It takes you about 2 hours to walk to this falls. I would suggest that you talk to the local tour guide a lot during this walk as they could tell you a lot about their culture. They are very friendly. The falls are really cold and the rocks are slippery so make sure that you come prepared for this too.
It is nice walk down the hill, many stairs, some parts of the road still under reconstruction. I love the village in the middle, where you need to pay lil money to pass. The waterfalls are really easy to find, no one could get lost, but still you need a guide it is the rule. My advice is: plan this trip for morning, do not go too late, last entry is around 4pm, we started after 4pm and needed to almost run down, it was dark already when we made it back to the village. If you walk fast it will take you under 2hours. I like the road, village and fields much more that the waterfall itself though. We had to walk back from the village to Sagada after, which is not so bad, but if you lucky there will be some driver who will give you a ride.
Takes 1-2 hrs to get to Bomod-Ok falls or (Big) Falls depending on your hiking speed. Hiking shoes or a sturdy slippers is advised. Terrain is mostly paved cement and soil. You will be hiking through pine tree covered trails, rice terraces paths and cemented pavement walkways and cemented stairs. Brink lots of water and an energy bar to give you a boost of energy for your hike going back. Also bring money as you will be passing by a small town where you can resupply with food and snacks.
We hire a van going to the trekking point of Bomod-ok. We register and paid P500 for a group of 9 and 2 Tour guide with us. We are given a walking stick each to assist us walk down the path going there. Fortunately, the pave and the stairs going down is cemented and the soil is hard just it is so tiring and the sun is strikingly hot so make sure you wear a proper clothing, a sun protection, a hiking shoes or durable slippers, water, foods, and a camera. You will pass along a mining factory, the oldest sagada village, fedilisan terraces and amazing panoramic view along the way. You can ask the guide anything about sagada and they will eagerly answer all your queries and a witty humor Is a plus. Halfway when you reach a village, there's a store where you can buy food and you can see a Dap-ay where rituals and meetings were held and the history of it were told by our guides.When we finally reached the falls after an hour trek, all my stress hormones were gone and replaced by lots of endorphins. The breathtaking view itself is one spectacular creation from God. I took the challenge of swimming in its blue-green flowing water. It is so cold but tolerable. I also drink and taste the water and it's kinda sweet and refreshing. I really enjoyed the experienced and happy I did it.After savoring the moment of the falls, we trek back via the other route passing through a beautiful terraces which is a lot easier than the first one.It's worth the long trek and the hot strike of the sun. :)-Thank you to our Tour Guides Kuya Alladin and Ate Grace for that enjoyable experienced. ❤(ˆ‿ˆԅ)
My first time to visit this falls. It is like the way to Tappias Falls in Batad bbut shorter walk. Our guide was amazing (Ate Noemi and Kuya Randy). On our way there I got a lot of info from Ate Noemi. When we reach the place I screamed my heart out (because it's really cold). hahahaha. but this place is amazing. Thank God for this wonderful creation. On our way back to the base there was an accident in the small scale mining area. Unfortunately it is the brother of Ate Noemi. Please pray for him and Ate Noemi. Thanks for reading this.
The hike through the village and rice terraces are just as interesting as the waterfall itself. You come across villagers selling local treats (i.e. macaroni sweetened with a variety of ingredients) and home-made donuts stuffed with sticky rice. The falls themselves were very nice and you can get fairly close up - feel the spray. In December the water is cold, but there were still people willing to jump into the water (not us!). Get there early if you can - we were visiting on a weekend and visited in the morning. While hiking back up we encountered a lot of locals headed down to have picnics and stay for the afternoon. It is a small area so it can get quite crowded if a lot of people decide to stay at the bottom.
We haven't eaten our lunch when we head out to the falls. We were briefly advised on what to expect and if I remember it right it was around 6k steps from where we started up to the falls itself. Going down was not a problem and knowing that the falls is waiting at the end of the trek, but going back was the biggest challenge. The view going down and up were stunning. We're lucky to own the place to ourselves since no tourist were there and even when we're about to leave there were no other tourist going. We were told were the first ones to visit after a 10 day holiday there in Sagada. It was worth it and felt like we really survived Sagada after all the places and things we have done there.
Our chartered Grandia took us to the entrance to the trek towards Bomod-ok. The journey was a gradual descent of steps and a concrete labyrinth that could really look imposing - especially if you look back and wonder if you could navigate the thousand steps upwards.The guide will not tell you till halfway that there is an easier exit route. But have your smartphone camera or camera of whatever category including DSL ready. The view halfway matches the scenery in the falls itself.The guide was apologetic for the volume of water coming down. "It is going into summer so, water is not as much." So going to Bomod-ok during the rainy season should be spectacular. I might take that trip and while here, see how the hanging coffins sway during a typhoon.
Lots of steps to get down to the falls, but walk guide takes you back to a lower level village for the jeepney to travel back to Sagada. If the weather is damp or your knees are poorly recommend taking up the offer of the bamboo walking pole.
Those words in the title are the words that i felt when I went to Bomod-ok falls. The power of the water coming from the top will make you want to be with it more.