Perhaps it’s true as well that there’s no travel which is a hundred percent smooth sailing. At any given time, there will be hiccups, mishaps of some sort. But these hiccups make travel more memorable, if not exciting.
This is the third time in 3 and a half years that I visited Sagada. This time, what started out as an over-drinks/slightly drunk plan with some travel enthusiast friends turned to be a family affair with my two brothers and our mom.
We planned to taker the Banaue-Sagada route to see the rice terraces during the short stop-over. But as we got to Florida bus station (one of two or three bus lines that have Banaue trips), the bus is full. We looked for Autobus, another bus line that supposed to service Banaue, but it seems that it doesn’t exist anymore. We found another line that services Banaue, Ohayami bus, but their buses were fully booked as well. Yes, we should have reserved tickets a day or so earlier, but I planned this trip to be a “bahala na” one. (What an irony.)
Changed plans.
We travel via Baguio instead. Thank you Lord for the empty seats in Victory Liner. We left at 11pm and arrived freezing in Baguio at 5am. We then took a cab to Dangwa station to catch a GL/Lizardo bus to Sagada. And woah, the line is sooo ling. A lot of travelers are going to Sagada at this moment. We were able to get tickets for 830am trip. Then off we go. Having no reserved accommodations and seeing the volume of travelers, I feel the need to book us a place to stay. Ms. ‘Bahala Na’ is a bit worried. Thanks for unlimited internet on my fingertips, I searched for Sagada accommodations and called all active numbers. Too bad though that all places I called were fully-booked. I was constantly silently praying that we get a place to stay once we get there.
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| Roadside View to Sagada |
So we thought everything will be smooth sailing since. But then, my youngest brother found out that he lost his wallet with all his money (P5k) somewhere between Baguio and Sagada. Having no ATM in Sagada, we have to make do with the cash we have. The tight budget of 3 persons must be stretched to 4.
And the trip must go on.
Cave Connections:
We enter through the burial cave and exit through Sumaguing.
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| Cave Connections in Sagada |
We spent 3 hours inside testing our dexterity, limberness, and our upper and lower body strength. It’s my second time to do the cave connections, and it seems that some of the steps are harder and the gaps tighter (or perhaps I’m just getting bigger).
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| Cave Connections |
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| Sumaguing Cave |
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| Sumaguing Cave |
Anyways, near the end of our trip, my mom slipped and sprained her foot. Oh no, injury!
As we got back to the town, we called a manghihilot, and he did a therapy on my mom’s foot. The pain was relieved and by the afternoon the next day, my mom was able to walk around town, and by night, she was able to party with the Igorots around a bonfire. (But we’ll get to that later.)
Bomod-Ok Falls
By morning, my brothers, my brother’s friends and I trekked to Bomod-Ok falls. This is the fastest and seemingly easiest trek I took to the big falls. In my previous trios, it took almost half a day going to and from, but only, we only took less than an hour to trek down and another hour to climb up. Well, perhaps it’s because I was trekking with 3 mountaineers (2 of which regularly run 42k for FUN), and a 17 year-old Frisbee player.
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| View from the trek to Bomod-Ok Falls |
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| Trek to Bomod-Ok Falls |
By the time we get to the falls, there were a lot of people. We stayed for a while, taking photos and a dip in the freezing water.
Sagada Bonfire
The climax of this trip perhaps is the bonfire party in the pine forest. 500 or so guests from different parts of the world partied the night away. There was dancing—the traditional Igorot way; dinner of fresh salad, adobo, and rice served in banana stem; 3 kinds of wine—rice, lemon, blueberry, and overflowing freshly brewed coffee and mountain tea. It reminded me a bit of the Igorot wedding we crashed a few years back, but this is much more fun.
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| Overflowing wine, coffee, and tea |
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| Traditional Igorot Dance around bonfire |
I feel so privileged to be part of this bonfire. I feel so privileged to visit Sagada again. And if given the chance and opportunity to do this over and over, I will definitely will.
Sagada, til we meet again.
