Sagada

This was written after my trip to Sagada on June 2006.


Have you ever seen coffins hanging from a cliff?

The hanging coffins in Echo Valley are just among the many unforgettable sites you will see in Sagada, a little quaint town, in Mountain Province. Since college, I have been wanting to visit the place. At last, I had the perfect opportunity on June 12-14, 2006 to go to Sagada. (Thanks Ta for letting me tag along)

There are several options to go to Sagada, we chose the route via Banaue so that we can have a glimpse of the world famous terraces. From Banaue, we took a jeepney to Sagada, which is at least four hours (of very rough road) from Banaue. Although, it is only a few kilometers away, the road is really tricky since we have to pass by very narrow roads carved from the slope of the mountain. As we enjoy the scenery, I can’t help but be amazed by the beauty of the rugged terrain.

At first sight, I fell in love with Sagada. The place offers a lot… from rice terraces, rocky terrain, waterfalls, centuries-old burial caves and caves with beautiful formations, rice terraces, local weaving and hanging coffins. Most of the locals express themselves better in English than in Filipino(Tagalog). To make the most of our two-day stay, after freshening up after a 13-hour road trip, we set out for Sumaging cave, the cave was just a 20-minute walk from the town proper. It was very cold inside the cave, with ice-cold water flowing everywhere, you can see your companion’s body seemingly smokin’ cold not hot. You can literally see the person’s body heat radiating. The formations inside the cave were breathtaking. What you have to do get inside the cave was a bit of a challenge, you have to crawl your way into really small holes and use a rope to get to higher ground. We found out later that we can opt not to rappel. But I think that added more to the adventure. It was definitely quite an experience. I have been inside caves before but nothing prepared me for this marvelous encounter.

After our exhilarating cave adventure, we indulged on good food in Yoghurt House and St. Joseph’s café where you will taste the freshest vegetables in the country. The following day, we
hiked to one of the biggest falls in Sagada. It took us an hour to go to the big falls (We rode on top of the jeepney, my first time). When they say, it is the trip not the destination. This is an epitome of this saying. The view that you will see on your way to the falls is really breathtaking, seeing the waterfalls is anticlimactic though. It’s a big waterfalls but nothing extra-ordinary. So far, this trek was one of the most difficult I’ve been in so far. Going back, same way but opposite direction, uphill. Some of my companions were so tired that they did not go with us to Echo Valley and hanging coffins. Igorots place their dead in hanging coffins. The Echo Valley Hanging Coffins are hung from the limestone cliff using slabs driven into the rocks.
Two full days were not enough to enjoy the beauty of the place. Sagada has a little of everything. This is one place where I would want to grow old. Sagada, is just one of the places that affirms the fact that we live in a very beautiful country.

P.S.

I went back to Sagada a few months later on February 2007.