Good job, Sagada, good job!

This write-up is originally a post I made on my Multiply a couple of months back.  For your leisurely reading. 

"See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold" - Sting, Fields of Gold

…but we were too tired to run really…so we walked..and took our time trekking on this what I would now claim my heaven.

We left Manila at 2am of March 19, Wednesday to embark on a tiresome but fulfilling 16-hour journey to Sagada in Mountain Province, 395 kilometers north of our nation’s capital.

Arriving in Baguio at 8am, we stopped by Starbucks at the Baguio Country Club to regenerate, stretch our muscles, and cool our warmed butts from the hours on hold inside the AUV from Manila to this city. 

Kuya, who is generally a people person, once again demonstrated his extroversion by befriending a man who would map our route.  He wanted to know how to get to Halsema highway, which would get us to Mountain Province, and the person posed as a suitable candidate being a local.  In their short conversation, he told my brother of his harrowing experience with a native tribe, which because of his ignorance of their customs, almost killed him.

Fast-tracking a couple of hours later (including a 30-minute stop over at a Shell depot to re-grease our vehicles ball joints), we stopped by the viewing deck of Halsema Highway at the highest point of the Philippine national highway system, 7400 feet.  From here all one can see is the vast mountainous landscape with patches of farm terraces extending all the way to the horizon.  The green mountains and blue sky dominated this mise en scene.

Then off again to our seemingly endless but delightful journey.  On the way was Traveler’s Cafe, where we had lunch…along with dozens of other travelers in a fleet of four torture-tested buses.  This was our first taste of fresh mountain grown vegetables that luminated their natural bright colors and exuded succulent flavor.  It turned out that food would become a significant player in this Holy Week retreat.

The view was truly breathtaking…as if the land wanted to reach the sky but instead formed the rugged mountain terrain that dominated the backdrop.  The clouds on that clear day made the whole scene even more eye-catching.

Hours on and we were still on the same highway…this time featuring a long and winding track of rubble and dirt.  It was a dreaded experience, which took the fun out of the journey.  But then, nature in this part of the world had its way of comforting us weary travellers. 

At this point, Inna quipped, "Kaya naman pala ‘Sagada’, parang ’sagad ah’."

But we were lucky.  A few years ago, this highway from start to end was rough.  Now, only 30 percent or about 40 kilometers of it is torturous.

Looking forward a few hours later and we arrived at our destination, Mapiya-aw pension house in Sagada, at 4.30pm.  Dinner had to be pre-ordered by 4pm or otherwise face starvation (or go to town and have your dinner there), but luckily, our accommodating host, Ate Esperanza aka Ate Espy was kind enough to take our orders for the last meal of the day. 

After settling in our room and dedicating ourselves to what would be our beds for two nights, we took off for a three-minute drive to the center of town to register (with a minimal fee of ten pesos per person) and visit the famous Yoghurt House.  The six of them–Kuya, Ate Luwie, Timmy, Teetap, Inna, and Carlo–ordered yoghurt.  I had coffee…not that I wanted to be different, but the sound of "native mountain brew" clicked my sense of taste.

We were mulling on a night of videoke and a few bottles but after dinner that plan had gone down the drain as we all dropped to sleep by 9.30pm, tired but relieved and smiling (because dinner was good and the place was promising a memorable vacation).

The next day, we left the inn at 9.00am and headed for Yoghurt House, again, for our first meal in what would be a very long day.  And it was not an ordinary breakfast…it was an accentuated, upper cased, screaming-loud BREAKFAST!!!…mine was a huge serving of egg, ham, vegetables and vegetable rice.  If I had this meal everyday, I would not only be healthy, but also 25 pounds heavier.

After breakfast, we went to the municipal hall to hire our driver and two tour guides, Ferdinand and Cyril (1:5 ratio of tour guides per tourists).  Then off to our spelunking adventure inside Sumaging cave.  Prior to that, we stopped on the side of the road just a couple of minutes’ drive from the center of town to view a rugged limestone cliff with half a dozen hanging coffins halfway up.

It was a truly neat experience negotiating through the narrow passages of Sumaging, with cold water flowing and falling beneath and around us.  About 3/4 of the way through the cave, we were asked to remove our sandals/slippers and go barefoot along the way so as to avoid slipping…and it proved effective in our struggle to stay upright.

It was pitch dark inside and two kerosene lamplights and a Carlo’s flashlight helped us navigate our way through.  Our tour guides might have become attuned to our sense of adventure as they brought as to the hardest routes inside the cave.  At one point, the group behind us were gone, never to be seen again.  But we were determined to finish this adventure from start to end, at any way possible.  Thanks to our water-proof bags, we were able to bring our cameras with us and take photos without worrying of having them soaked in water.  There was an area inside the cave where we had to wade in waist-deep water for about 10 meters after a two meter 90 degree drop.  Another part required us to maneuver sideways and then on our backs just to get through a narrow hole…all this while water flowed through our already soaked cloathing. 

There were pre-installed ropes to help us billet from wall to wall, avoiding cracks underneath us that seemed to reach the farthest point of eternity.  These  were filled with water, thus giving us the peace of mind that we would be able to swim up in case we fell. 

Two hours later and we were back at ground level…and ready for more adventure.  On the way to town for a late lunch, we stopped by another cave which connects to Sumaging (spelling another adventure).  But this time we only trekked down the hill to the mouth of the cave to view the dozens of wooden coffins stacked on top of each other by the entrance.  These coffins have been there for generations, probably thousands of years, and there are many like these around Sagada.  This burial practice has stopped many years ago but there abundance provide proof to the dynamic tribal existence of our early ancestors.

After lunch back in town we drove off to Big Falls near the countryside of Sagada.

1,600++ steps back and forth…which equates to body aches and pains.  That was the average number of stairs that the guides have counted in the past on the way to Big Falls from the nearest drop off point, which is also the longest way to the waterfalls (the shorter route costs 150php more…and less adventurous at that).

From the top of the mountain we could catch a glimpse of the rice terraces…and a small town half way through our route to this famous Sagada destination.  It seemed forever and we were wondering already if we would have the energy to be able to go back up…and this as we were only about 1/5 of the way down.

But the play between man and nature beholden us with the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen in person…

…I have never imagined walking along a series of rice terraces in my life…truly a walk to remember.  Everything around us performed their important parts well in driving the emotion and imagination–the sun and its rays shining through the rain clouds, the whisper of the wind, the roar of the falling water nearby, the mountainous backdrop belittling us, and the giddy children jumping and running along the walls of the terraces as if they would not die if they fell off.   

Then, welcoming our group of eight was Big Falls…they called it such because it has a little sister aplty named Small Falls somewhere also in Sagada.  Despite the beauty of this body of water…and its forgetful coldness…I still could not take that walk along the rice terraces off my mind.  To me that was the highlight of that trek…in the lines of "What Dreams May Come", I think I found my heaven here.  Its vastness got me at hello.

Two days on and I’m still walking on those stone walls bordering each terrace…imagining a come back some day and hoping that Sagada never lose its simple, almost spiritual charm.