A for EPOL

The road to Epol on a foggy day

A colleague and friend of mine wanted to go to the highlands for a short vacation. She wants me to bring her somewhere, and I thought of a convenient place for her with a taste of adventure, so we agreed to visit Epol. It's her parent's hometown, too. We didn't worry about where to stay because her relatives offered us a room. It was a cute tiny log house along the highway. We went there at night, slept and woke up early to trek the mountain and find waterfalls. I invited a high school friend, John Ray, who have been there before to be our guide and it was our first time to hike together and meet again. He's a young mountaineer, adventure enthusiast, a wanderlust. He wanted to revisit the place to check on Berto, the local caretaker of the land that became his friend. My colleague too, Genebeb or Beb for short, invited her cousin Eleanor to tag along. They had been once the children of Epol that have grown up now in the city. Then, reminded of their childhood life, Eleanor got herself in as we were packing to leave with only her sweater, a skirt and slippers on.

Purok 9. Starting point

Mud overload

After those dyspneic hikes on muddy trails and bruising grasses, a view this great is a sure alleviation.

Epol

Happy bathing

Giant log in front of the falls

This waterfall is found within the glorious valleys of Marilog. Beside the falls, you can find a cave I can't remember how far. We attempted to enter it but we didn't go further, even with Berto, because the water was unpredictable it might suddenly rise. He also said there were snakes, but we only found a crab.

We headed forth to a kawa John Ray mentioned where we can take a dive and swim. It's quite far enough trekking the river but it was sure fun and relaxing to the feet. The cold wetness really unstrains my working body.

Front view with a hut

John Ray diving the kawa

Going back, we used another trail passing the beautiful view of Arakan Valley. It's where Berto lives, so we also dropped by his house and bought some kind of rattan bracelets they made. John Ray left his gifts of donations to the family of Berto such as noodles, canned goods and shirts. He told me about this and I also brought some stuff I could offer.

That's John Ray, Berto, Beb, and Eleanor (left to right)

I just loved the magnificent panorama of Arakan Valley! The waterfalls was also an enchanting scene, and the unwinding river trekking has become one of my favorites. I was also surprised seeing a green slender snake that floats as it crossed our path, WEW! Thank you guys for another memorable journey! ☺☺☺