aEMY'S WANDERLUST
"the gladdest moment in human life is the departure to unknown lands"
23/1/2015 0 Comments SagadaAfter I attended a Medical-Dental mission in Baguio City sponsored by a friend, I decided to take a sidetrip alone in Sagada. You can best experienced the place if it is not crowded or if I may say, less tourists and more of its locals. Definitely I am not like Mace (of That Thing Called Tadhana) when I went there;but I am more in particular seeing the Hanging Coffins once featured in the Discovery Channel. From the transient house where I stayed in the City of Pines, I went directly to the Dangwa bus station where GL Trans is located. Buses to Sagada leave at 4am or 4:30am but the first bus which I rode, arrived at the bus station at around 5am. I did fall in line for the ticket as soon as I arrived. By that time I queued, there were already many people and there was some sort of a commotion in an Ilocano dialect because many had waited for almost an hour, and there was no proper assistance on who should board first. I think only 3 of us (who fell in line) was able to ride that first bus to Sagada. Lucky enough, I am one of that few. On the way to Sagada, I realize how hardworking we Filipinos are. With the tune of county music on the bus and seeing the rice terreces along the road once you have reached the Bondoc area, you will then somehow question how come our government could not provide sufficient financial support for those municipilaties who have enough resources (like this) but lacking funds to nurture it? This trip took me roughly 6 hours so I arrived in Sagada at around lunch time already. And because I went there in an offpeak season, I was able to get a good place to stay that is located in the town proper for only Php250/night. After checking in at Clairence, the place where I stayed, I went out outright to eat lunch and afterwards, go straight to the municipal hall as advised by the hostel owner and have myself registered as a guest. The person who assisted me registering provided me a leaflet with a selection of tour packages starting from Php600 to Php1200. Since I travelled alone, which, most of time I do, I chose the Sumaguing Cave with the Hanging Coffins package that costs me the cheapest. Included to that would be an affiliated tour guide that will bring me to the Sumaguing Cave. Because I registered late in the afternoon already, my tour guide advised me to do the Sumaguing caving early in the morning the following day. And since I will only be staying for a day due to prior schedules, I decided to roam around since I have enough time then to do so. One of the main reason I guess why people go in Sagada is because of its weather. It was intensely cold literally when I arrived. And since I still have more time that day to see the place, I just decided to walk around. When I asked some locals where there church is located, they directed me on top of the hill. Unfortunately, the said church was closed that time. I also found out that there was no Roman Catholic church within the vicinity - since majority of Sagadans are pure Anglicans (when I asked my tourist guide the following day). I wasn't able to pray inside the church for a reason that it is closed. And even though I am outside, I did still pray to pay respect and to give thanks for I was given a chance to see one of the beautiful nature created by God, the Sagada province. As I walked going back to the hostel, I was able to see some wonderful creations outside the church, a Calesa wheel which was built year 1905, the Anglican Parish Office which was also closed; a round table as the locals named it, wherein, according to the one I interviewed, it is the place where the Sagadan elders do their rituals especially if a local is asking permission to open a business within the area; and the town's basketball court which is just a few distance away from the church. Since I still have few hours left before it gets dark, I asked where the Sagada Lemon Pie House is located - which was also once featured in a local network way, way back. The name of the place itself implies their very own product, the Sagada Lemon Pie. Despite of the very timid staff (maybe because of our regional differences, i don't know), I still decided to give their pie a try. Another thing I also enjoyed in Sagada are the different restaurants to dine in and how these places are set up. But heads up in terms of prices, eating in Sagada is such a fortune - for you will really spend a lot of money because an order in each restaurants is quite expensive. The small slice of lemon pie, for example, cost me Php60 and I have to order another one since I have a big appetite as big as the typical man has! Anyways, since it was nearly dinner time,a local told me to try the Sagada Brew Cafe wherein their dishes ranges from Php220 and up. Of course, I opted for the cheapesd one, their best seller, the tapa delights. As much as I want to order their other dishes too, I only have few cash with me at hand and I did not also expect that there are no ATMs in the area where you can withdraw money. . Time flies too fast in Sagada and you will only realize it's nearly night time if it is already dark. But if you are a typical party goer, Sagada is not a place for you. Though I myself is not a party lover but I got bored as well, when I went back to the hostel. 6 PM is a typical time for Sagadans to go home, eat dinner with their respective families and take a rest after. As much as I wanted to roam around even there are places that are still open until 9PM, I decided to go back in Clairance instead, took a rest for tomorrow would be a challenging day. I woke up early the following day because my call time with my tourist guide is at exactly 8 AM. According to him when we met the prior day, caving will take 2 hours or less - depends of course how strong and fast I am, to walk and "trek" inside the cave. Our first stop was to see the hanging coffins - which was the inclusion on the tour package that I availed.If I only knew that the view of the hanging coffins is just a literal view in the view deck near the fire station, I chose instead the other package same price with the one that I availed. Because I didn't know, I just enjoyed the view itself. Seeing a beautiful limestone formation, i then understand why do Sagadans are a bit off guarded with individuals coming from the city. As per my tour guide, the locals particularly the elders, wants to preserve the beauty of Sagada and they do not want it to be as commercialized as Baguio City. Yes, the hanging coffins is quite an amazing view to see but I got more amazed with the beautiful lime stone formation especially the one along the road - it is really pure and solid. From the hanging coffin's view deck, it took us 20 more minutes before we reached the road going to the Sumaguing Cave. While walking on the way to the cave entrance, my tour guide was pointing out some areas where you can still see some preserved coffins. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take in pictures on the said place; became too excited to go directly in the rock formation that I can see inside the cave. From the entrance, my tour guide assisted me going upside down to the stalactite formation. As we go deeper and deeper, aside from being dark, I became nervous when I heard from the outside the pouring of heavy rain and thunderstorms and for no apparent reason, despite being very near to the stalactite formation, I decided to go up not to continue our caving instead. So to compensate for the unexpected cancellation of my caving escapade, my tour guide instead led me to a hospital built by Americans during World War II. On the said area, you will see also a lot of hanging coffins - some are properly inserted, some you will just see around. On our way back to the town proper, my tour guide then asked me why I decided not to go through and see the beautiful stalactite formations. Instead of replying to his question,
I then asked him back another question that what if there will be an unexpected high tide,what could be the worst scenario that could then happen to us? My tour guide became silent for a few minutes thinking whether or not he would tell me the truth. Eventually he told me then the story a month prior that there was a group of Japanese and an old woman from Pangasinan who was trapped because of unexpected high tide, When I asked him what happened to these individuals, he told me that the group of Japanese were all saved but sad enough for the old Filipina woman because up to this date, she was nowhere to be found. Yes, a bit sad that I wasn't able to see the beautiful stalactites the Sumaguing Cave can offer. But I'd rather have it that way than having no assurance, that I could be save in times like that - when an unexpected high tide happens. Overall, I enjoyed my trip in Sagada and I am really looking forward going back if not soon but definitely, I will. HOW TO GET THERE: From Baguio City: From Victory Baguio Terminal, you may opt to go to GL Liner Terminal in Baguio Dangwa Terminal or in Lizardo Transit Terminal in Barangay Sto. Niño to catch a bus to Sagada. Both are just short taxi ride (around 10 minutes) for approximately P60.00 from Victory Liner Terminal. GL Liner has four trips daily starting at 6AM up to 1PM, while Lizardo Transit has only one schedule at 9:15AM. If you have plenty of time, you can take a twenty minute walk to the Baguio Dangwa Terminal which is just in front of Baguio City Public Market. Fare for both GL Liner and Lizardo Transit is P220.00 (student and senior citizen: P176.00), travel time takes around six (6) hours passing along the scenic Halsema Highway. Almost the entire stretch of the road to Sagada is paved and smooth. The bus will stop in front of Sagada Municipal Hall. Happy viewing :)
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AuthorRoamer. Wanderer. Explorer. Risk Taker. Nature Lover. Adventurer. Solo Tripper. CategoriesAll Baguio Batangas Benguet Bicol Bolinao Bulacan Cagayan Cavite Cebu Ilocos Norte Ilocos Sur Laguna Las Piñas City La Union Makati Mindoro Pangasinan Paoay Rizal Sagada Archives
October 2017
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