-Mahatma Gandhi
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How does an inactive, couch potato survive Sagada spelunking? Well, read on and find out...
The hubby and myself were on our home leave and we promised the nieces and the nephew a Hongkong or a Singapore trip. Poor planning, however, made it impractical to see Disneyland or Universal Studios. But a promise is a promise (and with these kids, it's a covenant!) so we had to provide an alternative.
The searing heat of Philippine summer made the choice quite easy - go up north where the mountains and the cold weather are. My fascination with UNESCO Heritage Sites brought the 7 of us to the municipality of Sagada in the Mountain Province.
Sagada is located 275 km north of Manila and takes around 10 hours from our place in Pampanga. We took a 10PM bus to Baguio and the 6:30 AM GL-Lizardo Trans arriving in Sagada at around 1PM. The commute itself was strenuous but the majestic views of mountain stretches, rice terraces and roadside waterfalls made it bearable.
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| Breathtaking view on the way to Sagada |
Exhausted, hungry and with little sleep, we found our way to the municipal tourist information center where we registered ourselves and paid the PhP 35 environmental fee. We found a place to stay at the Isabelo's Inn and Cafe for PhP250 per person a night (with free wifi!).
Now, we are officially registered Sagada tourists....
Lunch at the famous Yoghurt House. Sagada is known for its delectable specialties that we just had to try some of them. The Yoghurt house is touted to have the best, well, yoghurt! :)
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| Delicious fares at the Yoghurt House... |
Lake Danum and a majestic sunset at Mount Ampacao. After catching a few winks, we opted to book the Lake Danum/sunset tour. The lake is, well, unimpressive but it gave us an opportunity to take some nice photos. As for the sunset, it was majestic in its own rights but not really comparable to that of Santorini. :)
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| Goofing around Lake Danum... |
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| Aspiring models all... |
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| Sunset at Mount Ampacao...majestic in its own rights... |
Day 2: Spelunking at Sumaguing. I was warned! But everybody said you have not been to Sagada if you don't do the cave tours. There were actualy 2 cave tours you can choose from - the Cave Connection and the Short Course Caving. Having been warned of the difficulties of the former (and simply reading the description in the brochure), we opted for the short course caving...not without some precautions, I tell you.
Q: We have kids with us, can they do this?
A: If they're older than 7, sure.
Q: CAN I DO IT?
A: (Guide looked at me from head to toe and said...) If you set your mind to doing it, then you can do it!
Bah!! That sounded like a challenge.
The short course caving tour actually includes a Dokiw hanging coffin viewpoint, a Lumiang burial cave entrance, rice terraces viewpoint and of course, the Sumaging cave adventure which promises to treat us with " awesome rock arts, a wade through waist deep water, rappelling and boulder climbing". Not bad, huh! Sumaguing is also home to hundreds of bats and yeah, you would need to go through the bat dung section to go to the next part. Still interested?! :)
So, with our petite but really awesome guide, Dalifer...off we went to our great (mis) adventure of the day (of my lifetine, probably)!
First stop, the Dokiw hanging coffin viewpoint. After a few minute-walk, we were treated with gorgeous rock formations and of course, some of the hanging coffins. Sagada is famous for this traditional way of burying people which is still practiced by some. We were told that not everyone can be buried this way; one had to be married and have grandchildren to qualify (among other things). So there goes my chances, no grandchildren to boot. :)
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| Hanging coffins and awesome rock formations... |
Next was a visit to the Lumiang burial cave. The challenge started here as you need to descend about hundred feet down and go up the same way. It was an eerie experience, what with old coffins and skeletal remains around in the darkness of the cave...
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| Oh yes, these are coffins, alright! |
View of the rice terraces. The rice terraces in Sagada are not the most breathtaking but they are not less than remarkable.The trek to Sumaguing cave is made bearable by these fantastic wonders of human ingenuity.
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| Ingenious wonders indeed! |
Now, comes the Sumaguing cave adventure. The cave has a huge opening and you would need to go down a number (hundreds!!!) of steps to proceed. It's like a descent to the unknown. Next, is the overpowering smell of bat dung and if you shun anything icky, this one is not for you...its like, eeewwww, as my nieces exclaimed. The only thing that prods you on is the excitement of what's next. If you're lucky too, you will have spots of dung droppings as you proceed. :) Totally, eeewwww....
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| Having fun still... |
Shoe off now...the hubby declined to proceed further claiming painful corns and calluses...so he opted to wait for us. Where is your sense of adventure??!! Well, he probably had common sense...:)
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| Those are extremely slippery boulders... |
So, we waded through cold cave waters...slippery boulders...had, at some point, needed to descend by stepping on the shoulders of the guide (yeah, yeah...poor him)..But yeah, the rock formation are a sight to behold - we saw the mother and kid elephant, the Queen (giving birth), the King (the reason for the queen's form) and the Prince. We also saw the cake and the curtains...:)
Now, rappelling!! What?! I thought there's another route?! Well, the other route requires wading through neck deep water. So, what now...the kids say - rapelling! I was outvoted. So, be it (with an uttered prayer)!! I was so worried that I cannot lift my own body weight that I vowed at that point to lose some...Did I honor that vow? Well, the camel ride in Dubai made me rethink...but that's another story... :p
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| Not my best shots, but hey, these are proofs...:) |
Ok, I rappelled. I survived. Me: What?! Another one?! Noooooooo!!!!! Guide: Oh, yeessss!!!
So, we had to go back same way we came, so back to the point where we left the hubby....and seeing what we needed to climb still, I almost cried!! I saw the vertical climb that I feared for everybody's survival. It was so steep with only rock protrusions to help the ascend. You then come to the realization that this is what you survived climbing down and that there is no other way up. I probably called all the saints beseeching them to just get us through this...please, please LORD! Sabi siguro ni Lord "Ginusto mo yan eh...".
And then we saw the light....no, silly, we survived!!! ! ...that's the entrace to the cave...a few more climb...one..two...a few more steps...three..four...don't care about the bat dung...$%$&....slide through it...hundred more steps....bring it on!!!!
Then, FREEDOM!!! Halo-halo treat came next...:) :)
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| Survivors all...yipppeeee!!! |
Can't imagine how we survived this (mis)adventure...how I survived it! But I did and I AM PROUD!!.. Will I do it again?! Nooooooo.....not in this lifetime!!!
It was indeed an adventure of a lifetime and memories I will always share with my brother's family. Let's do this again...the vacation I mean, not the spelunking...:)
