Sensational Sagada

Sagada. It’s no secret that this is one of the favourite tourist spots in the Philippines, behind beaches of Boracay and the rice terraces of Banaue. I haven’t been to the beaches of Boracay yet but I stopped in on the rice terraces in Banaue on my way to Sagada. Whilst I found them fascinating my attention was only held for 30 minutes and then I wanted to move on to the next site. Besides, they have rice terraces in Sagada and on the Halsema Road that may not be as big but are certainly just as beautiful and spectacular.

My friend and I from Australia made our way down to Quiapo in Manila to visit the Church of the Black Nazarene and one of the largest Mosques in Manila near the pirated DVD capital of the Philippines. After this we eventually found our way to the bus terminal after hopping on the wrong jeepney and ending up 20 minutes walk away from our destination. We could have caught a tricycle but I’m a firm believer in getting some exercise and enjoying the surroundings rather than lazily watching the wheels of cars and trucks sitting in a cramped tricycle. Don’t get me wrong, tricycles do come in handy and it helps support local people, but sometimes I like to stretch my legs and see the sites. Once we secured our tickets we had some dinner and waited for our bus that was due to leave 3 hours later at 10pm. I didn’t think the seats were allocated so I managed to rush and secure us the front seats. An amazing feat in a country where you have to push your way just to get buy a coke at the local sari-sari store. But then we found out that the seats were allocated and we were in the second last row with bags up to our ears and people crammed into the aisle. I felt so sorry for those poor Chinese tourists who were relegated to the fold down aisle seats. After wrestling our way back toour seats we settled in for a 13 hour bus ride on some interesting roads with some interesting driving. I can’t sleep on buses so with nothing to see and nothing to do aside from listen to music I anticipated my future adventure in Sagada. Although I did get to have the occasional laugh when my friend smacked his head on the window after drifting off to sleep. The sound was so loud that it almost echoed in the crowded bus! I know I shouldn’t laugh at such things but I just couldn’t help myself (like the time I laughed at my friend for stepping on a rake which catapulted the handle into his face).

We arrived in Banaue at about 8am and were greeted by a van going on to Sagada. After a brief stop at the lookout to the World Heritage listed Banaue Rice Terraces we continued our journey on to Sagada. But then halfway we got a flat tire and had to wait while it was changed. But that afforded us the opportunity to get out of the van to stretch our legs, take a few photos and enjoy a refreshing face wash in the freezing cold streams running down the mountainside. But then we hopped back in the van with our new Chinese tourist friends from the bus and proceeded to Sagada.

We arrived in Sagada like a James Bond martini “shaken but not stirred”. We immediately found a place to stay which was relatively easy and cheap. We paid 5AUD per night for a nice room with a view and a shared bathroom without hot water at St Joseph’s. Next time I’ll ask for hot water. The water is like ice in Sagada! That afternoon we hired a guide and visited the Hanging Coffins, Underground River and Little Waterfall. They’re not actually hanging coffins, but coffins that have either been placed in caves or cliff faces. The guide said that the name was something that the tourists gave to it and it ended up sticking. Being placed in a “hanging coffin” is a traditional and honorable way to be remembered after death rather than burials which were normally reserved for unnatural, accidental or murder deaths. The Underground River was pretty cool – quite literally too. So was the Little Waterfall which I went for a dive and swim in. We got some pretty good action shots which required me to dive several times. That night we had a really nice buffet dinner at the Log Cabin which was run by a French Chef. If you ever visit on a Saturday make sure you book in before lunch time for this all you can eat feast.

The next day we headed out to do the Cave Connection which was a climb and hike through 3 caves. I’d been caving numerous times in Australia but my friend Eric was enjoying the experience for the first time. I highly recommend this little 3-4 hour adventure. You experience climbing, rappelling, swimming, stalactites, underground waterfalls, and bats complete with the smell of guano (“Mmmm yummy!” ala Ace Ventura Pet Detective 2). Because there were only 2 of us and we had our own guide it cost us about 10AUD each. A bit expensive, but well worth it. We had lunch at the Yoghurt House on the way back and the food was delicious. I highly recommend this place. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a great assortment of food including best yoghurt with muesli in the Philippines.

The next day we took it easy thinking that a van would come to pick us up about lunch time and take us back to Banaue where we had pre-booked and pre-paid for our bus trip to Manila. But we figured out pretty quickly that there was no way we could get back there as the van we had asked to pick us up did not come. Apparently this happens all the time. So we lost our tickets and money and had to ride the bus to Baguio on the Halsema Road. Despite the loss of money and the inconvenience I actually enjoyed the bus ride. I felt a little green at times with the winding road but the view and fresh air was nice. About halfway Eric tried balut (see my earlier blog about my experience) but I was disappointed that it didn’t have a well formed chick inside to surprise him. Along the way we passed the highest point in the Philippines road system and eventually made it to Baguio after 6 hours of ups and downs and twists and turns.

Once in Bagiuo we navigated our way through town to find a taxi who would take us to the Victory bus lines terminal to buy our tickets and have some dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then we got the finally got the break I was looking for and sat in the front seat on our way back to Manila. We arrived at my place at 2am exhausted but having thoroughly enjoyed our little weekend adventure.

Advice: Go on do it, it’ll be a blast!