Sagada is located in the Cordillera Region of Northern Philippines and one of the town in Mountain Province, known for its terraces, pine scenery, caves and cold weather. It is the perfect place for the adventure-seekers who love trekking, spelunking, rapelling and rock climbing due to its mountainous regions that are perfect for these kind of activities. It is 14 hours away from Manila. According to the numerous writing of Dr. William Henry Scott who is a historain by training and a missionary by profession, as well as an Igorot at heart, the people of Sagada are called as Igorot, which is derived from the root word "golot" meaning "mountains".
Two years ago I went to Sagada with my friends, but this time, I and my photographer friend and some religious educator travel buddies decided to make a side trip to this place just after our Bauko journey for us to relax and enjoy the serene and solemn place of the town that one can go to when the stresses at work and the frustrations of city life seem too much. :)).. From Bauko it took us 1 hour going to Sagada, thanks to Sir Rolly's group of religious educator friend for arranging the rented van.
We reached Sagada at around 10:30am and we booked our room at St. Josephs Inn, the largest guesthouse in town. The rooms and cottages are made up of pine wood set in beautiful gardens over-viewing the town. We got our room at the 1st floor with private comfort room and hot shower. After unpacking our things, we went directly to Sumaguing cave and we decided to go there by foot.. yes by foot.. :) I love walking, taking advantage of the time and seeing everything whenever i travel. For me Sagada is like a big nature park, it was so relaxing to explore the place by means of walking..this is because of the atmosphere and the scenery along the way. It took us almost an hour when we reached the cave and our travel buddies are patiently waiting for us.. Thank You guys! :)
As far as i remember according to Gareth Likigan, my guide on my first visit way back 2008, Sumaguing Cave is very popular in Sagada as well as the Lumiang Cave, it became the burial grounds for the people of Cordillera during World War II and served as a hiding place of Filipino Soldiers and Guerillas. Upon reaching the Cave, I and Rolly decided not to go inside the cave since we've done it before, instead we just took some snapshots on the mouth of the cave and waited our travel buddies to finish their spelunking activity.
After the cave trip, we went back to our guesthouse to had our late lunch at Cafe Saint Joe, we ordered chicken with rice and drinks, they also offer extensive menu whether it is fresh vegetables, meat, chicken, bread and sweets. The Cafe is open all day located in the same ground of the guesthouse. What's nice about this Cafe is the beautiful setting, lovely veranda upstairs and the outdoor seating. You can never complain about the food in Sagada, it is fresh with reasonable price. Most of the restaurant has a very cozy and beautiful country style interior and they serve the food with such an impressive presentation you'd think you're in a fine-dining in Manila. Aside from Cafe Saint Joe..another must try restaurant is the famous Yogurt House where we had our dinner, we ordered stir pan fried beef and their famous yogurt. :)
The next day we woke at 5:00am. We waited for sunrise at the garden of the guesthouse, and it was very cold. Sunrise came but it was very foggy. The mountains showed for a few minutes then disappeared because of the fog. When the sun totally came up we went to Episcopal Church and took some snapshots on the place but we didn't stay for long since we have to pack our things to catch the 10am bus going to Baguio. I also had a chance to drop by at Bana's Cafe and bought some coffee for pasalubong. We left Sagada at 10am bound to Baguio, its a 6 hours trip. Then we reached the Victory Liner Baguio Terminal at around 4:30pm and we have no choice but to get the available trip to Manila at 10:50pm but it was okay since i had my iTouch and Sir Rolly was there sharing some funny and interesting stories on his travel and photography experiences.
"Anti-Social in Victory Liner Terminal" by ROLLY MAGAPAYO
I'm thankful and happy, Shangrila indeed! :)
