Sagada - The Cordilleras (Part I)

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Rollin' Up North, Part I 
Cordillera Administrative Region
15 to 17 December 2012
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First and foremost, this is an uber-late post; I just felt the need to document my travels now for remembrance's sake-- and maybe even for showcasing to the world the natural beauty of our Archipelago...

Or something to that effect (haha!). Nah, I'm doing this for me. I just love to travel and take pictures.

You see, I'm not like The Pinay Solo Backpacker and THE Journeying James (idol, pare!) who would brave the odds, all for the sake and the thrill of (mis?)adventures. I'm not saying that I'm not at all adventurous or unwilling to try new things (I don't mind sleeping in a hammock or an open cottage, as long as I have familiar company)... it's just, being somewhat of a comfort-oriented control-freak, my risks won't always be anything beyond my ability to calculate. Sigurista kung baga. Yung alam kong sakto lang sa kakayahan ko.

So anyway, if you are planning a low-budget trip, feel free to click on the hyperlink above for tips and tricks. These are your cheat-codes for hard-core low-cost travelling without EVER sacrificing the quality of your vacation (Sir James did a 14-Days-Trip with a budget of less than 250php/day, and an EPIC 100-day journey around the Philippine Islands too on a limited budget as well). I mean, who in their right minds would want to miss out the essential must-see, must-taste, and must-try in all those awesome places-to-be, right?

So  what about me, you ask?

I suppose I'll stick to my own thing, while I gather enough wits for soloing. ;)

I think there is a difference between a gamble, and a calculated risk...~ Edmund H. North

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
~ Andre Gide

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14 December 2012

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Five out of Seven-- we all decided to ditch the corporate Christmas Party for this and waited for the tour van to pick us up in Alabang; as for the remaining two members, they were both up North in Quezon City so we agreed to pick them all up along the way at a McDonald's joint in Katipunan.

2300H. The van was crawling along EDSA but, having come from an epic 12-hours/day-shift duty, we were all too tired to rant about anything, and eventually dozed off. I was still awake when our awesome driver suddenly took a sharp turn and did several maneuvers through segues and side-streets that were only vaguely familiar by experience, but before I could even discern where we were sandman took hold of me. An hour or so later, I felt Kuya Driver hit the brakes. I opened my eyes to a steady stream of yellow and red flashing before me; and then...

"Happy birthday, Tinniiiieeeee!"

Twelve midnight-- with Mary and Mark entering the van, squealing greetings at my poor ear and the others groggily chuckling at how lively they were at this ungodly hour of day, I was suddenly VERY awake.

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Day One
15 December 2012

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Yes, it's my birthday; and yes, the trip was planned with this specific event in-mind, though a birthday treat was out of the question because I was dirt-poor and would only be able to afford 7 large french fries for breakfast. Hahaha.

We slept through most of the hours until we arrived in Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan. Mary was the group's planner and, having come from the same Catholic school in elementary, she KNEW I would like to go to church first before commencing with whatever was in-store for us up at the Cordilleras.

Sir Ian, Mark, Mary and Rina

and again, with me. :)
 

A few more hours worth of butt-numbing travel to Baguio City followed; went out for some cash withdrawal to retrieve our 13th month pay (hehe) somewhere in the city; and then, onwards to La Trinidad, Benguet for breakfast and strawberry picking in the Strawberry Farm.

A good dose of soy-protein and honey-coated Strawberry to start the day--
that's your Benguet-version of the much-loved Tahoooo! :D

We were set on having breakfast first but the cantina personnel informed us that it would take some time before our food would be served. If we were going to travel further up north then it would be advisable to do strawberry picking now while we wait for breakfast. The group concurred, and off we went to the fields like a bunch of good hardworking fellas.

don't mind Chelle. she just LOVES to pose.
still cracks me up everytime, to be honest.

I think I remember Princess and her apparent obsession
for picking the 'right strawberry' XD

lo and behold, she succeeded-- until I had to ruin it all by giving her
mental images of how the body would digest and excrete the waste...
something which earned me quite a noogie. XD

... and it got worse when she saw Chelle do this.
Hahaha. XD

Mark and his stash :D

Emergency Nurses on 'Field Work'

Give another for the camera!

Mind you, the strawberries we picked weren't free. When you're done, you have to turn the basket over to the gate-keeper of said field and then they would weigh it for you. Price is P150 per kilo, I believe, but that was over a year ago and I'm not sure if prices rose already. Aside for strawberry delicacies-- jams, ice cream, pastries, and WINE with alcoholic content ranging from mild, strong, and hard (I bought me a 'strong wine' because 'mild' only tastes like cured strawberry XD), they also sell sweet oranges, peanut brittles, souvenirs and a whole lot more. :)

oranges! :D

strawberry pickers

 

strawberries! :D

Cess, Chelle, Nikon Cam and Strawberry Wine. XD

and then, breakfast. :3 There's actually fried chicken
beneath that healthy fresh heap of veggies on the side.

When we were all done, we geared ourselves once more for the very loooooooong ride further up North-- to Sagada, Mountain Provinces. Despite my butt complaining about prolonged blood loss, I couldn't contain my excitement. My camera was on constant on-and-off mode, waiting for the next view to grace our sight, and-- really-- the road did NOT disappoint... :)

it took around 1 hour, I think, before we reached this marker x_x

the birthday girl-- no, I'm not a fan of checkered prints. XD

... what I saw from behind the lens. :)

probably the happiest birthday I've had so far. :)

And then off we go to drive for another thirty-or-so minutes, until the driver had to make a pit-stop for two reasons: (1) to take a leak, and (2) so we could all take a moment to appreciate this:

duck face. XD I'm not really good at making my own jump shot face. :))

... unlike Chelle. she seems to thrive at it. XD

Mark and Chelle, inspecting shots

one last shot on the road...

 Moving on, we traversed through rough and paved roads for another three or so hours before we reached Sagada. I think it was already well-beyond 2pm when we arrived and we were already behind schedule but my companions were all tired and hungry from the trip so, upon Mary's insistence, we stopped by the famous Yoghurt House, featured in too many travel TV documentaries that it is already too hard to ignore-- and rightly so if I may add...

spot the wasted...! :D The Hungry Troupe.

This, my friends, is worth every centavo... :D

... and of course, the house specialty-- Yoghurt! :)

Shop's Exterior :)

I failed to take a picture of the room where we stayed in, but anyway it's in Trip Advisor-- Kanip-aw Pines Lodge. The name is so because the place is built over the edge of a... daunting, rocky cliff filled with pines. It wasn't as scary though when I stood by the balcony. I guess I was overwhelmed by how the place looked. Accommodation is comfortable, with hot/cold shower (you'll NEED the hot shower because it gets REALLY cold up there), a common kitchen with utensils at your disposal, and a common room.

We were given an hour by Kuya Driver to settle in and rest-- oh no, we weren't done yet. In fact, we were going to end the day much, much later... because we were set to go out spelunking at Sumaguing Cave.

But first, Lumiang Burial Cave-- a brief cultural lesson was done, courtesy of our Tour Guide named Kevin. Basically, the Ifugaos believe that the spirit of their departed ones doesn't really leave the mortal world. Much to my discomfort, yes, the implication is that they're still here, hanging around. which is kind of ironic, because their sarcophagus, if it isn't hanging up in the walls of caves then they'll be hung up high on the side of mountains. I'll show you the pictures later on. For now, let's return to the Lumiang Burial Cave...

Trekking down the Lumiang Cave wasn't much of a task...

with Kevin, the tour guide

and with the coffins... x_x

Down the cave...

to your left, behind us, is actually the entrance to what the locals call
the cave-connection-- the more extreme level of spelunking.

The Gecko: a symbol of rebirth and transformation to the Ifugaos.
It was also believed to invoke good fortune and health.

onto a more disturbing kind of imagery:
which vertebrae is this? XD

and then, of course, here's Sir Ian with his death-defying stunts
all for the sake of taking pictures-- hitherto known as, "Buwis-Buhay Pose"

A couple more pictures before we called it quits; then on we go, bound for the main event of the day: The Sumaguing Cave. I wanted to do the cave connection but it would take around 4-5 hours compared to the 2-hours essential spelunking. Also, considering our group's speed and constant NEED to stop over for pictures, our guide laughingly told us it wasn't advisable-- plus, it was already getting dark. 

My world fell apart but... haha, after seeing the relieved looks on Cess and Mary's faces I thought, yeah, we better not do that.

See what I mean? Mary only merely refused to look bad
on pictures. Haha.

Marky. :D

Trekking up back to the main road, we had to ride the van again to reach the entrance to Sumaguing Cave. It was probably due to my lack of spelunking experience, but I was caught off guard when I suddenly realized it would be pitch dark in there if it weren't for the tour guides with their lamps, and the tourists with their flashlights.

Lampara

Obligatory "Before" Picture:
Flashed, because it was already really dark.

Peek-a-Boo

Down the cave we go. Bats, bat-poop scattered everywhere and slippery steps aside, traversing down that cave wasn't as hard as it really seemed...

first descent

um, no that's not a ghost-- that's actually Sir Ian
doing the not-funny thing with the flashlight

Kevin, explaining something about the rock formations
and how it looked like a pig sty for a ginormous pig

such GLORIOUS rock formation, don't you think? XD

yes, girls, point out for Captain Obvious XD

Before we went even further down the cave, we were asked by our tour guide to take off our foot wear because the rocks beyond that point were (1) slippery; and (2) were considered sacred by the Ifugaos, so off we went barefoot.

Take off yer slippers: no, that's not a ghost either.
It's one of those tourists who was ahead of our group. :)

The rocks were pretty smooth but not slippery/muddy and it wasn't hurting our feet at all-- the thing was, it was cold... and it got even colder because we had no choice but to submerge our feet up to our ankles in icy-cold water. >.<

FREEZING.

I am not kidding. XD

up the steps: there's water as well over where I sat

Rock Formation: spot the birthday gelo/cake for the birthday girl!

we were already tired, but we weren't even halfway done!

tiis-lamig picture.

I inwardly laugh at all these. The tour guide was spot-on about the time and our group's pacing. It would probably take us 8 hours to finish the cave connection. Hahaha. Anyway, we took a lot of pictures at the top of the cave because the first group were still climbing down the human-ladder and it's a one-person at-a-time thing so...

sir ian, sitting on the edge

crouching with that pretty sea-green light behind.
I was scared of falling off actually. XD

while waiting for the other group.

When I mentioned human ladder, I meant that literally:

sorry, kuya kevin! >.<

It's what they call the Curtain Rock Formation, I believe.

more spelunking...

and crawling-- Rina was, easily, the tallest in our group
so she had to crouch through every nook. XD

beyond the cave

and beneath...

looking at rocks above

whilst resting our feet

Compress: the journey's far from over though...

because the hardest part is yet to come...

And I really mean that.

After crouching through nooks and crannies of a dark and dreary watery abyss (I was exaggerating the abyss part for drama XD), we had to climb down a tight rope through running, freezing water with four large men facilitating our individual descent. I entrusted my camera to one of the tour guides knowing that he knew a passage that didn't involve a rough descent through tight rope, raging waterfalls, and wading through neck-deep waters in a pitch dark cave. It felt like Survivor, especially with Princess hanging onto my arm, and slightly panicking-- I WAS mildly panicking as well because it was fucking dark and the waters rose to my chin and it was cold and the tour guides were nowhere in sight. I couldn't let her know that I was scared too-- that would be disastrous! (hahaha!) But anyhoo... a few moments later, we saw a lamp lighted at the other end, not too far from where we were; and Kevin's partner, our sub-tour guide was right across, smiling and trying to guide us towards him with a couple of Tagalog words which he knew. 
 
I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally reached the other side. And, yes, he was holding my camera. XD

rule of trekking: the person, first-in-line, would set the pace

survived.

It was REALLY, REALLY freaking cold. Pero ngiti pa rin. Haha.

That's when I realized, my band of friends weren't built for the cave connection. Yes, I could do it but it doesn't necessarily mean that I should and insist. I mean, five of us would have undoubtedly finished it with no problems, but I wouldn't want to risk their safety just because of a whim and my adventurous ego. So thank you for a sensible tour guide, and for the Ifugao Deities who allowed us safe passage through the depths of this wondrous place.

... i think I might have lost a few pounds.XD

manual climbing up a not-so-steep rock-hill

 ... but wait, there's more! XD

hell yes. and sir Ian climbed that shit without the rope. XD

Mary, still refusing to look worn-out for the camera XD

Rina-- my co-Amazona. :D

the look on Cess' face says it all. hahaha.

Chelle, the Amazon Queen. Hahaha!

Marky-- probably the Yang to my Yin. Haha.

going back up...

rest before the final hurrah...

 and then, of course...

WASTED: The obligatory "After" Pictorial.

We capped the day by hurrying back to the hotel to clean up. An hour was allotted for it and while I was cleaning up in the bathroom, I could hear my friends mumbling and planning something. I knew exactly what they were up to, so when I got out of the bathroom, it wasn't really surprising to see them holding up an improvised cake, made of Oreos, and a big-ass candle in the middle while they sang Happy Birthday.


I wasn't surprised. But I was deeply touched. Awwww. XD

It was already past 8pm when we arrived at a certain restaurant for dinner. Going there wasn't exactly a very nice experience because of some rude Caucasian lady who was probably in-charge of the restaurant. But anyway, I wouldn't go into details anymore regarding that... I could care less at that time anyway, but Mary was frustrated at the recent turn of events. She was disappointed that her plan to surprise me with the cake didn't turn out the way that she had imagined. I told her it was alright. It's the thought that counts anyway.

From the restaurant, we all decided to just walk the mile back to our hotel. It was quite an experience doing so-- the road was dimly lit, the houses were closed, and majority of the residents were already asleep save for a partying few because, as it turned out, there was a wedding held that day and we heard that the celebration would go on for a week. Wow. Talk about draining pockets.

Having still come from Manila and considering the rigorous amount of activities done that day, we were all bone-tired. It was to be understood how, from the moment our heads hit the pillow, easily we all fell asleep.

That concludes day one of the Sagada Trip. :)


[SAGADA, The Cordilleras Part II]