DANUM 2: Bahay na Bato & Tangadan Falls (Luna and San Gabriel, La UNion)

May 17, 2016
Photo Diary as usual and some other words to get you by.
With Jerelyn De Guzman, Raquel Guay and Godfrey Padawil :)

I am not that much of a story teller nor a Secretary who is good at words and stuffs to make you more inclined to read this blog but I think we all gotta say something even if it's a short one.

Ok. We had our CPA Board exams the 11th, 12th, 15th and 16th. I was so desperate to get out of Baguio and get try something new. You know, stuffs that could physically make me experience things unlike when studying where the brain is the only one working and experiencing everything. And, I really really like to get out because I've been stuck in two places for the past two or three years. I don't like it. It's like the spaces I'm in gets smaller and smaller and I hated it so much.

By the way, dear reader you don't have to read the lines from here. The pics are enough to help you for a DIY trip:)

I am a weakling. The past years of not exercising took its toll on my body. If we hadn't walked for hours during the 16th then I bet the gym experience would come visiting me again - dizziness and sleepy eyes and heart issues. I survived the heat of Luna and I was hoping I could also endure the hike and heat going to Tangadan and I did well for my standards. haha. I survived even if I did have occasional head spinning issues and some I-don't-wanna-walk-anymore scenes. Along the trail, I did embark on soliloquies  about why do I want to hike when in fact I am not that physically able and I can't even control myself to endure the heat because I almost want to strip naked, drop dead sleep on the trail and curse the wind for not lessening the temperature. ahha. Good job Jha, you deserve a pat.

The guide said the water is cold but hahahha no, no, no! it is not. The temperature I deserve would be just like the temperature I inconveniently survived at Mount Pulag, once upon a time when the typhoon was forcasted to leave but it didn't.  Anyways, I took a dip using my life vest. I am not a good swimmer but I can manage well to survive but then I feared the waters of Tangadan. I don't like the idea of swimming without being able to see your feet moving. I don't like it that I am swimming atop but I don't know what's 20+ feet beneath me. Well, I tried a lot of times to convince my self to let go of my life vest and just swim and do the "tang-tangad-dan" as we call it in our dialect. Then, it happened. Two of my toes started to numb and the more I move it and wiggle, the more that the numbness travel trying to control my lower body. I didn't make any fuss about it. I think I can manage. I took the life vest which is freely floating near me. Whew... great... great... so as expected I resumed swimming but my life vest gotta always be on my side.

The clock is ticking so fast ... it's already past 5pm. I don't want to leave the water. How do you expect me to experience the heat again on my skin? Why would I leave the water? But, I have to. I'm not a fish but if I were then I'd be the prettiest one to live.:)

I enjoyed the ride. I was seated at the back of the tricycle driver so i could freely feel the La union wind on my sun kissed skin. I could see the houses as they slowly light the night. I could touch the wind as it slips through my grip. I was at the moment where my worries and everything I've dreaded have gone. Yes,at that moment I felt the living soul in me.

How to get there:

Additional: San juan - Baguio P111 @ 2.5 hours approx travel time. And I have to add that the Lomi where kuya suggested for us to eat tastes so damn good. :) I spent about 550 for this trip including a 50 peso worth pasalubong.haha. Thanks to my friends who shared with me the expenses.

Note:
It is best to go to Bahay na Bato first before goin to Tangadan.
-fresh kang uuwi
-you dont have to carry your wet clothes
-mahirap iwan ang Tangadan.
(btw, why was it named Tangadan falls? ta nu tangtangadem ajay falls. ngem nu ada ka jay ngato adi ket Domogan. ehe)
 -water and food. if you could ask the residents somewhere in san gabriel drop off point to give you free mangoes then it's great. haha. yan nalang kakainin mo along the trail just like what we did.:)
 -hindi 24 hours ang san gabriel jeep. that's why we had to rent the tricycle from Duplas to San juan highway.
-umbrella too. para ready ka for sudden change ng weather
-09274580424 manung tour guide. You remember we didn't immediately take the offers of the people at the intersection, right? we walked under the scorching heat of the sun when Kuya stopped us and made us believe that Tangadan falls is way tooooooo far if we continued walking.(which we confirmed after the ride.hhaha) he offered his service and his tricycle and some mangoes too.:)

what to do in bahay na bato
-Pahangin sa tabi ng dagat, kung pwede rin tampisaw ka pa
-pagtripang mamalagi sa loob ng bahay like it is yours
-mock the stone sculpture. badtrip kung maka middle finger kasi wagas.
-tumabi sa nude stone sculpture at mapapansin mo na was nabiyayaan pa sya sa hinaharap kesa ikaw
-take time maghanap ng panghilod mo kasi walang nagbabantay sa mga namumulot ng bato sa tabing dagat.ahha
-may kalapit na bagong bahay. with in its premises naman kaya no need to pay for a fee. 

what to do in Tangadan falls
-wag kang magpakatangang mag jump from the top of the falls down to the deep waters dahil madaming nadidisgrasya dun. ask your guide for other possible point where you can go drop yourself and fly without wings and stay safe after.
-maligo ka. lumapit ka sa saktong falls and then mag shampoo ka at mag hilod and everything na para ka lang nasa shower room mo. ingat lng dahil madulas and ingat dahil madaming nakaabang na mga mata.
-manatili ka where the water is falling. parang therapy din daw yun. ginawa ko. it feels good.
-21feet daw. kung gusto mo iprove eh di sumisid ka pa more. i take it back pala, no need na dahil talagang deep yan.

 forgive how i composed this article. taglish and kung pwede nga dagdagan ko pa ng dialects