters. When I first step on the water, I almost had my second thoughts of swimming then. I don’t know if I can survive the temperature. But what made me think to really swim was the way back to our accommodation. I need to be refreshed before walking back to our homestay.
What’s surprising is, it’s only cold at first. You have to get used to the temperature first before you finally take a dip at the waters. What I did was, I quickly immerse myself underwater to make my body totally wet just for few seconds and after that I’m already used to the cold waters. By the way, I brought a bottle of Gatorade with me during the trek and I put it on the water to chill and it works.
The bed of the water is rocky so I leave my sandals on while on the waters. Sir Ben brings his dome accessory for his GoPro and takes underwater photos. Unfortunately, the waters are not that clear maybe due to heavy rain last night. It’s supposed to be clear but we’re thankful that it’s still clean anyway. We managed to stay longer than expected. We just planned for a dip yet we enjoyed being on the water for a while. After more than 30 minutes, we decided to walk back to our accommodation since it’s almost 11am. Calculating the challenge of going up the assaults, we’ll reach our accommodation at lunchtime.
We take our things and start walking. While walking near the river, you will really notice the house above the mountain. And that house is the last store we pass when walking down the stairs to Tappiya Falls. After a short walk, we start our assault to the store. It is so tiring that the steps are high and it’s a continuous climb.
Frequent hikers will easily get over the challenge but for those who didn’t have any exercise, it’s a kill! The feeling of you will really kill the time of only taking 5 steps up and rest for 10 minutes. That’s not a problem as long as you have enjoyed the trek. There’s no race anyway on who’s going to reach the top first. The most important thing is, you know the challenge and you have accepted it, then you have survived. That’s the best thing there.
Upon reaching the store, we brought some souvenir shirts and magnets. The very good thing, they are selling at a lower price and we haggled for additional discount since we bought many items. We took a rest as well at the resting area before we resume the trek up. That’s the last of the assault near the falls. The final assault will be at the foot of our accommodation where we will all be again walking up the stairs.
We had fun in Tappiya Falls. Not just fun when in the waterfalls, even during the trek through the rice terraces then the challenges on the descent and assault portion of the trail. The view at Tappiya Falls is lovely. The waters are refreshing. Overall, I enjoyed the place and would love to come back if given a chance.
Thanks to Sir Ben, Eden, Shades and Paul for making the trek an enjoyable one.
Been here: May 29, 2016
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