Legends and myths are said to be borne out of the imaginations and beliefs of people. Whether they are true or not, at one time or another they served a purpose and somehow put certain mysteries to places and people. In a remote stony mountain cliff called Suy-uban in Bila, Bauko, Mountain Province their mythical creature was a serpent of some sort.
Getting to Suy-uban is not as easy, though not a very treacherous ordeal either. Six hours trip from Baguio City or a mere two hours from Bontoc Central and one gets to the heart of Bila, Bauko. As characteristic to most areas in the Mountain Province, the geography of the place is bound by mountains and steep slopey mounds. Villages are located in small valleys embraced by these protrusions with water sources such as rivers and springs sprouting within. From the center of the village of Bila, one walks about a hour and a half to two hours to get to Suy-uban. Suy-uban Falls cascade in
7 layers so they say, something evident during the rainy seasons when it comes down in torrents. The dry season combined with the dry spell usually reduces it to a gentle, manageable trickle, enough to fill in the natural pool directly below it to the brim and flows to the river to irrigate the agricultural spaces thereon. And the day I saw the place was sunny but not too warm either. It was in other words a perfect picnic day. Taking the long hanging bridge, the path led us to the private rice fields below, tended by few farmers this time, letting the wet, empty paddies rest awhile before working them again. I see some men and children trapping “minnows”, little fish, and some shells with net contraptions. A big can-full would sustain a meal.