Sagada

---

Absolutely amazing! From sites to food. We had taken an overnight bus from Manila, switched over in Baguio and took another bus onward to Sagada. A rather long, winding road. Our bus driver drove hectic and fast. Some points I imagined our bus going off the cliff and us rolling around till we met our smashed demise. Needless to say, the road scared me. Straight 200 feet drop offs with no gaurd rail to assist, just in case. When the bus was going up some steep hills the driver would down shift, however it wasn't the best. He would get it into gear right before the bus was about to roll backwards. But hey, we arrived in 1 piece. So props to him!

We arrived later in the afternoon at the town's centre. Here is where the buses would unload groups of tourist, the brightly decorated jeepneys rumbling, waiting to fill up on passengers, and a 3 story building where you could buy food and clothes.

The air was cool and the humidity not too intense. We strapped on our bags and headed down a long, steep hill, in hopes of finding our hotel. We passed the town hall, a must stop if you plan on exploring any of the beauties Sagada has to offer. Here you will pay a one time environmental fee for 35 pesos. Plus if you're lucky, the ATM inside might be online.

As we journeyed further down the right narrow street we passed souviner shops, asking for too many pesos for printed shirts exclaiming one has survived Sagada, key chains and rosaries. Tourist town=high prices!
A few cafes and restaurants that were used as hostels and inns. Convenient stores where the men would be sitting outside, spitting moma(a bitter nut that stains anything it touches red, aka chewing tobacco), smoking their cigarettes, and observing the load the latest bus dropped off. Young men would shout, "Cool tattoo" as we strutted by.

We reached the bottom of the gigantic hill (1/2 mile) and saw Shamrock Tavern and Inn, our home for the next 5 days. As we climbed up their rather steep driveway, we were welcomed by 2 lovely dogs, a black one and a white spotted one with only 1 eye. They were laying in the car port that also features a bar and if your feeling up tobit, karaoke. We continued up the driveway, checked in and headed up a flight of stairs to the second floor, room 202. Threw our bags off and laid down for a minute.
Just like in Manila, there were 2 beds, a full and a twin, spaced perfectly apart. 1 end table that also worked as a dresser in the space beneath. 1 wardrobe closet, a place to hang a few articles of clothing and sweet shoes in. A private bath with a flushing toliet and running hot water. A small but darling balcony looking at the wonderful hills of Sagada. Calvin and I spent 1 evening or on the balcony, drinking and smoking, talking about the past, the future, what we wanted in this life and travel. So into our conversation we hadn't noticed the bugs eating us alive.

In the morning we went downstairs and check out the cafe our hotel had. We decided on ham and tomato omletes with a cup of rice and a cup of coffee. It was a decent breakfast. I have noticed that the Philippines hot sauce isn't very hit, instead it has a sweeter flavor to it. Luckily I had found a hot chilli vinegar to pour over my eggs.

We walked back up that brutally steep hill after breakfast. Needed to check out the prices on some of the tours we wanted to do. In Sagada you can not go off trekking by yourself. You need a guide, which means you need to dish out the pesos. After checking out the different tours provided at the town hall we decided the next day we were going to do a 3 hour cave tour. *humming Giligans Island song, a 3 hour tour*

Later in the evening we were walking up and down the street trying to decide what to have for dinner. We setteled on Lucky U's Cafe. They had a sign out front with pictures of their menu saying "authentic Filipino food", that drew us in. We were greeted promptly by a lady in the kitchen. I asked her "what's good?". She giggled and replied, "I don't know what you like." "anything spicy" I answered. With a huge smile she said, "chicken caldareta.". Sold. As Calvin kept browsing she pointed out Luckys Tasty special; a cup of rice, friend spring rolls, raw veggies, and mushroom soup. Calvin went ahead and ordered that, as well as 2 Red Horse Extra Strong beer. By the way are not extra strong, aren't even strong. 5.9% lager. The Filipinos I talk to seem to think otherwise. I inform them that they should give an IPA a try and then come talk to me.
Our food was delicious. The friend beef spring rolls were the best I had ever tried. The chicken had enough spice to get my nose running. The mushroom soup had a rich chicken broth. But I'll let Calvin be the one to describe the food, he's far more educated in that area.
While we were eating we chatted with the lady who took our order, she introduced herself as Lily, the owner. She was a nice woman. Helping her in the kitchen was her youngest daughter, maybe 13 years old, and her niece, around 8 or 9 years old. Lily told us that her brother had asked her to take his daughter in fear that she wouldn't live he she stayed with him. Lily's brother had had 3 other children before, sadly all of them passed at a very young age. They couldn't find the answer as to why it was happening. Lily, being a caring mother of 3 girls, took her niece in.
We talked for an hour about the places we needed to go see. Lily talked politics and what president "will get rid of the bad guys". Their election is on May 9. We had a wonderful dinner with a more than wonderful host. Lucky U's would be the first place I write a Trip Advisor review, 5 stars!

I slept horribly that night. You could hear everything going on inside that hotel. From the loud annoying karaoke to the upstairs neighbor talking on the phone. That moment, right before sleep is about to come, such a blissful moment. I was awaken by a loud crash in the lobby. Of course Calvin slept right through it. After the crash some guy, who sounded very intoxicated, started shouting. If I were to guess, he was shouting a name... The dogs were barking and it seemed like this went on for 10 minutes. I could hear the man stumble ever so slowly but loudly up the stairs. Oh please God let him make it safely to his room, and that this hotel is in fact his hotel too!
I had blinked and was startled awake again. This time it was 6am and Filipino Justin Bieber was telling me how sorry he was. Pouring through the closed windows. I assumed it was a van pulling up to drop before off and would be gone shortly. Wrong. It was a van waiting for people to check out of the hotel to whisp them away. The van sat outside for 45 minutes, still running and blasting music that made my ears want to bleed. Maybe someone else complained, I was close after inhaling diesal exhaust for 20 minutes. That is another thing I've come to notice about the Philippines, everyone will leave their engines running for 10 minutes plus. The locals walk around with cloths covering their noses and mouths.

After breakfast we hiked back up the hill, it was getting a little easier now, purchased our environmental permit and signed up for the Sumaging Cave Tour.
A few minutes passed and our tour guide found us. I hate myself for not remembering his name, it was something with a G, so for this post let's call him G. G was a cool guy and phenomenal at his job. We started our tour by going down the massive hill, passing out hotel, winding through the road. Passing small shacks with dogs laying in any shade they could find. We come up to a hill with a gorgeous view of the cliffs. Pop quiz time, G asks us, "what is the tallest grass in all of the world?" We had no idea. The answer, bamboo. Interesting, I always thought bamboo was a tree.
We carried along, stopping once more at a little shack that operated as a convenient store for the guides. G took a layer of pants off, grabbed a lantern and started off again. We came up to the opening of the cave. One side of it was filled with coffins stacked upon coffins. There must've been at least 100 coffins. The majority of the coffins were rather small, measuring 3.5 feet by 2 feet. Yes Asians are small but not super tiny. When a person passed away, the family puts them back into the fetal position before they are set into the coffin. The meaning behind this, they believe that your resting position should be the same for when you were carried in your mother's womb. A full circle. It wasn't till the Christian missionaries came along and gave them a 'how to tutorial' on burying your dead. Have them lay flat, put in coffin, and bury 6 feet down. The Filipinos didn't believe you could be close to God buried in the ground. So they put their lives ones in caves or hanging off cliffs. "Closer to nature, closer to God." some of the coffins in the cave were damaged from an earthquake, dropping them onto the the floor of the cave or onto other coffins. Leaving some cracked with holes, bones exposed. We saw what appeared to be the femur bone in one coffin. I didn't want to stare, felt disrespectful to the dead.

We made our way further into the Sumaging Cave. This part got real interesting real quick. G went down first into a little hole and told us to follow. So I went down, turned right, crawling further beneath the earth. I stopped, turned my head left, then right, up, then down. There was probably 1 foot of space in all directions. Now I'm not claustrophobic but following a man I just met into rather small holes will get anyone's hearts beating. I was nervous. But suggesting if we could turn around, both Calvin and G said the only way out is through. Alrighty then, let me pull up my big girl pants and let's kick this caves ass! After crawling and scooting our way around we came to a nice large opening. Phew. Nerves settled as we took a break. G asked who our favorite boxer was. Being in the Philippines, I responded with Manny Pacquiao. G said Sagada took his losing glove from the Mayweather fight and put it inside the cave. He shined a light on the wall, and there it was, a rock naturally formed in the shape of a boxing glove.

We climbed through smaller parts, pulled ourselves onto ledges using ropes and our body strength, a bit of a struggle at first. At one section we watched G scale a side of the rock like he was Spider Man, no ropes, while holding the latern in one hand. He came back saying, "okay, now you go." "Haha nice try man" I said. "No really, just remember flat foot." Alrighty then.... It was thrilling!

There were bats on the ceiling of the cave, making a whole lot of ruckus. We walked through a chilly stream that reached up to my knees. I didn't ask cause I didn't want to know the answer, but I was wondering if anything lived in that stream besides the large amount of bat shit.

Calvin and I later were discussing about the first people who found and traveled through the Sumaging Cave. Who in their right mind goes into a small space and says, 'alright left here, right here, slid down this impossibly small hole with your arms straight above your head, hopefully there's ground below.' Crazy!

It was an amazing trek. By the time we got out, it had been 3 hours and we were covered in sweat. I asked G how fast he could make it through the Sumaging Cave. His response, "10 minutes with a head lamp." No freaking way! Pro status!

The next day we did another hike, 3 in 1, Echo Valley, Hanging Coffins, and a waterfall. Out your guide was Israel, he was 17 and walked rather fast. The tour started at the beginning of town, passed an Episcopal church, up to the Christian cemetery. We weaved through the aisles as Israel and others walked across the graves. The missionaries must of forgotten to tell them that's a no no.

We saw the mountains that housed Sumaging Cave and a little closer an area called Echo Valley. So naturally I yelled "hello" and everyone heard it echo a few times. You're welcome. 100 yards further down the trail and we arrived at the Hanging Coffins. What a trip! Literally coffins hanging off the side of a cliff. Dead bodies were sat in a chair, in the fetal position while the family would raise the coffin up and put it into place on the side of the cliff. Then the would rope up the chair, with the body in it, up to the coffin, and place the dead inside. The newest one dated back to 2010. Israel took some pictures of us and asked if we were ready to carry on.

Hiked up to a small cave with a river flowing through it. Up some steep dirt stairs into the main road. Detoured off into a tiny Rastafarian cafe that had been built into a rock. Israel grabbed himself a glass of Royal (orange fanta), and we carried to the waterfall. It was neat, small, and full of tourist. However we were able to see some spectacular rice terraces!

The hike was definitely easier than the one yesterday. It was a beautiful hike, even if it did feel rushed. I was able to ask Israel about the pig I had seen tied up outside of a convenient store. He told us that it was used for a wedding ceremony. Weddings here, everyone is invited, the whole town. It becomes a 2-3 day celebration!

For dinner we went to Cafe Lingayo, located conveniently next to our hotel. Calvin knows me too well, he realized it had been awhile since I've had the pleasure of enjoying pizza. It was delicious, Hawaiian style with a whole lot of cheese! And a litre of Red Horse to wash it all down.

Sunday morning I tried to attend mass but missed the last jeepney going to the church. A nice young man offered me a ride on his motorbike. I politely declined. As I was walking back to the hotel I kept thinking how I just should've done it. He seemed genuinely nice. I mean, what kind of weirdo would kidnap or mess with a lady trying to go to mass? Then again, you never know. I let my fear, nay, gut instinct tell me to not go.

There's a restaurant here that is home to the Lemon Pie, 'The Lemon Pie House'. It was tasty. We didn't eat too big of a lunch because dinner was in a few hours at the Log Cabin.

The Log Cabin was homey, it reminded us of Grandmas house. Pictures everywhere, wood furniture, and of course, great food. My favorite; salad. One used local ferns with a simple dressing. The other was cucucmbers diced up into small cubes and tossed in a spicy oil. Very similar to Din Tai Fung in Taipei. 390 pesos per person. We stuffed ourselves, so full I wish someone could've rolled me down the monsterous hill.

A lesson we learned while visiting Sagada: always pull out enough cash at a major city before adventuring off into this beautiful town. We ran out of money. Both the ATMs didn't work and Western Union was "offline". We had money in our accounts, but no way to access it. Thankfully Calvin's brother and mother were able to transfer $50 that we were able to get the next day. That was a scary moment.

Sumaging Cave: 800 pesos
3 in 1 tour: 600pesos
Log Cabin: 390pesos per person

---