pagnapagna: BAEY ANITO FALLS

"I got so many things to do that day, July 21, 2013, but i can not let the weekend passes by without going to another... waterfalls?"

-pagnapagna

Please practice the leave no trace outdoor ethics when going to these nature places. Let us not vandalize, put graffiti on their rocks and stone walls. Manage and dispose our waste products properly.

Kankanaey word "Ba-ey", Iloco (Ilocano) "Balay", Tagalog "Bahay", English "House"
Kankanaey word "Anito", Iloco (Ilocano) "Anito", English "Spirits"

-my pagnapagna-

I checked my backpack and left for Sudipen, La Union. It was Partas Bus (5:58 am) where i rode with 78 pesos fare (coming from San Fernando City, La Union). I slept along the way that the bus conductor woke me up few minutes before my destination. I got down at downtown Sudipen at 6:44 am then I went to an eatery (I was hungry and have not eaten my breakfast). After which I rode on a passenger motorbike (back riding) and left Sudipen (7:12 am) to go to Alilem, Ilocos Sur.

With some few pools of waters along the way, left by the rains that poured the other day, the road was generally good.

Gentle cool breeze, early morning sunshine and nice roadside scenery, made traveling pleasant. It was just unfair that while the driver has his helmet on, the passenger does not have a helmet to wear, who in that case was me. Anyway, I arrived in Alilem at 7:35 am.

I sat for a while on a waiting shed near their plaza and asked an old woman who happened to passed by, on how to get to the waterfalls. She did told me that i have to ride a passenger motorbike to take me to the falls, which i did. I went to the waiting area (parking area) of the passenger motorbikes (located at the northern side of the town, just a few meters from the plaza and the Municipal Hall, fronting a sari-sari store) and got a ride going to the drop-off point.

We left downtown Alilem at 7:40 am, taking the road that goes eastward and arrived at the drop-off point at around 7:50 am. The driver showed me the trail going to the falls (he said i can't get lost in there), paid him 50 pesos and i walked the trail on my own.

The trail leads down to the river. I got to cross the river to get to the other side. With no guide to show me the way, i followed the river upstream, hopping from one rock to the other, at times the river gets deep that i have to go the other side again, and it went on. I finally arrived at what seems to be a flow control area of an irrigation canal at the left side of the river and that part of the river was very deep. I looked above and saw a concreted wall about half a meter wide.

The Concrete wall above and along the river.

I climbed up to the wall and walked on top of it which led me to the spillway area and into the waterfalls.

Near the waterfalls

My hike going to the falls took around an hour long because of me figuring out where the safest path to walk on, avoiding the deep areas of the river and also taking some pictures along the way that slowed me down.

Lots of insects mostly of butterflies and small dragonflies were flying around as i arrived at the waterfalls (8:57 am). I also saw some remnants of picnickers around.

The gushing of water flowing and falling is all that can be heard while mist of water blown away from the falls were spraying the surroundings, making most of the stones a little bit slippery. The sunshine was still at its early morning stage that when i videoed and took some photographs of the falls, it comes out a little bit dull and dark aggravated by the continuous mist being sprayed on that wets the camera lens as i approached the falls. I decided to wait for the sunshine to hit the waterfalls to get a clearer photos.

While waiting, i took a dip in its shallow overflow pools and as the sun gets higher into the sky, the once slippery surfaces of the rocks around dried up becoming non-slippery.

Sunshine finally hits the waterfall that i got some better videos and photos of my subject.

It was around 10:30 am when some teenagers started coming (around ten of them). They were carrying some coconuts and soft drinks.

They love jumping into the deep pool area of the falls' bowl (natural pool area).

One of them even climbed three-fourths of the falls and jumped into the pool below.

Jump and dive

I left the falls at 12:09 pm and the teenagers followed, so i let them lead the way. I learned from the teenagers that we just have to walk on top of the covered irrigation canal and go down from it only once to cross the river and into the primary trail. We finally arrived at the roadside at 12:25 pm.

The teenagers came with an owner type jeep and a motorbike. They drove away going east, while i was going back towards west.

Waiting for a ride going back to town

There were no passenger motorbike that passed by that time, so i decided to walk my way back to downtown Alilem at 12:40 pm. I finally arrived downtown at 1:20 pm

At downtown Alilem, I rode a passenger motorbike again going back to Sudipen, La Union where i took a bus going back to Home Sweet Home.

-end of pagnapagna-

For the upper cascades of Baey Anito Falls CLICK HERE

Below is a video of the waterfalls

Subject : BAEY ANITO FALLS

Location : Sitio of Bais, Barangay of Anaao

Municipality of Alilem

Province of Ilocos Sur

How to get there:

From Manila take a bus bound for either of these :

Candon City, Abra, Vigan City and Laoag City.

You must get down at downtown Sudipen, La Union.

At Sudipen, look for the passenger motorbikes. And you may:

A)-take a back ride on this going to downtown Alilem, Ilocos Sur (going east with around 80 pesos fare) and then ride another motorbike going to drop-off point for around 50 pesos fare.
Then walk along the trail to the waterfalls.

B)-take a back ride on this going directly to the drop-off point. Just ask the driver if he can deliver you to the drop-off point (around 120 pesos fare). Then walk along the trail to the waterfalls.

At downtown Alilem, Ilocos Sur, you may either :

A)-take a backride on a passenger motorbike and ask the driver to take you to the drop-off point going to the waterfalls (for around 50 pesos fare). Then walk along the trail to the waterfalls.

B)-“Hike all the way”. Go to the parking/waiting area of the passenger motorbikes and take that road going east (30 to 40 minutes walk) until you reach a waiting shed on which a road bridge and a hanging bridge comes after it and a river runs below it (the river comes from the waterfalls). Around 10 meters up the road (after the bridge), at the left side where some mango trees grows, there will be a foot trail going up into the woods. Take this trail that will lead you down the river, and when you cross the river (cross the river only once) just walk straight towards the trail going away from the river and up to the other side where a concreted irrigation canal is located (you don’t have to walk on the river) . Now walk on the concreted top of the irrigation canal and walk your way to the waterfalls. (around 20 minutes walk from roadside to the falls)