I never expected that a road
trip to Mountain Province would be a very long one – 17 hours on the road from
my home province in Cavite to Sagada! And I experienced all the harshness on
the road – bumpy roads, broken vehicle, dusty road and long non-stop drive
while admiring stunning mountain views, river valley scenes, mountain-side
waterfalls and verdant rice terraces. This road trip is the longest road trip I
experienced in my entire travelling life. It was sure my unforgettable road
trip! It was pain in the ass but what the heck! Arriving in Sagada was worth the
entire long road trip with the best travel activities I experienced there.
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| Welcome to Mountain Province! Peace to the Mountains... |
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| Mountain Province, at last! After a long road trip... |
I leave Cavite with my travel
companions at 10 in the evening to start our road trip to Sagada, Mountain
Province. It was a long road trip and drive to the mountains. We passed through
other northern Luzon provinces like Tarlac, Pampanga, Baguio and Benguet before
reaching Mountain Province. We arrived 6 am in Baguio where we had the longest
stopover so we did a side trip for two hours.
It was a long trip again on
the way to Sagada. 6 hours on the road while admiring the mountain scenes,
cliffs and rural life of Benguet province. I’m even lucky to have a glimpse of
Mount Pulag – Luzon’s highest peak and be on the marker of Philippine’s highest
point of highway system in Atok, Benguet. Even tired on a long sit, when I we
arrived in Mountain Province, everything seems to be a relief after a long
journey. Beautiful mountain sceneries and verdant pine trees greeted us
alongside a clear blue sky as we neared our destination. Cliffs as dangerous it
can be on the roadside as our vehicle runs through beside it provided me
numerous stunning panoramic sceneries of Mountain Province. And the cool
mountain air breeze that refreshes along with its lovely cool weather made me
feel the long journey worthy. We arrived in Sagada at 3 in the afternoon. It
was a long and tiring road trip to reach Sagada. I uttered – “at last!” But it
was just the start of my Sagada journey.
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| Mount Pulag - Luzon's highest peak and the country third highest mountain seen as we drive through Benguet. |
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| Mountain sceneries en route to Sagada. |
I just rested for an hour
after a long road trip in our accommodation when we were informed by our tour guide that we’ll do a
spelunking of Sumaguing Cave was our
first activity in Sagada. It was my
first time to do a cave spelunking so I was very excited to do the activity.
But what I didn’t expect is spelunking in Sumaguing Cave was a one hard
activity! It was a physically demanding activity so it’s a warning for those
who want to try spelunking and who’s not much into a physical activities like
me. At first, I’m quite hesitant to try it because at the mouth of the cave, it
so looks deep and scary to explore it. But when a group of spelunkers who just
finished exploring the cave advises us to go ahead with the activity because it
was beautiful underground and worth a try, I said to myself – ok, the reason
why I’m in Sagada is to do this spelunking experience. So I proceed to try
spelunking.
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| Accommodation at George Guest House. |
Sumaguing Cave is really deep.
It is said to be six feet below the ground but I think it is more since it has
many chambers and deep caverns to explore. There were 4 levels of the cave that
our cave guide, Albert told us that we will pass through. It was in the 2
nd
level that I find it the hardest to pass through because it is slippery and wet
because of bat cave’s
guano so extra
caution should be done because this level is dangerous and risky. But when we
reached the 4
th level where the amazing rock formations of
stalactites and stalagmites can be found, I felt awe and relief. I saw all the
magnificent and amazing rock formations of Sumaguing Cave. There were large
wall rock formations flowed with cave water and there’s even a river-like
formation where cold water flows!
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| The mouth of Sumaguing Cave... look how deep it is. |
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| Spelunking to 6 feet under of Sumaguing Cave. |
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| One of the amazing rock formations and pools that one will see at the deepest part of the cave. |
When I looked up where we came
from, I realized how deep we have reached Sumaguing Cave. It looks like I
reached the deepest side of the earth and how are we going back up to the
surface. It is an hour trek going up, the same time of going down to the cave.
It is easier going up to the surface but prove to be a difficult task for me. Our
guide told us to do a faster climb up since it is getting dark already so out
of panicked, my foot and hand wrongly land on one the stones and I got bruised
and broke my thumb nail. When I reached the surface, I’m almost out of breath and
gasping for air. Still I’m glad I recovered after a moment of rest. I survived
Sumaguing Cave, I told myself.
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| Breakfast at Strawberry Cafe. |
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| My first taste of Mountain Tea! |
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| Heavy breakfast for a tiring activity for rest of the day. |
The following morning, I had
my breakfast with my travel companions at
Strawberry
Café, a famed eatery in Sagada where I also had my first sample of mountain
tea.
After a while, we went to
Lumiang
Cave, one of the burial caves in Sagada. It was discovered in the 70’s and
remained to be a must-see sight when visiting Sagada for its intact century old
coffins. Lumiang Cave is a traditional burial site of the Igorot people. It
shows how the Igorot people highly pay tribute to death.
There
is a guided trail going to Lumiang Cave that involves a 30 minute trek. A cave
connection spelunking can also be done in Lumiang Cave with an exit to
Sumaguing Cave’s entrance. The spelunking is said to lasts for 6 to 7 hours.
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| Guided trek down to Lumiang Cave. |
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| Lumiang Cave's burial site. Files of coffins found at the mouth of the cave. |
Then I prepared myself for the
highlight activity of my second day in Sagada, which is trekking the rice
terraces to visit Bomod-ok Falls. Together with my travel companions, we were
brief at the tourist center of what we will do and what is to expect during the
trek. It was a two hour trek going through the rice terraces up to the falls
and back. So it’s a total of 4 hours trek for first timers like us. We have a
trek guide named, Gloria or Ate Glo which we fondly called her so we have no
problem going through the rice terraces trek of Sagada.
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| Trekking the rice terraces of Sagada... |
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| A closer look to the "palay" - rice plant. |
The sun is at its highest
point when we started our trek so it is really hot and humid. My trek
companions have themselves with covered cloth and long sleeves for protection while
I sprayed myself with sunblock protection since I don’t have long covered
cloth. We were also given bamboo sticks each to use as a balance control which
was helpful while doing the trek. The first 40 minutes of trek was hard, sweaty
and hot until we reach Baranggay Fidelisan, one of the baranggays nestled in
the middle of the rice terraces and mountainous valleys of Sagada that serves
as our stopover for the trek.
We continue our trek through
the rice terraces after a brief stopover in Baranggay Fidelisan. There was a
high viewpoint along the trek where one can viewed the vast verdant rice
terraces of Fidelisan and its surrounding mountain sceneries. The trek let me
have a closer look to the rice terraces of Mountain Province. It also let me
see how life is going on Sagada and how irrigation system works in the rice
terracing farming. Another hour trek
through the rice terraces, we reached Bomod-ok Falls at last.
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| Our friendly trek guide to Bomod-ok Falls - Ate Glo! |
Hidden through the mountain
sides and nestled down in valley location,
Bomod-ok Falls was a sight to behold. It was a very tall feet waterfall
with strong currents of water going down to its base river. I can feel the mist
of waters spraying on me even I’m standing far from its base. My companions
took the opportunity of our stopover here by swimming near the waterfalls. It’s
rock boulder filled river is amazing scenery as well as enticing for a swim.
The water is crystal clear and clean. While I didn’t took a swim, I photographed
Bomod-ok Falls in all angles that I can like a professional travel photographer
just to savor my first time encounter of a waterfall. Bomod-ok Falls is a
stunning beauty of nature. It is a place that should not be missed when in
Sagada for it is really beautiful and divine. I was really stunned by its
beauty! It was truly stunning!
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| Bomod-ok Falls - I was really stunned by its
beauty! It was truly stunning! |
After another two hour trek
back from Bomod-ok Falls, we took a mandatory rest and take our lunch so that
we’ll have energy for the next itinerary of our exploration of Sagada. Around
4pm, we visited St. Mary’s Episcopal
Church, a prostestant church in Sagada. The church is known as the mother
church in Sagada and the seat of Anglican Mission at the north. Built by American
Missionaries during the early 1900’s, the church was founded by the Reverend
John Staunton who came to Sagada to spread the Christian faith to its local
people. Sagada is predominantly Protestant by religion, with 95% of its
population sharing the faith.
Near the church is just a few
walk that leads us to Sagada’s Public Cemetery and Echo Valley. Although I find
it creepy roaming through Sagada’s Public Cemetery, I’m glad that we were
greeted with picturesque views of pine trees and mountain in every corner in
Echo Valley. The afternoon rays of the sun is silhouetting the ridges of the
mountains creating a dramatic shadow scenery at that time that makes a pleasant
view to my eyes. These beautiful Sagada sceneries is joined by a cool afternoon
weather which I assure every visitor will like. The breeze of cool air in
Sagada is fresh and cool. Echo Valley
is actually a cliff that when you shout a word or phrase aloud facing the cliff,
it echoes back at you, hence the name of the place. Going to Echo Valley is
quite risky. The path down the valley has side cliffs and narrow foot ways so
extra caution is needed when trekking the trail here.
The following morning I got up
as early as 5 in the morning because our guide instructed us that we will watch
sunrise in Sagada. I thought it will just be an ordinary sunrise viewing and did
not expected much as I still prefer sunrise viewing by the beach over the mountains.
So I proceeded riding the van with my travel mates to the viewpoint. It was
heavily foggy and very cold when we arrived at the viewpoint so I wore my
cardigan. I walked with others to the sunrise viewpoint called Kiltepan Viewpoint. I waited. And as
the sun rises from the horizons, it was an “awe moment” for me. The rays of the
sun intertwined beautifully with the dawn clouds. It revealed a panoramic view
of ridges of the mountains, the morning clouds that hugs it and the rice
terraces below with beautiful reflection from the rice paddies’ water. The Sagada
Sunrise highlighted the beautiful scenery that I saw at the viewpoint,
actually enhancing like an Adobe photoshop application! It wasn’t just an
ordinary sunrise viewing that I expected. It was the most beautiful morning in
Sagada!
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| The most beautiful morning in Sagada is best experience at Kiltepan Viewpoint. |
After spending more than an
hour in Kiltepan Viewpoint, we went to
Rock
Farm Inn and Cafe to see Sagada orange farm. Rock Farm Inn is a recreational place
in Sagada where visitors can stay for accommodation, dine at their restaurant
and do Sagada orange picking just like what we did. We were led to the farm
where my travel mates enjoyed picking Sagada oranges which is a variant of an
orange fruit. Rock Farm Inn has a vast plantation of these oranges in their
various locations.
After the picking
activity, we went to explore the inn’s premier restaurant, Café Bodega. The rattan
native-inspired restaurant was famous for being one of the settings of the
local movie
Don't Give Up on Us
starred by Judy Ann Santos and Piolo Pascual.
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| This way... |
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| Sagada orange farm at Rock Farm Inn and Cafe. |
While my travel mates tried to
sample a breakfast at Café Bodega, I tried to explore the places to see in Rock
Farm Inn. While it has many viewpoints of its Sagada orange farm, it also has
many gardens sites to walk through. There are also nooks where visitors can sit
down, relax and admire the beautiful nature scenes around. The colourful
flowering plants and shrubs along with numerous lines of pine trees makes the
place a very relaxing one!
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| Cafe Bodega - one of the shoot location of Don't Give Up on Us movie. |
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| Mandarin bloom at Rock Farm Inn and Cafe's Sagada orange farm. |
Rock Farm Inn was the last
place in the itinerary that we visited in Sagada. We have to leave early as we
will embark again in a long trip on the road. We had a sidetrip to the town of
Bontoc, Mountain Province’s capital as it is one of the places along the way
that we will pass through. Then we get a stopover at
Bay-yo Rice Terraces, one of Bontoc’s scenic rice terraces and part
of the “Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras” as inscribed by UNESCO.
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| Bontoc's rice terraces. |
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| Bay-yo Rice Terraces marker. |
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| The scenic Bay-yo Rice Terraces at Bontoc, Mountain Province. |
And we head off to a long
journey on the road again. But before we go home from a long road trip, we made
a short side trip to Banaue, Ifugao to admire its magnificent rice terraces. We
continue driving on the road passing Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya as well as
Tarlac and Pampanga before finally reaching Manila and then home in Cavite. It
was an exhausting trip, but I will never forget this road trip. I will never
forget along with it, the cool fresh air of Sagada, the scenic mountains of the
Cordillera region, the stunning mountainside waterfalls while on the road, the
verdant valleys and rice terraces, the cool mountain weather and the scenic slopes
of pine trees, of course! These are just “icing on the cake” when you embark on
a road trip to Sagada. So what’s more that awaits you when you’re there already?
I say, every step and every trek are all
worth it in exploring this place of Mountain Province.
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Sagada: Stairway to Mountain Province is part of my Cordillera
Region Tour blog series to Mountain Province where I explore Sagada as my main
destination to the province last October 5-8, 2012. I also had a side trip to
the province’s capital, Bontoc. Part of
the tour is also side trips to Baguio and Banaue, Ifugao in which I will have a
separate blog stories.
My Cordillera Region Tour is courtesy of Hannah Julianne Travel and Tours – 111 Fiesta Homes, San Jose, City
of Dasmarinas, Cavite. For travel tour inquiries, contact 0916.6853413.
*This is not a paid
article.
