Sagada (and a glimpse Banaue Rice Terraces)

FINALLY!! SAGADA...

I had been curious about this place for a long time as to why it has been a famous place not only to foreigners but to many locals. Aside from the movie that made the place famous, I wonder why people kept on coming back.

From Baguio, we drove (well my father did) for 7-8 hours.

After we had lunch at the highest point, I fell asleep. The weather was not that great during that time because of the storm in the country so the fog is quite thick especially on the top of the maintain. I was sleeping soundly that we had reached the place already and my parents were looking for a place to stay to. It was dark outside and slight rain pouring. I think going to this place will be good if it's not packed OR you will go commute. With that, you won't even have to worry where to park your car.

We ended up staying at INDIGENOUS INN. My parents used to stay there whenever they had a trip to Sagada. As it way too full everywhere, the inn offered us a family room with shared bathroom for the night and requested us to move to a private room the next day when someone checked out. We paid reasonable price for 3 days and 2 night stay.

Sagada was not the place that I was expecting it would look like. I thought it was a huge community or even a town. Well, all I can say is that it was crowded. Maybe because we went on a high season but there are no parking lots (mainly for backpackers) and no room to stay to. The streets are full of cars and people.

Since we arrive at night time, we get to explore the place the next morning. Just like what my sister shared, you will have to register at the Tourist information/center (i can't remember how it's called) before going to the attractions for safety purposes. After getting all your names registered, make sure to get your tour guide or you can hire at the site.

First stop was the Sumaguing Cave. This place as I can describe is majestic. But be careful!

Quick tips:

1. Wear comfortable clothes that is okay to get wet. My advise is to wear leggings (for girls) and black shirt to keep you warm because it's quite cold inside.

2. Do not bring a bag or anything that you wouldn't want to get wet. Aside from that, your bags will be a big hindrance.

3. Choose the right slippers. It'll be good if you can wear clog shoes as it is slippery.

4. Lastly, if you really want to explore well, DO NOT BE FUSSY.

Tour guides are all pros. As there will be unexpected things that can happen, you will be briefed before going down. If they told you to step on that, or taught you how to go down, FOLLOW. Our camera is entrusted to him so he took a lot of photos for us. He provided all those interesting trivias on the rock formations, some are for history and some are totally made up XD

That clear water would make you want to bath (I actually asked if I can) but it was too cold and I can't bear to soak my feet for a long time.

I'll just share the photos that we had.

There is a part in the cave that you can go deeper but it scares me enough when I saw how will you go down. I would want to try but fear came first so our tour guide went down and took photos for us to see what was in there.

That spot where i was sitting was last stop if you don't want to go all the way down. And the last challenge was the way back up. From there, we have to climb up with JUST a rope. So all you can trust are your hands, your feet and your mind that you can reach the end. And since I am the first timer, I ended up having the funny shots because I was too scared.

I thought that was it, but there was one more.

So yehey! We went back safe and tired.

After the Sumaguing Cave, we were supposed to go to Lumiang Cave but I was too exhausted so I just gave up. We then went back our inn to wash up and rest (around 10am) and went to have lunch at noon at Salt and Pepper (just nearby the inn we're staying to).

The food was.... okay for me. We ordered Sinigang but we've waited too long for our orders. We've wasted too much time AND our tour guide ditched us because he thought we left already when we were late for our supposed to be meeting time at 2pm to go to our next stop.

We have to stick to the plan so we just went there without a guide. We went to the Sagada Echo Valley where the famous hanging coffins can be found. It was right outside the Sagada alley. The site has their tour guide if you don't have one, you can hire there (if there is someone available).

From this view deck (as I can call it), you can see the hanging coffins.

Our tour guide asked us several times if we want to go closer but I was decided not to. We still went anyway. It was quite a short stair going down from the hill. But since it was raining during the evening, you can expect mud as you walk.

There were also some coffins along the trail which was quite interesting to see.

In just few minutes, we reach the place! Hanging the coffins has been the traditional practice of the Igorots for their tribe elders. And they are still doing the tradition up to this day.

The way going back is way more tiring as we have climb up. I actually had to ask them to stop for few seconds to breathe.

This was us resting. The tour guide saw and just snapped a photo

That was just the places that we've visited in Sagada because we had limited time. We spent the night again and left early morning to go to Isabela (our last stop).

Quick share:

I really like this crepe sold in the alley. I bought the nutella and added some bananas. Quite pricey, but this hot crepe and coffee in a cold place is the best combi.