Traveling: My first trip in 2014. Treasures of Iloilo and Guimaras. Part 2: Beyond Iloilo: Nasadjan Falls, Igbaras

Nadsadjan Falls

Our second day started with us finding the jeepney terminal to Igbaras too soon. Too soon because the jeepney was almost full and we would not want to wait a long time for the next schedule so off we board the jeepney with the Igbaras sign right away even though we intended to have breakfast first. So off we go with our hungry selves to adventure land! The blogs that I've read mentioned that the travel time to Igbaras from Iloilo City will just roughly take 45 minutes so after 45 minutes of uneventful ride I became kind of worried, then in an hour's time I saw the town named Guimbal.

Passing by the town of Guimbal

 I know that this is the town before Igbaras so I was relieved.In this trip i've learned that  It is really true that you have to talk to locals when you travel. Treat them like your neighbors and for sure you will be rewarded. The woman beside me on the jeepney talked to me in Ilongo, a language that I am not very familiar with (I spoke in Filipino but shestill replied in Ilonggo). Good thing her actions and facial expressions made up for the lack of verbal communication. She told me we would be needing a motorbike to reach Passi which is the jump off point to Nadsajan falls.

Passi: The Jump Off Point to nadsadjan Falls. Look! There are many other attractions in this area. Too bad we had so little time.

The first things you will notice in this area are these large white rocks.

From Passi it's a five minute walk up a steep road and a 20 minute trek down to a valley that leads to the falls.  This lady went out of her way to look for a reliable motorbike driver for hire so our trip up to the falls would be super convenient. Ate Marjorie, that's her name, even brought us to a nice spot to have breakfast. After our speedy meal we found ourselves riding with the motorbike drivers to our feature destination and in 15 minutes we were already on the Nadsadjan Falls jump off point. Our motorbike drivers also served us our tour guide so it is a good deal all in all. We walked through streams, forests, and a rocky field until we heard the sound of roaring water.

The view is spectacular around the area specially when a sneak peak of the falls appeared before us. From afar the falls look like it is slanted and leaning to the left because what is exposed is a view of the side of falls instead of the front. There is an environmental challege that some of the locals are worried about because a hydroelectric powerplant is going to be constructed here and it is already evident in the dominance of trucks and cranes around the area. There is even one on top of the brown mountain. Brown because the trees were already removed and denudation is  already evident.

We were running out of time know so we sat on our motorbikes again  let our guides speed up our vehicles to a hanging bridge where more than ten people died in an accident.We stopped here, reflected and offered some prayer, and crossed the not so stable hanging bridge. More than ten people died here when a truck loaded with passengers tried to cross the flooded river but its engine stopped in the middle of the flood so you know what happens next right?

Anyway, We headed back to Igbaras town, transferred to a tricycle that took us to Miagao church. Our buts got sore after 15 minutes of riding to the beautiful UNESCO Heritage site.After taking pictures, a jeepney conveyed us to Mohon where we took a tricycle to Breakthrough Restaurant in Oton. I finally had my oysters before we headed back to Iloilo city to get our bags and head back to the airport.