Spelunking in Sagada

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We had the best dinner of our trip yet at this place that our trusty Lonely Planet guide referred to as "as much an arthouse as a restaurant". It was amazing. With a full belly I actually fell asleep at 9:30. Got up around the same time 12 hours later to go explore the Saturday morning market. We've been taken aback by how many stray dogs there are around here. They seem to be part of the population around here.

We made our way to the tourist info centre to secure our guide for the main reason we came to Sagada, exploring the caves, underground river and hanging coffins of Sagada. We opted for the more intense 4 hour trek that would take us in one cave, scrambling, ducking and splashing our way through impossibly small tunnels and out the other cave.

Our guide was a young second-generation cave guide named Jordan. He was an intensely fit guy for the amount of cigarettes he smoked throughout our trek. While we occasionally needed help the really wet and slippery parts he would scramble up any pitch with the greatest of ease.

On the way down to the caves we got to walk through pretty much the whole town. We asked him about the dogs and he replied, "We eat them here and use them to make soap". We had no further questions.

The trek itself was more arduous than I would have expected. Adrienne and I were both huffing and puffing. The entrance to the cave had the tribal burial coffins. At one point we reached an underground lake that Jordan assured me stays fresh because of the flowing water. So I took him up on his invitation and went swimming in the underground lake. The cave itself was stunning: huge chambers, small passes up, little cracks leading us deeper. A funny part came when Jordan pointed to a TINY crack with a stream flowing through the bottom of it. It was barely wide enough for me, and that says something. He pointed to it and said, "you go". I obeyed and started shimmying the 15 or so feet, getting wet, scratched, and swearing under my breath as I went. When I came out the other side Adrienne and Jordan were waiting for me laughing, they had simply walked around.

We emerged a little while later into daylight, dirty and sore from the trek. Reflecting on a few of the dicier moments, Adri asked Jordan if he had ever had any accidents. "Sure," he replied. he's had somebody shatter a kneecap and once had to take somebody out on a spinal board.

We survived though, and spent the rest of the afternoon doing some laundry in the hostel and resting up for tomorrow when we go to Banaue and hopefully Batad, the village that isn't even accessible by road. It's a 2 hour hike to ge there but is supposedly worth it.

Cheers!

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Comments

[Laura]

SPINAL BOARD???
We will have to make a trek to the Bonnechere caves near Golden Lake next time you're there. I'm extremely amused by the mental picture of you squeezing through that hole. Excellent work, Adrienne.

[Chris]

I'm perplexed by the dog + soap statement.

[Scott]

Lesson one: Don't ask questions.
Chris: I'm fairly certain you can make soap out of any kind of animal fat. Just like you can make a stir fry out of any kind of animal meat.