Lost in Sagada (Part 2)

to continue...

5. Chill. Most people go to Sagada seeking for a little bit of outdoor fun. Usually, it's caving and trekking that tops the list of must-do activities. For those on drama mode (like me at that time, I shamefully admit), Sagada can also be the perfect spot to do a little retreat. The town is quiet, charming, the air is cool and the views are just splendid. I think I spent more than half of my time there just reclining in a chair, reading and writing. Here are my favorite chill-out spots:

Bana's Cafe

Not your typical cafe of the Starbucks variety. It doesn't look very appealing from the outside and one would be hard pressed to find it when passing by the road. But the place, once you get inside, is very cozy--especially at the dining area by the terrace where I usually sit for my cup of coffee. And since September is an off-peak season for tourist influx, I virtually have the whole place to myself. I always have my breakfast here. Meals are not exactly exceptional, but the coffee is. At P30/cup, their freshly brewed Cordillera coffee is a far cry from their overpriced counterparts at the more posh cafes in the metro. One can also sample here a more exotic blend of coffee, the Kape Alamid, which is made from the droppings of the alamid or the civet cat ( if you're curious to know what sh*t tastes like, then try this one). :-p

early morning at Bana's Cafe

Another view of the dining area

Kape Alamid

Kanip-Aw Pines View Lodge

People do not travel just to get holed up in a lodge or hotel, but you might want to rethink about this place. This is hands down the best lodging I have ever had while travelling. They have a spacious common room which I totally adore, with glass windows allowing guests a majestic view of Mt. Kanip-Aw. The best part is being out on the terrace. On early mornings, the place is so beautifully quiet and all you can hear is the chirping of the birds and the rushing sounds of a nearby river (really. this is not an exaggeration).

the common area

best place to write

early morning view from the terrace

6. Strolling around town. The air gets thin high up in the mountains but strolling around town is never an arduous task. With views getting more splendid the farther away you are from the town center, doing a bit of hiking can be quite rewarding. On my last morning in Sagada, I did some solo trekking, trying to locate the entrance to Sumaguing Cave. Not really hard to find, though, as the locals are very friendly and will gladly help out with directions.

Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin

students on an outdoor art class

on the way to Sumaguing Cave

still on the road

Kapay-Aw rice terraces

stairway leading down to the cave entrance

entrance to Sumaguing Cave

The thing I don't like about Sagada? Nights. Freezing cold and awfully quiet. It can get very lonely being all by yourself. What made it even worse is that there is no signal for Sun Cellular, the Smart tower is undergoing repair, no wifi even, and all the mini-groceries and sari-sari stores are out of stock of Globe sim. I was virtually cut off from all sort of outside communication. It makes the feeling of isolation even more pronounced. Nights forced me to be alone with the thoughts I would rather not recall, which is a very maddening thing. I eagerly waited for the morning to rescue me from that lonely pit.

Minus the nights, though, I would say that my Sagada experince has been generally pleasant and charming. The best thing I realized about being alone is that, well, it sucks. But solitude does have its perks. It is both beauty and madness. And sometimes, we just need to escape every once in a while  to appreciate the things we oftentimes take for granted (e.g. cellphone signals).

I will be coming back to this place definitely. I haven't done the Sumaguing-Lumiang cave connection yet and I am aching to go on that trek to Kiltepan and the Bomod-ok falls. But I don't think I would want to do it alone next time. If any of you want to come along and if you're willing to endure a 24-hour land travel, just contact me. :)

'Til the next road trip.

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)

  

Portrait

Sometimes we think we know who we are, but this self that we think we know isn't exactly the self that other people see in us. Just a curious observation I got during  a quick sketching session at the Tam-Awan Artists' Village in Baguio City last March. Tam-Awan in the local idiom means "vantage point", and rightly so as this village donned with authentic native Ifugao and Kalinga huts sits on a hillside which affords a view of the South China Sea on a clear day. This native colony is a project of the Chanum Foundation, co-founded by National Artist Ben Cabrera, which aims to preserve the natural abode of the Ifugaos and Kalingas and recreate a traditional Cordillera village, as well as serve as the headquarters for some of Baguio's well-known local artists.  It was my third visit to this village, but my first time to have my face rendered in charcoal by its resident artists. And I got not only one, but two drawings from two different artists. It was my lucky day.

Jordan Mang-Osan sat down for my first sketch. It was quick, lasted just about 20 minutes  or so, but I relished every second of it. It was as if tiny fragments of who I am were being siphoned out of me one by one through the artist's gaze. The eyes first, the slope of my cheeks, the bridge of my nose, the slight smirk. And along with it comes the various hidden stories emanating from my skin that only the artist can re-tell through the deft strokes of his pen. 

Jordan Mang-Osan at work

A few minutes after Mang-osan began to draw, I noticed another man pull up a chair behind him and take out his pad of canvass paper. "Hey, I'm not paying for that," I initially thought as this other man began to scrutinize my face. But he began to draw, this sleazy man, and instead of airing my protest, I just shut my mouth and resumed my pose for fear of ruining Mang-Osan's portrait. A few minutes into the simultaneous sketching session, though, I felt my disapproval at this unsolicited drawing dissipate,  and experienced some weird kind of euphoria at being gazed at intently by two men (haha). After all, it's not everyday that I get to be sketched by two artists at the same time.

The other artist was Alfonso Dato, and while Mang-Osan was a bit on the intense side while drawing, Dato was more relaxed and reclined in his chair the whole time. Two artists with two different styles interpreting two different versions of the me that they see exclusively through their eyes. That would be interesting.

Here are the final sketches by Mang-Osan and Dato:

Jordan Mang-Osan version

Alfonso Dato version

And yes, as I expected, these two drawings look so different from each other. In fact, they don't even exactly resemble me, especially Dato's picture. I was amused, I thought I was looking at some cover of a precious hearts romance novel. But I was far from disappointed. Those sketches were still me, only  more varied and interesting. And I surmise that if everyone I knew was an artist and had paper and pencil in hand, I would probably be seeing a hundred reincarnations of my self, the me being born and created over and over again, as seen from the vantage point of a hundred eyes.