The visit to Tappia Falls was really worth it, despite the long walk to the falls. Now, I will have to pay back all that wonderful scenery via long walk uphill. The refreshing feeling I got from all soaking in the waterfalls quickly evaporated once we started our climb. Then we had to contend with the landslide area again, although having passed it once without incident made me a little more confident.
However, despite having already crossed an entire mountain to get to the falls, it still won’t help me get back to our inn. After getting back to the ridge, I was relieved to be walking on the terraces instead, since they were flat compared to climbing the mountain. Unfortunately, this is just half the battle since we still have to climb the entire mountainside to be able to get back to our inn.
After several elderly women passed me by, I suffered enough humiliation to carry on with the long climb. Whoever said the climbing is actually easier than going down is lying. To me it doesn’t really make a difference.
With my legs burning, we finally reached the ridge where the inns were. We quickly bought some drinks to refresh ourselves and headed back to the inn we were staying at – Simon’s Place. This place seems to be a very well recommended place. It is perched on top of the ridge with commanding views of the ampitheater-like Batad Rice Terraces. We went back to our room which is basically house divided by plywood. The beds were neatly set and clean. There was mosquito coil to ward away insects during the night. Best of all, the inn was dirt cheap! Our room has a wonderful view of the terraces below and I couldn’t stop staring outside the window. Simon, to whom the place was named after, was also there and was offering us facts about this place.
We rested our tired feet for a while, when we started to move again. My friend wanted to visit the hanging bridge found to the below the valley. This meant climbing down and back up again. We searched for the bridge until we got to a small cluster of houses on the side of a mountain. We tried asking for directions to the hanging bridge but it seems like they only know how to speak their dialect. We tried sign language but didn’t get very far. It seems like we stumbled into some undiscovered tribe of natives.
Disappointed, we headed back to the inn. This time I was really tired and my legs have all but turned into jelly, my friend wanted another go at the hanging bridge, but I didn’t really feel like going anymore. It seemed like he was full of energy and proceeded to find the hanging bridge alone. It was almost sunset when he got back as he successfully found the hanging bridge. I don’t know why we didn’t find it the first time but I didn’t really care anymore I just wanted to rest.
The original plan was to hike from the afternoon to early evening to the next village of Bangaan. However, the thought of a four hour hike in pitch black didn’t really appeal to me, I just wanted to rest. So we did. We had dinner at Simon’s Place, and of all the things he is famous for, it was pizza!. It was pretty strange to be ording pizza in this place but I would have to admit it was fairly tasty. As night came, the entire place was plunged into darkness. There was hardly any light from the valley below. Even the inns nearby didn’t have any light except for candles. We tried going out to see the other inns, but it was too dark and I wasn’t prepared for this since I didn’t have a flashlight of my own. Either way, I don’t think we would have seen anything anyway, I just wanted to rest my tired weary legs.
My visit to Batad village was a truly memorable experience. I would have wanted to stay here a few days but we have a schedule to keep. Batad is a truly peaceful place to be in and it definitely deserves the visitors who make the effort to come here. I am also grateful that it really is quite difficult to get here. I may sound a little selfish but I think it should stay the way it is, away from the damaging effects of mass tourism.
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