he trek towards Bomod-ok starts at the basketball court in Bangaan. The trail reminded me a lot of the trail going to Tappia Falls in Batad. But the trek to Bomod-ok is much easier as the trail is well cemented. The trek at the Fidelisan village is quite an experience, you will be passing by a small village first where you will have to pay and register, then you'll be passing by the terraces itself. It took around an hour to reach the majestic Bomod-ok falls.
Bomod-ok Falls
The Bomod-ok is a tiered waterfall that makes it look majestic. It has a large cold pool for swimming. Everyone took a dip. Jaza was clearly enjoying his swim. Raza told me that he's always at their subdivision's swimming pool when he's not doing anything. Well that would explain his color.
On our way back, the Valdez couple decided to move first as they were quite slow. I joined them in front. Later, mid-trail, I was like 20min ahead of them all, I saw Kate trailing behind the Valdez couple. Before we got into the village she was already behind me as we leave another group behind who left earlier before us. I shared my water with her since she forgot to bring her bottle from the waterfall. By the time we left the village, I let her walk pass by me. Boy those Tai-chi lessons were a lot of help on her breathing; It seems she's not exhausted at all. Sooner we passed by another group resting, which I remembered left earlier than the one we passed by.
Fidelisan Terraces
I stayed 5 to 6 feet behind her cause she stopped a few times to ask for water. When we got to the resting stop, she just stopped for a while then moved on. I rested for 5 minutes then climbed up with a steady breath. Then I saw her standing straight against the wind, breathing, her feet far apart one arm outstretched, her other hand holding on to her walking stick. I looked at my watch and it took us an hour to get back from the almost endless staircases of the terraces. Later I joined with her on her breathing. Around 15 minutes later, Tim arrived. We treated ourselves for an ice candy on a nearby store while we waited for the others. By 3pm everyone was there.
We had some company who shared with our jeep on our way back so once again we decided to go topload. And it was a fun and bumpy ride. We reached the municipal hall after a few minutes. We settled all our accounts. Kate's group was now headed to Sumaging as they haven't been there, except her. I can see the "Valdez" couple was quite exhausted from the trip and wanted to retire. So we parted ways and thank each other for the company. Until I realized I was dumb enough not to have gotten any contact details from her. It's not everyday you meet a person like her.
