It was a long awaited travel. For months, I've been contemplating of travelling back to Sagada for the fourth time and I want it to be the best that I will have. If I will be following my traveldater, Sagada is scheduled on July 2009 but due to urgency and excitement, it must be conquered right away. So I tagged along my lovely wife Chiela, who has not been to somewhere as far as Sagada and was excited as well. It will her first time to witness God's gift of nature, culture, and tradition to our Igorot brothers and sisters hidden 16 mountains away from urban living. And to make our travel more lively, I tagged along a cousin of mine Cris.
Since I'm the only one who is used to long road trips, it was a comfortable ride for me. Full of chit chats and jokes while on the road and I can really feel the energy rushing into their veins. Reaching Baguio City, I encourage them to walk from the terminal to the old Dangwa station where the bus to Sagada are stationed. We walked thru Session Road and as we reached the back of the old Coyeesan Mall (it was the first shopping mall built in Baguio before SM rised in 2004) I quickly checked on the bus skeds going to Sagada. Lizardo has the earliest trip at 6:15am, so we boarded the bus and waited. There were young Koreans, yuppies and students from Manila and nearby provinces, and numerous Igorot old folks who were very hard to understand and very stiff to be with.
Our first stop over along the highway in Benguet and had cups of freshly brewed mountain coffee, a good match to the Krispy Kreme donuts that Chiela brought along the travel. Cool climate, hot coffee, and a good sun shine greeting us, it cleanse my mind and soul preparing me for a more exhillirating reunion with nature. Tall pine trees, chilling wind, and a scenery of laidback way of life, welcome to Sagada. I decided to check first on St.Joseph House since we're backpackers, no itinerary nor reservations to hotels is present. Prices in St.Joseph were bit costly so we decided look for other place to stay. I noticed an old but decent inn to stay so I asked right away for the caretaker of the Ganduyan Inn and luckily, they gave us a room for 600.00 per day with private bathroom for the three of us.
We had our first taste of Sagada food at the renowned Masferre Cafe. Masferre Cafe was built in honor of Eduardo Masferre, the father of Philippine photography. He was the first one who published the images of the Igorot tribes people and decided to live amongst them. He became a farmer and started his own farmland to raise funds for his photography, making the Igorots famous around the world. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of his works so I decided to capture the interiors of the cafe. After the hearty meal, we went around the church to take pictures and it started to drizzle. We passed by a barren grassland at the back of the cemetery and take a short cut to an open field reaching the Municipal road where all the restaurants, cafes, and shops were located.
Having Chiela as a companion, one must have plenty of foodie ideas. She explores too much on food and gets hungry more often. After two hours of walking to grasslands and in the town, we decided to try Bana's Cafe. We had a heavy snack of pancakes with honey and butter, Chiela had her quick favorite ham and cheese omelette, and Cris had coffee and Bana's clubhouse. Their coffee at Bana's was superb and the food was equally excellent.
I woke up at 4:00am and it was a good warm morning. The rain stopped and we push with our plan of trekking Bokong Falls. Its saturday and Sagada town is very busy because it is their market day. Old Igorot folks greeted us with smile and good mornings and even asked us where we are going. They instructed me the fastest route going to Bokong Falls. We reached the end of the road and its a downhill trek down the slope to where the falls is located. We took extra care since its a bit slippery but midway there were concrete steps leading down the falls. Rice terraces were neatly formed wayside the falls. We stayed there for almost half an hour. Dipping on the cool water, climbing the rocks beside the falls, taking pictures along the way, we noticed a large chocolate plastic pack flowing in the stream. I asked Chiela and Cris if they are willing to be Earth soldiers at least for a while and they agreed. What we did is, we swept all the plastic trash we saw on our way up not to mind the slippery slopes. When we reached the roadside again, we were able to collect three large plastic bags of trash and some tourists stared at us.
Returning to the town with bags full of trash, we decided to look into Sagada Weaving, its owner greeted us and we asked if the store is already open. He welcomed us gladly and I told him if we could leave the trash in his trash bin and he thanked us so much for our concern to Sagada and said that it is what the tourists have not learned until now leaving trash in a helpless but beautiful forest. He allowed us to take pictures but I begged off in due respect to their craft. We ended our trek in the town looking at the fresh vegetables, cooked foods, ukay-ukay clothes, goods that can be stocked for a week if you're living in Sagada.
After a short rest, we hit the greens again and trekked Echo Valley and the Calavary Cemetery. On our way, we stopped at the church and noticed a white furry dog following us. What Cris did was, he played with the dog and asked if he could guide us to Echo Valley as he mentioned that it must be a guide in the area. We allowed the dog to go ahead of us as we passed by the cemetery. We even tried stopping and the good dog stopped as well staring at us. We go on and as we reached the end of the pathway, we discovered Echo Valley. From our vantage point, I was able to take shots of one of the hanging coffins cave. I want to go near the cave but the two did not allow me (darn weaklings!). As we go around the cliff and into the cemetery again, we noticed that the dog is already gone (spooky?) If you will visit Sagada, look for the dog I named Puti.
All pumped up after a good lunch courtesy of Bana's (Chiela has been enchanted by it), we're all set to conquer the ultimate test to a Sagada traveller, experiencing Sumaguing. We went straight to the Municipal Hall for the environmental pass and to meet our tour guide, Ricky. On our way to Sumaguing, we took a side trip to another hanging coffin but we were not able to get closer since we really want to reach Sumaguing as early as we can. Cris and Chiela were so amazed when we enter the Burial Cave. Face to face with old coffins of the Igorots is one hell of an experience. We were able to peek into skulls and bones inside the coffins. Though the trek back and forth the burial cave was pretty tiring, we managed to continue or trek towards the cave.
Enough has been said. It was truly a worthy experience not only for me but also to Chiela and Cris who were first timers in this place. Forget about looks, forget about poise. The whole spelunking thing tested and measured our level of enjoyment. As for me, its my fourth time and it served as a reunion of sort between me and the cave. The dark corridors and wet slopes of naturally-formed rocks proved that we must take part in preserving these priceless gift to us Filipinos (More photos of Sumaguing Cave in other blog entry). Its raining hard when we went out of the cave and thou we were drenched in mud and water, our spirits remained at its peak.
It was our last night in Sagada. Still, my stay will not be complete without accomplishing something for myself. Its the last piece of the puzzle. Pinikpikan! After the Sumaguing experience,I felt that I exhumed all the energy of my body and a bowl of Pinikpikan will capped off my stay in Sagada. But, most of the resots and cafes offer pricey Pinikpikan dish around 650-900 per order good for 8-10 persons. It contains whole chicken (butchered the Igorot way) and etag (traditional smoked ham). While we're trekking to Sumaguing, I noticed this old house with walls made up of galvanized sheets and its says Salt and Pepper Restaurant. The place was hard to notice but what catches my sight is this sign, "Buffet Pinikpikan Tonight". That night we went back and right away ordered for it. Chiela had her favorite Chicken adobo, Cris had lechon kawali, and I got the Pinikpikan for 200.00 buffet with unlimited plate of rice. I managed to finish off 5 bowls of Pinikpikan with 2 parts of chicken, slice of etag, and soothing and relieving bowl of soup. It really made my Sagada stay complete. Until I noticed that, I didn't have my camera and Chiela did not bring her camera phone as well. But the experience preserved its entirety to my heart and mind.
As we board the 10:30am bus trip back to Baguio. All we have in us are good memories and unforgetable experience. We don't know when will this happen again. But one thing is for sure, I will go back to where Pinikpikan made me fell in love to it. By the way, do you know what Ganduyan is and where the word Sagada originated? Ganduyan is the former name of Sagada until the Americans came and asked a tribes man for the name of the place. The man is carrying a water vessel made of bamboo which was called Sag-a, he thought the American is asking for the name what he is carrying, he replied, Sag-a da! means water carrier.
Special thanks to:
Ganduyan Inn
Sir Michael and Ganduyan Museum
Ricky of the Sagada Tour Guides Association
Bana's Resto and Cafe
Handukka Cafe
Salt and Pepper Cafe
Sagada Weaving
and the little white dog that serves as our guide...
Masferre Restaurant
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