MARCH is for the Intrepid Women Travelers

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This MARCH, my birth month, and obviously the month of adventures, I gift you with fearless female globe-trotters, who I know personally, and  have sparked my love of travel and upped my wanderlust into a higher level.

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Sagada Part 2: Why Unplanned Trips Turn Out To Be Exhilarating Ones

Sagada Chronicles Part 2

Day 2

Plan 5:
The group we rode with [from Banaue to Sagada] we found out were, mountaineers. Since we were booked in the same inn, we had the chance to chat with them and they invited us to conquer Sumaging Cave after lunch.

They had great stories about their hike to Bomod-ok (Big Falls) the previous day that we wanted to see it for ourselves.

Reality:
This morning, we had breakfast at the famous Yoghurt House. We knew we'd have a BIG day ahead of us, so we loaded up. I had yogurt with granola. Champ had ham and cheese pancake. Plus, we shared a dish of wild veggies with eggplant yogurt dressing.

wild vegetables with eggplant yogurt dressing

yogurt with granola, ham & cheese pancake

Yoghurt House

Back to the road.

The path we took was the same one we trekked the day before.. [the one when we got lost looking for Cuisina Igorota] .. but further.

We were informed that it would take approximately an hour to reach the town leading to the falls.

After more than an hour, we were looking for some path leading LEFT. [based on our interpretation of the map]

There was a path going left but we weren't sure if it's the right one. It didn't have any sign. And we had no one to ask from. We were the only insane human beings walking this far from town.

As soon as a vehicle passed by, we hailed it and asked for instructions. The local said we took the wrong turn. We should've turned left earlier.

"But," he encouraged,

"you can go to Kiltepan Tower instead. This is the path leading to it."

And so, we learn from our mistakes.

The trek to Kiltepan is easy. No thorny bushes. The road's rocky, but wide enough for vehicles to pass through.

Atop the hill was a flat ground, ideal for camping. There, we were greeted by another group who, well, brought their SUV with them. They must've witnessed the sunrise here as we found they were about to leave.

There was a small walking path at one side of the ground.

You can't imagine my elation when we were welcomed by a spectacular view of more rice terraces!!!

Kiltepan Tower overlooking some rice terraces

Plan 6:
Join the boondockers (mountaineers group) after lunch to conquer Sumaging Cave.

Reality:

Of all our plans, this is the only one that stuck.

another terraces view on our way to Sumaging Cave

I wish I could elaborate the spelunking experience. But you have to be there yourself to enjoy it. =D Specially for the young ones reading this.

Conquer Sumaging while you still have enough strength to wade through chest-high-almost-freezing pools of water, to cross one stalactite and stalagmite to another with just a rope, to fit yourself in a hole to traverse to the other side, to climb up and down slippery rocks, and well, you get the picture.

with travel buddy Champ

pool of ice-cold cave waters

spelunking Sumaging Cave with the Boondockers!

The moment we got out after an enjoyable exploration, I could say the caves in Colordado Springs cannot even match Sagada's! Haha.

We ended the day with a budget-conscious meal at the nearest eatery-- the Right Turn Cafe. They serve adobo rice for only P30!!!

Our last night also turned out to be the boondockers' socials night. We must've disturbed Sagada with our relentless videoke-singing. It's a good thing they had a curfew, these guys can't be stopped!!!

a night of videoke with the Boondockers

Right Turn Cafe doubles as a mini-library as well. Right beside it are shelves which are little by little being filled with second-hand books imported from Alaska. It is being run by Robert (who christened himself "Biag", which in Ifugao and Ilocano dialect means "life"), an Alaskan who, in his desire to contribute something worthwhile to the community, brought in bestseller books and rent it out for a minimal fee of P25/week or until the borrower finishes reading it.

I was scanning through his books and I was impressed with his collection of titles. They are really bestsellers! Michael Crichton, John Grisham, Steven Spielberg, Robert Ludlum, and the thing that caught my eye-- Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins' Left Behind series. Going through each of their titles, my eyes almost popped out when I saw book ten!!! My friends and my sister know how desperate I have been the past months (or is it a year already?) looking for this ONE title. I must've reserved it in all National Bookstore and PowerBooks branches in Manila. And now, of all places, I find it here in Sagada!

Book Ten: The Remnant 

I made it a point to chat with Biag. And of course, hinted on the possibility of purchasing the book. I casually told him that i am an avid reader of the series that I have each of their books. Except for book ten. I pointed out that I already have book eleven, but I just keep it in my shelf since I don't have book ten yet :(. I didn't want to spoil the fun and the suspense.

As if sensing I wanted to buy it, "Why don't you come buy tomorrow. Order some food to eat. Let's chat. You may catch me on a good mood and I might sell it to you."

With that, this certain smile never left my face.

And so, the following day came. Our last day.

The boondockers' itinerary was to climb Mt. Ampacao. I woke up with a sore body. That meant we wouldn't be joining them.

As it turned out, the group also woke up late and some of them had other excuses so the hike was entirely put off.

I was determined to get book ten today. Even if I was limping my way to the Right Turn Cafe, I imagined myself holding that book and bringing it with me back to Ilocos.

There we found Biag sitting in his cafe. Champ and I bought adobo rice to go. That would be lunch.

As we started talking, Biag sort of sermoned that he doesn't usually sell these books. It would defeat the purpose of putting up a library. He then began professing that he's ultimate goal is to get the people of Sagada reading and make them aware of the pleasure of finishing a book and be engrossed to start reading another one.

In the end, he spilled that I caught him on a good mood. and that the fact that he saw how enthusiastic I was getting that one book, made him happy. He sold it to me for P500, a bit pricey for a second-hand, but, to me it was good bargain already! The book barely had signs of being read. it looked as good as new!

Thank You God.

with Biag (Right Turn cafe owner) and my prized possession!

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Sagada: Why Unplanned Trips Turn Out To Be Exhilarating Ones

I thrive on unplanned trips. Or anything un-planned for that matter.

Take this Sagada trip for example. I may have read tips and tricks on how to go about this adventure, but I met a lot of changes along the way. I am normally a control-freak, but over the years, I've come to appreciate changes. I have become more flexible and tolerant of the annoying little things that life has to offer me. Come and join me for a ride as I chronicle my adventure to Sagada.

Plan 1: 

Take the 10pm Autobus trip from Manila to Banaue

Reality:

Champ and I arrived the terminal 9-ish and found out that the 10pm trip was already fully booked. Good thing, they have a 9:30 that goes to Lagawe-- a couple of kilometers away from Banaue.

We arrived 5 am.

From Lagawe, we waited a good 30minutes until we caught a bus going to Banaue.

Plan 2:

From Banaue, take a jeep to Bontoc.

From Bontoc, take another jeep to Sagada.

Reality:

From Banaue, we were met by very friendly locals who led us to People's Restaurant, where jeepneys headed to Bontoc pass by. We took our breakfast behind the resto and it provided a refreshing mountainview.

At exactly that time, we learned that a group of travellers were also headed to Sagada. In a way, we were better off. iIt meant we won't have to transfer jeeps. The local brought us to where the group was--Viewpoint. I was delighted. It offered a breathtaking view of the rice terraces and definitely, a good photo op!!

Viewpoint, Banaue Rice Terraces
the lighting was bad-- against the sunrise :(

jeepney from Banaue to Sagada
stopping over at Mt. Polis

it's foggy at Mt. Polis

..and so our day went, we arrived Sagada safely. Booked at traveller's inn and pleased our itchy feet to explore the tiny town.

Plan 3:

It was past 12 and our packed lunch was spoiled. One of the travel guides I read online mentioned a cheap eatery--Cuisina Igorota. For only P50, you get a very tasty viand and rice-all-you can! We were out to find that.

Reality:

I particularly remembered seeing the Cuisina Igorota sign right beside the municipal hall / hospital. As we were entering Sagada when we arrived, I was already taking a mental note of everything I read and I was specifically delighted to see it right away since we were on a 'shoestring'.

It must be one of those times when my memory fails me. Dang.

I convinced champ that we should just walk along until we saw that sign. We were off 50 meters. 100 meters. 200 meters. Still no sign. Then I said, unless we see Mapiya-aw Pensione, we won't stop. [Mapiya-aw was the first landmark on my mind which signals the entrance to Sagada]. We must've walked a kilometer when we already saw Mapiya-aw, and still no Cuisina Igorota :c

Oh well. "Why don't we explore this place, anyways? I read that behind it is a beautiful rock garden," my faint attempt to keep our spirits up and our minds off food.

Yet, we were pleasantly surprised to find a treasure beneath the hill!

We must have hiked a good one hour. On our way back, our quest to find Cuisina Igorota was yet again interrupted. I stopped at a store to ask about their wines. It was one pasalubong I'm sure my parents will love. We sampled 3 flavors-- bugnay, cherry , and lemon. As we were chatting with the local saleslady, she asked if we've been to the nearby falls. As if on cue, both Champ and I got excited at the thought of exploring another scenery. So instead of lunch, we found ourselves walking up the hills and through the rice paddies.

I don't have evidence of the falls. We were at the top and at the wrong angle.

By 4pm, we decided we were really hungry, and needed fuel.

When we reached the hospital, the sign was where I thought it would be. It was there all along, just not facing away from the town proper. Sheesh.

At 4pm, I doubted if they still served lunch. True as i thought, the only thing left from their menu is a plate of lechon kawali-- something i stopped eating when i took on my no-pork diet. But the cook gladly offered to serve something else-- only if we could wait. We didn't have much of a choice so we waited. And the wait was worth it. I only requested veggies, yet it was so tasty, you'd never realize the only ones they had were squash/pumpkin and baguio beans! =D

Plan 4:

Previously, we bought a colored map of sagada back at the wine store. Scanning through it, we rationalized that the next best stop would be the church. It would be an easy walk. Then we'd hit the sack and snooze. We haven't had any decent sleep since we left manila 9pm the previous night. And although the stretch from banaue to sagada was a lengthy 3hours, the road was bumpy enough not to lull you to sleep.

Reality:

We realized that visiting the church was such a breeze. We reached the end in less than 10 minutes. Looking back at the map, we saw that the nearest spot we could explore was the Echo Valley -- where the hanging coffins are.

What makes the nature hikes in Sagada challenging is the fact that there are no signs. And the map that we bought proved to be utterly useless since it's not detailed. Meaning the curves could mean the next hill, or the next mountain. Trusting our instincts, we hiked along paths that seem to leave a trail. We already reached the top of the hill and the only thing we saw was a distant rock/limestone formation with just a minute coffin hanging on it.

So disappointing.

We were deciding whether to go down the valley or just view the coffins from the cliff when we heard a man yelling--making some noise as some sort of a signal. As he was headed our way, we grabbed the chance to ask about the path leading to the coffins. Mang Ben off-handedly revealed that he was looking for his cow. And that he used to be a tour guide when he was much younger. And so, he willingly accompanied us downhill and through each of the burial sites. [for those planning to go to echo valley, make sure you wear pants. the bushes can get nasty] As he led us to each site, he also had some historical stories to share. Very educating.

to us, he's the famous Mang Ben!

At the bottom of the valley, he led us to a different path going back to town through some more rocks and one cave. I was really glad we bumped into him as it was already getting dark when we hit the main road. I was huffing and puffing on our climb up and there he was, still going strong! He was in a hurry to go home. He still had to feed his pigs. ;)

@--->----------

Original journal entry written in 2006.

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