Maria Lourdes Arellano

To Sagada and back

By Maria Lourdes Arellano
YOU contributor

ONE of the ten towns of the Mountain Province in the Cordillera Region, Sagada is such a fascinating place that never fails to elicit feelings of wonder among its visitors.

I and three friends -- city dwellers all and whose only form of exercise was brisk walking in the malls -- set off for Sagada one Friday midnight.

Either out of sheer bravado or sheer masochistic tendencies, we scheduled our out-of-town trip in December, when we were told that temperatures could go down to as low as 10 degrees Celsius. We rode off to Baguio and from there took another mini-bus ride directly to Sagada. The trip
totaled 12 rear-numbing hours, one way. This route gave us a tour of the magnificent Cordillera mountain ranges and steep heart-stopping ravines, as we were driving along narrow mountain roads, some stretches of which were unprotected by railings!

We arrived in Sagada Saturday at two in the afternoon. After registering at the town hall, we settled at the Mapiyaaw Lodge, a good 20-minute walk from the town's sentro. Located at the end of a fork on the road, it is away from the bustle of the sentro. It also boasts of two comfy fireplaces where travelers could get together and have a good conversation over a shot of tapuy, the sweet local rice wine.

Long before Pinoys took interest, Sagada was already a favored destination among backpackers from different countries. People have come all the way from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Germany and Switzerland.

We ate a late lunch consisting of local longganisa, eggs and brown mountain rice -- all for a whopping 80 pesos per person. As it takes a considerable amount of time to bring supplies to remote Sagada, things that we take for granted such as LPG are considerably factored in.

We set off for Kiltepan point first thing Sunday to have a panoramic view of Sagada's mountains and rice terraces, the latter still brown as it was still planting season. Guiding us during the hike was Dupa-is, a sturdy and energetic eight-year-old boy. It's amazing to see him wrapped in
a yellow bomber jacket running along the hill as if he were in level ground while we were huffing and puffing behind him. Due to the town's Episcopalian influence, local children are given English names aside from their Igorot birth names. And they either prefer talking to you in their native dialect or in English.

We had a late lunch at the Yogurt House, a restaurant popular for its namesake. A liking for the tangy, milky taste of yogurt may take some time to acquire. But topped with strawberry preserves and bananas as they do in Yogurt House, it was a pleasant, filling experience.

Sagada is often compared to a honeycomb -- beneath the mountains is a network of beautiful caves. And we decided to explore one that afternoon -- Sumaging Cave, also known as the Big Cave, named after the banana-shaped rock formations found within.

Guiding us was Dangwa, arguably the most popular guide there. Underneath the bloodshot eyes, unkempt hair and hippie, spaced-out laugh is a strong and trustworthy guide with several years of experience to his name. For 300 pesos, he would guide a group of up to 10 people inside the Big Cave.

We wore shorts, as there would be parts where we would wade in waist-deep waters. The sandstone of the cave floor provided traction to the soles of our feet. Along the way, Dangwa pointed to us fossilized shells embedded in the cave walls -- a proof that it was submerged in water thousands of years ago.

After crawling and clinging to every surface as if our life depended on it, we soon found ourselves at the top of what was called as the King's Curtain, a wet rock face that we had to rappel in order for us to go further down. At the bottom, we came within close range of continuously growing stalactites and stalagmites, which were so beautiful.

We had dinner that night at the Masferré Café and soon went back to Mapiyaaw to beat the nine in the evening town-wide curfew.

Monday morning saw us hyped up for the two-hour walk towards Bomog-ok Falls, guided once again by Dangwa. On our way to meet him, we dropped by the Masferré house, where dramatic black and white photographs documenting the Sagada life of old were exhibited.

The walk to Bomog-ok entailed going through the rice terraces, making it all the more worthwhile. Once there, the falls and the cool mist surrounding it provided a refreshing respite after the walk.

With the challenging hikes out of the way, we spent the afternoon visiting the eerie and surreal Lumiyang burial cave and the Echo Valley. Lumiyang is a testament to the area's distinctive burial practices. Wooden coffins containing mummified remains are stacked way up to the cave's
ceiling. Legend has it that remains of good citizens were placed near the entrance of the cave where it can get its share of sunlight while the remains of law offenders are placed deep within the cave, forever to be shrouded in darkness. By the entrance of the cave is a rock formation shaped like the profile of an old hag, which even Dangwa did not notice until that time.

Shouting from the Echo Valley would produce echoes reverberating in one's ears. From that point we also got to see the famous hanging coffins, embedded high up in rock crevices. These are mainly the remains of mumbakis, or their tribal leaders. We also visited the St. Mary's Episcopalian church, with a nice stained glass picture constructed above its main altar.

We had dinner at the cozy Log Cabin Café, which for 150 pesos per person served us a steak dinner big enough for two average-sized people.

And what is a vacation without the pasalubong? Reasonably priced local produce, woven products and carvings abound.

For an off-the-beaten-track experience this summer, Sagada is certainly the place to be. It gave me a deeper appreciation for nature's wonders and a sense of responsibility in keeping places like these looking just as they were when I first entered them. It was three days of fun and exhaustion. And it was worth every minute.