Trip to Sagada: The Summary

Sagada is a peaceful town in Mountain Province, Philippines.  It is nestled in the valley some 1,500 meters above sea level.  It is enveloped by the Corrdillera Ranges and Ilocos Range.  Due to its location, Sagada has a cooler and highland rainforest climate which makes it a good summer get away, just like Baguio and Tagaytay.

Sagada is blessed with big caves such as Lumiang and Sumaguing.  It also has waterfalls, such as Bomod-ok and Pongas.  There are beautiful hilltops, such as Marlboro Country, Kiltepan Peak, and Echo Valley.  These places made activities like trekking, spelunking, hiking, and sunrise viewing popular.  Sagada might be popular because of it's natural beauty, but there's something else that made it famous, the "Hanging Coffins".

We booked a tour package to Sagada through a travel agency since we only have 5 days vacation.  The tour package included a van transfer from Manila-Sagada-Manila, accommodation, tour guide fee, and entrance fees.  We paid $760 for 4 people for the package.

We left Manila around 9:00 at night.  I decided to take a nap since I was tired from a 3 hour flight from South Korea.  The van was pretty spacious because there were only five of us including the driver.  A couple of hours later, we made a stop over at a gasoline station.  Then we started going up to Baguio.  It was night time so I saw nothing but a few jeepneys and cars parked along the way.  And a lot of lights that looked like fireflies hovering around the hilltops.

Around 5:00 in the morning the next day we made another stop over at a gasoline station in Abatan, Benguet.  My mom and I got out of the van and looked around the place.  As we opened the door, we were kissed by a cool morning breeze and heaven! We were literally above the clouds and our van was parked a couple of meters away from the cliff.  The view was marvelous.  I was speechless.  Green terraces with clouds and fogs over it.  What I saw was the opposite of 'stairway to heaven', I saw the 'stairway to earth', for we were standing on heaven.

Early morning in Abatan, Benguet

We continued our journey "through the clouds".  I saw how heaven kisses the earth.  And it was priceless.  It was like a dream and I didn't want to blink in the fear of missing any of those glorious views.

Stop over at Mt. Kalawitan

 After a long yet amazing journey, we arrived at our destination, SAGADA.  We checked in to our guest house.  Rested for a bit and walked around the town proper to look for a place to eat.  We passed a number of souvenir shops along the road.  Then saw a restaurant named Masferre Country Inn and Restaurant.  My husband recognized the name.  Masferre is the family name of the 'Father of Philippine Photography', Eduardo Masferre.  We entered and ate lunch there.  The restaurant houses some of the world-renowned photographs of the famous photographer.

At Masferre, waiting for our orders

Around 1:00 in the afternoon our tour guide came and we went trekking to Pongas Falls. The trek wasn't difficult and the weather wasn't so hot. There was a concrete path that leads to the waterfalls. It took us about an hour to get there. And again the goddess of nature touched my soul. The water runs down aesthetically, it was very beautiful. There we climbed one of the huge rocks and took photos. Our tour guide led us to the upper portion of the waterfalls. The breeze and the sound of water hitting the rocks was refreshing. I didn't want to leave. The water in a small natural pool was inviting me to swim but I turned down the invitation and dipped my hand and washed my face instead. Then we bid goodbye to it and started trekking down.

We had dinner at Yoghurt House then went to bed early. I slept really well.

The next morning I felt energized and ready for the day's activities. Our tour guide came and we headed to the hilltop they call Echo Valley. The place wasn't called Echo Valley for nothing, it's one of the few places where shouting is encouraged for your voice returns to you. The place was surrounded by lime stones. It is believed that it was underwater thousands of years ago. From the Echo Valley, we saw the coffins hanging on the side of a huge rock. To get a closer look to the 'Hanging Coffins' we trekked down a cliff. Hanging coffins is a tribal burial tradition that started around 2000 years ago. This burial tradition is slowly fading but still being practiced by few. The latest addition to the coffins was December 2010.

Hanging Coffins

Huge rock at Echo Valley

The part of the trip which I considered a highlight was the spelunking. But before spelunking our tour guide brought us to a sacred burial cave, the Lumiang Cave. Lumiang Cave is the entrance cave for cave connection. But we didn't do the cave connection because it might be very difficult for my parents. We left Lumiang cave and headed to Sumaguing Cave or the "Big Cave". It is the exit cave of cave connection.
From the road, we walked down around 30 steps on a concrete staircase. We had two tour guides for the spelunking. Before we entered the cave our guided lighted two alcohol powered lamps. The entrance was slippery and we could hear the sounds of bats. At first, it was a little scary but then we reached the first glory of the cave, the 'elephants pen'. We continued walking through wet rocks and then our guide told us to leave our slippers. We did and walked barefoot. I was glad I did becuase if I have my slippers on I won't be able to enjoy the feeling of walking on 'flow stone'. 'Flow stone' is a kind of cave rock which looks slippery but is actually rough. As the journey in the cave continues, I felt more excited. I couldn't explain what I felt. The rock formations were amazing. There's a queen, a king's curtain, a princess, a prince, a turtle, a bowing bear, and a lion and tiger. The king's curtain was pretty high so we needed the aid of a 'human ladder', and a rope. We had to pass through a very small passage in between rocks. We couldn't raise our heads or else we'll bump into sharp edges of rocks. Stalagmites and stalactites growing, water dripping and our adrenaline rushing. Further down the cave was a small pool. The water reached my chest. Then there was a big pool which I didn't try to jump into. We rested on a flat surface and our guide pointed to something on the wall. There were fossilized shells on the wall. More proof that that place was once under water.

Standing on the 'turtle's back'

Choco-Vanilla Cake

On the last day of our Sagada trip, we woke up early and headed to Kiltepan Peak to see the sunrise above the clouds. It was foggy that morning and we failed to see what we wanted to see. I didn't feel bad though. The fog made the place so dramatic and I still loved it.

  We checked out and left for Manila. I wanted to see those things I failed to see when we were going up, so I stayed awake the whole trip down and I didn't regret it. The view was amazing. Seeing waterfalls and rice terraces made me so excited and happy. We made a quick stop over at the Philippine Highway's highest point. It was 1,744 meters above see level. From where we stood, we saw some of the Philippine's highest mountains and one waterfall was also visible.

  People may think Sagada is far. Yes, it is, but it is worth it. And if somebody asked me if I want to go back there, my answer will be, "Absolutely!". Sagada is a real gem. It is blessed with natural beauty and it is rich in culture and history. It is also one of the few places where 'Alamid/Luwak Coffee (Civet Cat Coffee) is produced. The food was amazing and the people were nice too.

If you love adventure, Sagada will be a best place to go. Some famous places near Sagada are Baguio, Banaue, and Batad. Ilocos is not that far too. Going to Sagada by public transportation isn't that hard also. There are two ways to get there, via Baguio and via Bontoc. The bus terminal for Baguio is in Cubao (Victory Liner) it takes 6 hours to get to Baguio.  The fare is around P450 or $12, from Baguio take a cab to Dangwa Bus Terminal where you can take Lizardo bus.  That can take you straight to Sagada. Please take note that the last bus from Dangwa to Sagada is 1:00 in the afternoon. Via Bontoc, there is Cable Tours.  It will take you straight to Bontoc.  The travel time is 12 hours and the bus fare is around P700 or $16.  From Bontoc, take a jeepney that will bring you to Sagada for around P60 or $1 and 50 cents.

 Tourists need to register at the Tourist Registration Center in Sagada town proper.