This breathtaking scenery greets you on the viewing deck of the highest point in the Philippine Highway system. Almost instantly I was swept off my feet just like how in similar instances my unfaltering curiosity to discover places has led me to moments like this. And I wondered why I spent so much time wasting and waiting for this trip. I was happy I was finally going. I was exhilarated to be on my first time to visit Sagada.
We were a group of 10. It was my first time traveling with these people but I didn't really mind because I'm the type who just goes with anyone for anything that would take me to an adventure. We went on the last week of January taking advantage of the Chinese New Year holiday which was perfect as the temperature in the mountains dropped to a low of 9 degrees C.
The only drawback was that the annual Sagada festival is going
to be held in the same weekend. We had a hard time looking for a place
to stay. It came to a point where our prior booking was not acknowledged by the hotel owner because he double booked the rooms we reserved
for the weekend. I had to call every hotel in town to look for
rooms to no avail. Luckily homestays/guesthouses are available so I was
offered a house with just enough bed space for our group to sleep in. As expected, the town was packed with people so we had to wait for half an hour just to get into the town proper. The roads were too narrow to accommodate the volume of traffic that was there during the weekend.
On our first day, we went trekking to visit the Bomod-Ok falls. Due to volume of tourists in the town that day, it became difficult to hire tour guides as they were considerably outnumbered by tourist groups wanting to visit the different attractions. Our trek started late in the afternoon already and we were warned it would be dark already by the time we would return on our way back. We were advised it would take up to an hour and a half to go down and up to two hours and a half to go back up.
In the middle of the trek we passed by a normal village where we rested. Most of the locals live there going up and down the path regularly to get to work or school. It was difficult to imagine but growing up in this place could make most of us living in the cities something to think about. By nightfall, the village is enveloped in almost total darkness as there are no streetlights lighting the trail. Locals use their torches to light their way home and rest as everything succumbs to the night.
At the end of the trail is the Bomod-Ok Falls (Big Falls). The water was too cold for me to take a dip so I retreated to a nearby rock and watched as people took turns taking pictures of the natural wonder. I was content taking it all in with the waterfall creating a thin mist all over the place which was refreshing enough to charge me for the return trek.
The next morning, still tired and a bit exhausted, we decided to do the Lumiang-Sumaguing cave connection. Our tour was already arranged the day before and we went early to avoid the number of tourists that were expected to visit the cave that day. The cave connection was a different experience from the waterfalls trek. While the trek to the waterfalls was a straightforward walk all the way and was downright tiring. The cave connection was a challenging maze which made me drop on all fours and even use my butt just to avoid the sheer drops along the way. My fear of heights kicked in moments where I was holding on for dear life and I couldn't see where the drops would lead to as it was really dark. Honestly, it was really scary and I consider it a personal achievement to have survived it.
In the entrance to the cave, we came across the coffins where the elders are laid to rest. The bodies are laid in fetal position in belief that death would return them back to Mother Earth's womb. (Or as I remember them saying; don't quote me)
After all the adventure, it was just relaxing to be in a place far away from the city. Minus the crowd, Sagada has its charm. The quiet nights and the chilly air that embraces you as you sleep. The long walks and the relief you get from knowing you never have to drive to go anywhere. I'd like to go back again when it's not as busy; when I can just stay as long as I want and just have the time for myself to think. I'm getting old I guess but I can quite get used to places like this.
P.S. I miss the strawberry yogurt!
