Up north where the air clean

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The journey to Sagada, Mountain Province has been well worth it. The escape to the mountains where everything is green, fresh and exhaust free was worth the gruelling 15 hour bus ride. By some power beyond, we made it from Makati, Manila to Quezon City in 30 minutes in the midst of high traffic. And, if I hadn't stressed enough how crazy traffic congestion is , it was by some miracle or our Rally-racing qualified driver who brought us to our destination 5 minutes before departure. WHEW!!!! We knew we were leaving the comforts of US standards when we boarded our A/C bus with no C.R. (bathroom). I promised myself not to drink too much water on this ride. The seats were small and our numb bottoms missed the comfort of our personal transport.

We knew we had to get to Bontoc and take a jeepney to Sagada, but really had no idea how to get the jeepney. Luckily, a young girl was traveling home to Sagada. We just followed her. We finally rode in our first jeepney ride and it was an hour long bumpy ride to Sagada, but the views on the way over were just amazing. There were rice terraces on both sides. The people here are friendly, but not in that overwhelming Manila way... "yes, sir, yes, maam". In fact, they could care less where you were from. They are a farming community and everything is just FRESH.

We are staying at this rustic cabin- St. Joseph's Resthouse at a cottage with a view overlooking the valley. They served the best Pork Sinigang with lots of fresh vegetables. They have this mountain mint tea that heated us to the core. In fact, the steam had the faint aroma of pot! Anyways, did I mention we did not bring enough warm clothes!!! We basically slept with most of our clothes on and asked for more blankets. No heaters here! In fact, we bought a blanket for the night and our trip back to Manila.

We hired a tour guide who was knowledgeable and spoke English well. He took us to the first cave, Lumiang, which had the hanging coffins within view. This region of the Philippines are known for burying their dead in coffins that they stack in caves or along the mountain ridges. We went caving at the Sumiang cave and this is where our adventure began. We walked down some steep steps into the darkness and our only light was a gas lantern the guide had brought with him. BTW, a guide was mandatory. As we walked through the caverns you could hear the bats squawking overhead. I dared not look above. Sylvain is a pro at caving and this being my first it was scarily exhilirating. I felt like one of the hobbits walking into the mines of Moria from Lord of the Rings, except luckily, no Gollum character following us. We delved deeper until we reached that point to take off our shoes. Barefeet on brown limestone apparently have great grip, just like Lonely Planet states. Anyways, our guide led us through small passages and the water at our feet was refreshingly cool. At some point we had to climb over and lower ourselves using ropes. He offered us 2 options: chest deep water or the dry way back out. HMMM... we chose the wet way. It was fun until he said we had to crawl through a small whole to the otherside. I suddenly had a moment of panic. "What if I drown???" Our guide was shorter than me and he maneuvered easily through the crevice. He showed me exactly how to shimmy myself through and voila I was on the otherside. By this time we are soaking wet. Sylvain, of course, had no problem getting through. We hiked back up and that was the best adventure so far.

Today, I decided to take it easy and relax. I was pretty tired from yesterdays adventure and that overnight bus ride. Sylvain went ahead to explore the Echo Valley and buddied up with a guy from San Diego. There are alot of foreigners here seeking refuge from the chaos of Manila. Food again was excellent: Masferre's Inn had the best Pinakbet ever. Just the right amount of Bagoong with the sauce. By far, the food here is better than Manila.

Tomorrow we embark for Banaue and the famed Rice Terraces. We have a big hike planned to Bataad, but not sure if I'll make it. I'm pretty winded climbing uphill, but yes, I am checking my pulse and stopping to take breaks.

We have no cell phone service here but will be back on 2/3 for our next trip to Boracay.
Sagada has been great place to relax and really see the other half. It is beautiful and clean. As I said before its just refreshing. I will try and upload photos in Boracay.

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Comments

[Sam]

Sounds like you're having a great time! Keep the photos coming!