Caves and Coffins in the Cordillera

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After hiking through the amazing rice terraces of Banaue and Batad for a couple of days we jumped on a van heading into the mountains towards the small tranquil town of Sagada. A quick change into a jeepney and some very windy and steep roads later, we arrived and immediately loved the place. Equivalent to Pai in Thailand it is the ‘backpacker’ town of the Philippines, although we didn’t see too many other Westerners here. It had a very chilled out vibe to it and the surrounding mountainous scenery was really picturesque. We soon found a room and headed out for lunch at the renowned Yoghurt House, which we had heard so much about. This place is amazing! It served a mix of delicious home-made local and western food as well as fresh yoghurt, and for lunch we enjoyed some yummy pasta for the first time in ages. We knew this wouldn’t be the only time we would eat here! We then treated ourselves to a slice of lemon pie from Lemon Pie Café which was also delicious, before having a little walk to see one of the sites that Sagada is most famous for – the Hanging Coffins.

Instead of being buried in the coffin, some people chose to have them hung precariously from the side of cliffs and mountains, as it is said that their souls are more free and closer to heaven. The little walk turned into quite a hike, up some very steep roads, through a big cemetery and then down a lot of steps until we were at the point where you look up and can see the hanging coffins. They were a unique, if eerie, site to see and some of them looked so old and rotten that they could fall off the cliff any minute. Apparently this happens sometimes and then the bones, if any are left in the coffin, just smash into pieces on the ground below…we were also told that to have a hanging coffin costs to the deceased family are over $200! We then had to make our way back up the steps of echo valley and after the previous few days hiking our legs were really feeling it so we headed back to our guesthouse for a rest.

In the evening the town is very quiet with restaurants closing at 9.30pm, so we went out for an early dinner (back to Yoghurt House!) which was just as good as lunch, before watching a film in bed. Unfortunately as the place we were staying was an old wooden house, the sound really travelled and due to a big family staying up late and drinking downstairs we couldn’t get to sleep much before midnight, but as we didn’t have plans to get up early the next day it didn’t matter too much… until at 6am the cockrels started up and at 7am we were woken again by this family slamming doors, shouting to each other, stamping around and even playing the guitar and singing! After storming downstairs and telling them to be quiet and saying ‘singing in the morning? Really?!’ we tried to get back to sleep but were wide awake at 8am. So much for a lay in.

As we were awake and hungry we thought we would go for breakfast and so went to…the Yoghurt House! This place is so good we can’t get enough of it and after an amazing pancake with fresh yoghurt and strawberries we vowed we would not eat anywhere else whilst in Sagada. We then made our way to the Muncipal Hall to register for a guide as our main reason for coming to Sagada was to take part in a very challenging activity that we had never done before – Spleunking, also known as caving! The activity would involve us climbing through two huge caves in the dark which link together and is known as the Cave Connection. The underground passage is said only to be undertaken by the fit and courageous so we didn’t know what to expect really, but as we made our way into the cave with our guide Jimmy, we felt nervous and excited.

On the entrance to the cave we passed more coffins which were not hanging but stacked high, the oldest apparently around 500 years old. Jimmy had a gas lantern which was our only source of light in the pitch black tunnels, and while he knows the caves inside out and was leaping from one stone to the next and shimming through small crevices, he helped us so that we always felt safe. We basically did what he said, put our feet where he told us to and crawled when necessary so we didn’t slip, especially on the wet parts. We had to wade through freezing cold water at one point which only came up to our knees, but in wet season it gets so high sometimes people have to swim through this part! And a couple of times we had to haul ourselves up the side of big rocks using a rope which was difficult but fun. Some of the gaps we had to squeeze through were so tiny it didn’t look like we would fit through, and some stones were so slippery if we had of fallen it wouldn’t have been pretty, but Jimmy was great and we loved the whole experience, which went on for over 3 hours. Some of the formations deep inside the caves were amazing, like something from another planet, we had never seen caves like this before and it was a really fun activity. The only part we didn’t like so much was towards the end when it was really slippery and we were going upwards to exit the cave – we knew the slippery stuff we had our hands and feet all over was basically bat s*#t and it felt (and smelt) horrible! But it was a great activity and we were glad we did it, even if we knew we would be aching tomorrow from all the twisting and turning. That night we had one last dinner at Yoghurt House and watched another film in our room – this time with no noisy neighbours so we slept quiet well at least.

We left Sagada the next morning as we had already booked our bus to Manila for that evening and we had to get back to Banaue first, but of course we had time for breakfast at our favourite place first! Then we were packed into a jeepney – the Filipino people have no problems with sharing every inch of space which is kind but also a bit annoying when you are sweating and always squashing over to make room for one more person to fit in - which went as far as Bontoc, where minivans were waiting to take people onto Banaue, a further 2 hours away. Once back in Banaue we caught up on some internet stuff and before we knew it, it was time to get the overnight bus to manic Manila after a thoroughly enjoyable few days in the Cordillera region, which has been a highlight for us and should be on every traveller’s ‘must see’ list. We were also very lucky with the warm weather, as aside from a bit of rain it was blue skies and sun the whole time - it would have been a different experience if it had been continuously wet I'm sure.

Due to the bus leaving at 7pm, we would be arriving into Manila at just before 5am. Originally, as our flight to Puerto Princesa wasn’t scheduled to leave until 6.15pm the following evening, we were dreading having to spend another 10 hours at a shopping mall in the city, luckily however a local resident and one of Travelblog’s finest was at hand to show us some of the famous historic sites and a side of Manila not many travellers get to see . . .

S&V's Travel Info & Tips:

General Info: Approx 62 Peso's to £1.

Transportation: We took a van to Bontoc from Banaue which took 90 minutes and cost 150 Peso's pp. We then changed to a jeepney for the last 45 minutes to Sagada which cost 45 Peso's pp. There is also a couple of public buses each day at different times in the morning from Banaue to Bontoc, but you still need to change to a jeepney in Bontoc for Sagada. The last jeepney's leave Bontoc at approx 4pm. Back to Banaue, the last vans leave Bontoc at 12pm, so you need to get the 11am jeepney from Sagada at the latest to make this.

Food: Only one place to go for us - Yoghurt House was delicioud every time, especially their pasta's and the pancakes for breakfast. Mains cost around 150-200 Peso's but portions were huge.

Accomodation: We found a nice room at Davey's Inn right in the middle of the town by the Munciple Hall, for 500 Peso's a night with hot water, but it was noisy. For somewhere quieter head further down the hill away from the main square.

Other observations:

x) You need to register with the Munciple Hall for a guide to take you on the Cave Connection trip - you pay an environment fee of 35 Peso's pp and the cost of the guide for the CC was 400 Peso's pp for a group of up to 4 people - and worth every penny!

xx) Wear something fitted like shorts or leggings for the cave connection, and not white as you will get dirty! We wore flip flops as per the guide's instructions which were ok but had no grip, although any footwear would struggle with the slipppy rocks.

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Comments

[Beata and Tomek]

wow
so similar to Tana Toraja in Sulawesi:-) so envious about you Guys traveling through Philippines second time round!!! Happy Travels, B&T

[Dancing Dave]

Caving in thongs?????
Hanging coffins...hiking...caving...yep I've done that too. But caving in thongs...no way Jose!!!!