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Published: December 6th 2007
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Weeks before Holy week my cousins and I are thinking where to spend our Holy week vacation. After hours of discussion and internet searching finally we all agreed to spend it in Sagada. I've been to Sagada of April of 1998 with my 3 cousins. I find the place remote, exotic and yet beautiful, in fact this is one of the place I fell in love with. So when Sagada is the final place to visit I have no second thoughts and immediately said yes. Since some of us have been to Sagada we made a little bit twist or should I say adventure going there. We decided to take the most treacherous route, the Banaue - Sagada route.
The day has come; our plan is to leave Manila @ 10pm to avoid the holy week traffic.
(By the way this time we will be going to Sagada with my Titas, cousins and nephews). Arm with the map and our 2 reliable SUV’s we leave Manila with great confidence that everything will be fine.
We reach Banaue around 5:30 in the morning. We stop to a gasoline station to fill-up and to ask the road condition going to Sagada.
The gas attendant told us that the road is passable BUT we should be careful because some portions of the road are dangerous due to landslide and erosion. He also warned us to make sure we reach Sagada before sunset because it will be difficult for us to travel due to thick fog.
Along the way we noticed a rice terraces and decided to stop for a while. I don’t know if this is part of the famous rice terraces of Banawe, nevertheless it was beautiful and the sigh is breathtaking, no wonder it is considered the 8 wonders of the world. It’s hard to imagine that it was built only by hands by our ancestors using primitive tools.
The road going to Sagada via Banaue is mainly rough, dusty and unpredictable, deep soft mud is standard even during summer and sometimes half of the road is missing due to erosion or landslide. If you are planning to take this route make sure you are brave enough to take this adventure and be sure your vehicle is in A1 condition because there are no gasoline stations or shop along the way. The nearest gasoline station is in Bontoc
which is 3 hrs from Banaue. The advantage taking this route is, it is more scenic than Baguio - Sagada route. The view is spectacular the thick forested mountain ranges of Cordillera. mini rice terraces and the waterfall a few steps form the road are best sigh to enjoy. Be sure to bring an extra memory stick
(for digital camera) with you because the view along the way is spectacular... no words can express its beauty... its simply breathtaking.
From a distant I saw a town, I'm praying that it's the town of Bontoc because I know from there its a 2 hr drive to Sagada. The town of Bontoc is calm and serene. The people are friendly and are always in a helping mood. We wanted to explore the town more but we have to be in Sagada as early as possible. We've heard from the locals that a lot of tourist are going to Sagada during Holy week. After taking our lunch we continue heading to Sagada.
We reach Sagada around 1:00 in the afternoon. I was surprise for the many tourists. When I heard from one of the locals from Bontoc that a lot of
tourist are going to Sagada during this month I'm expecting 20 - 50 tourist only, because back then, we also went there during holy week of 1998, we were only a handful of tourist and most of the tourist are foreigners. Reminiscing 1998, I'm blessed that I saw and experience Sagada when it was not popular with the local tourist. Back then Sagada is truly remote and exotic, 8 pm curfew is strictly implemented, stores and restaurants are closed @ 7pm, if you want to dine in a restaurant you have to inform them 2-3 hrs in advance so that they can buy and prepare your menu, and you can see igorots roaming around the town proper.
Going back, we almost return to Bontoc due to difficulty of finding a place to stay. Most of the hotels and houses for rent are fully booked. Luckily, there’s one house that has 3 vacant rooms because the persons who reserved it have not come yet. During our stay in Sagada, we visited the place we once visited before, the Hanging coffins, Echo valley, St Mary's church, Cave burials and the Sumaging cave. I was quite surprise that all of these place
are the same after 5 years. The only difference is a lot of trash is scattered in the area.
Our visit to Sumaging cave is quite a disappointing for me. The cave is fully lighted because of the many tourists inside the cave, in fact you have to fall in line just to get to the next chamber. I remember back in 1998, we are the only one inside the cave. The cave is in pitch black, the only available light is coming from the kerosene lamp. If you are the last person in line and dared to look behind you, you see total darkness and there’s always an eerie feeling that someone or something is following or watching you.
On our third day we woke up early and decided to go to Bagiuo via Halsena hi-way. Along the way I have noticed that a lot have change in the scenery of the Halsena hi-way. The mountain rages that once lush with pine trees and thick vegetation is now turned to a vegetable plantation. I'm quite disturbed because
what it will become after 10 years. I was also surprise that half of the road of the Halsena highway
is cemented or if not spalted.
We had a wonderful and meaningful time in Sagada the place is laidback and magestic. Truly it is the shangrila of the north. It has this charm that captures the heart and soul of the visitors. I hope and I pray that it will remain as it is in years to come.
See our video on our Sagada Adventure
>> Video in Sagada
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