Lost in Sagada (Part 1)

Finally! I fulfilled one of my birthday wishes this year: To travel in some far-flung town high up in the mountains. Alone.

After having filed my three-day leave from work, I packed my bags, trooped to the bus terminal in Sampaloc and chose a window seat. My destination: Sagada, Mountain Province. I took the Banaue-Bontoc route going to Sagada, and the Baguio route returning back to Manila to sort of do a circle around northern Luzon and make the most of the road trip. And what a trip that was! 9 hours from Manila to Banaue, 2 hours from Banaue to Bontoc and an additional hour, finally, from Bontoc to Sagada. Going back, on the other had, entailed 6 hours each from Sagada to Baguio, and Baguio to Manila. That's a total of 24 solid hours of butt and back aching road travel. I pity the driver who would have to endure this kind of ordeal behind the wheel. 

Actually, I was about to write a very detailed account of this trip, but I got bored two pages into the narrative and just scrapped the whole thing. So I guess I'll just be writing down the things that impressed me the most about this solo travel experience.

So here goes, in no particular order:

1. Little pleasant surprises. I saw this glued into the window next to my seat on the bus going to Banaue:

I thought at first that it was some quaint little project by the bus company, much like the Berso sa Metro where one could see verses of poetry scattered inside the MRT, but when I scanned the other windows, all were clear except for mine. Somebody must have pasted that quote some time ago while going to Banaue. He/she must have also been a lone traveler like me. I found the verse comforting. It's almost as if I was meant to be seated at that exact same spot , as if those lines were meant for me. Shocks, drama mode!

2. Beautiful, beautiful mountains. Some of the most amazing and breathtaking mountains that I have ever seen in my life can be found along the Halsema Highway on the Bontoc-Sagada and Sagada-Baguio routes. Mountains ranges as far as the eye can see. Valleys. Terraces. Clouds settling on mountaintops. The sights were really something.  Too bad I was not able to take pictures since I was always on the wrong side of the vehicle (must make mental note to seat myself at the driver's side of the bus next time). I am including here instead some photos I took of the rice terraces in Banaue, since I was able to do some roaming around while waiting for the van that will take me to Bontoc.

3. The kindness of strangers. I met this young couple, Stanley and Catherine, while on the van going to Bontoc from Banaue. They were both locals: Stanley, a miner from Baguio and Catherine, a wag-wag / ukay-ukay vendor from Sagada. They were such a friendly bunch. The two of them, along with another local entertained me along the way with stories about Banaue and Sagada. When we finally got off at Bontoc, we found out that we still have an hour before the jeepney to Sagada leaves. Seeing perhaps that I was on my own, Stanley and Catherine offered to take me with them to stroll a bit around town. They even took me to lunch and paid for my meal. Since they will also be going to Sagada the next day (Catherine will be touring Stanley around town since it will be his first time to visit the place), they told me that if I wanted, I can go with them so I can save on tour guide costs. I was touched by the kind offer. And to think that they were complete strangers. You will not see anything like this in Manila.

4. The kindness of dogs. Really. Even dogs are friendly in this part of the country. It all began when I decided to explore Echo Valley. Since I didn't want to pay for a tour guide, I went to the tourist information center and asked the kind man behind the counter if I could go there on my own, and he said yes. He even drew this map for me to make sure that I do not get myself lost:

 The trail may look simple, but it's actually made up of frighteningly narrow paths on the side of a cliff. The crosses on the upper portion of the map indicate a local cemetery, and from there, the "leisurely" walk begins. 

the path to Echo Valley

wedged my cam between 2 rocks so I can take this "candid" picture of me looking over a cliff

resting my feet and enjoying the view

The trail ends with a view point where across the valley one could see the famous hanging coffins of Sagada. I lingered there for a while admiring the view and taking some terribly blurry photos of the coffins. I can actually take another path that would lead me down the valley and to the mountain across where I could see the coffins up close. But the downward trail looked scary and I got even more apprehensive upon seeing this stone marker:

What if I fall off a cliff while making my way down the valley? I didn't want to die there alone with no one to witness my death. So instead of going down the valley, I climbed my way up to "Calvary", the top of a hill where a tall wooden cross is erected. Going up seemed easier than going down since since I can be more sure of my footing. I can also be on all fours, holding on to weeds or tree trunks or rocks (Reckless decision on my part. Do not try this on your own, unless you're confident in your climbing skills). 

And so, LUCKILY, I was able to reach Calvary. Hooray. The imminent problem then was: How do I get back down? It was then that I realized that I did a very stupid thing. As I was pondering on my dilemma, a dog appears out of nowhere. He began circling around me, sniffing at my feet. As I was about to pat his head, he moved away, going into a certain direction. He stopped and turned to look at me. When I was about to approach him again, he began moving further along. It was as if he was telling me to follow him. And so that was what I did. I followed him and to my surprise, I discovered that he was leading me back to the cemetery where my walk began earlier. 

What a blessing. I patted his head and whispered thank you. He followed me all the way down to the edge of the cemetery. When I turned back to look for him so I could take another photo, he was gone.

It was my little miracle in Sagada.

(Part 2 to follow)