Surviving Sagada (for the second time) ♥

Hooray! I'm back! 

And I welcomed July in Sagada. For the second time! I don't think I was able to write about my first visit there. But this time, I won't miss the chance to share my great adventure up in the mountains of northern Luzon. :)

Hello, Mountain Province! :)

I was Paolo's plus one. (Yay! Nakaka-kilig sabihin yun. Haha.) It's also my second time to go on a trip with his friends (the first one is in Cebu, but this is another group - Pioneer badminton people). 

We took the direct trip to Sagada via Banaue on the night of June 30 aboard a Coda Lines bus. Around 6AM of July 1, we arrived in Banaue, and for the first time in my 30 long years of existence, I was finally able to see up close and personal the famous Banaue Rice Terraces! It was so surreal. Yung feeling na dati sa libro mo lang siya nakikita, ngayon, actual na! Totoo ngang nakakamangha! At ang saya lang kasi huminto talaga yung bus sa view deck and we were given enough time to take photos.

Just beautiful! :)

Two hours after, we arrived in Sagada! We checked in at Isabelo's Inn & Cafe, and I highly recommend that place. The rooms are clean, hot shower is working, there's a veranda where you can hang your wet clothes, the ambiance is so good, and superb location! It's just behind the Municipal Hall, and a few steps away from the Tourism Office.

Poblacion

After settling in, we had a quick brunch and began our Adventure Trail from St. Mary's Church, to the Cemetery, to Echo Valley, to the Hanging Coffins, and the Underground River. This time, I (together with everyone else in the group) went beyond the entrance of the Underground River. As expected, it was dark inside, but the trail is relatively easy. In fact, it was an almost straight path, just a bit slippery though, so it's best to wear proper footwear. In our case, we were wearing either trekking sandals or aqua shoes. At the end of the tunnel is another set of rivers and fields. We came across a field of flowers which looked like the buckwheat field in the Korean hit, Goblin. Of course we took lots of photos! :D

St. Mary's Church

Underground River Entrance

Our guide was amused to see us overly excited. When we came back to him, he asked, "Anong tawag niyo diyan, Ma'am?" We answered, "Buckwheat po, Kuya." And he replied, "Ahhh. Dito sa amin ang tawag diyan, DAMO." And we all laughed out loud.

"Buckwheat" Field

Not far from that field was our next destination, Bokong Falls, also known as the "small falls." There actually is a "big falls", which happened to be the next item on our itinerary. We didn't spend too much time at Bokong Falls because it was about to rain and we still have two more destinations.

Bokong Falls

BUT, we spent quite a long time at Bomod-ok Falls, the "big" falls. Well, the journey itself is already long. We started at Brgy. Bangaan, passed by Brgy. Fidelisan, and ended up at Brgy. Aguid. We were exhausted. But all the tiredness and hunger were relieved at the sight of the rice terraces and ultimately the majestic falls! They were all worth every sweat! 

Ganda ng view!!!

Magnificent!

When we arrived in Brgy. Aguid after the trek to the big falls, the rain began to pour. And since there's no more sunset to witness, we decided not to go to Lake Danum anymore. (Well, that's one good reason to go back. :D) 

We ended the day with a delicious dinner at... I forgot the name. Haha. But it's just near Isabelo's. We also bought some goodies from a nearby souvenir shop, and had a little chitchat at... was it Moon Cafe? Sorry, I was not able to take note of the food establishments we went into. There's just a lot of them so you won't really run out of choices. :) 

The next morning, we woke up early to catch the sunrise at Kiltepan. Yeah, that popular spot where Mace (Angelica Panganiban) cried her heart out in the famed movie "That Thing Called Tadhana." But thanks to that movie, locals now have an added income. The first time I went there (way back 2011, four years before the release of the movie), there was no entrance fee yet, and there were no vendors, too. But now, you have to pay at least Php50 (for groups of 11 or more), and if you go hungry, you can eat champorado or lugaw or cup noodles from the many kiosks run by the locals. They also sell coffee too! 

Breathtaking

Now let's talk about the sunrise. And the sea of clouds. God, they're wonderful! You can't help falling in love with them (and the person you're with *wink*) over and over again. As for me, I could stay there forever.

Happy is here. :)

But since we still have one more item on our adventure list, we had to get going. After having a heavy breakfast (because we need all the energy we could get), we headed to our last destination in Sagada - the caves! We did the Cave Connection from Lumiang to Sumaguing. And I almost died. Whew! It was scary at first. Super scary, believe me, especially if you have fear of heights and confined places. The tourism office was right, the activity IS physically demanding. It would require not just your upper body strength but emotional fitness as well. You need to focus and listen carefully to the instructions given by the guide. (Not all the time, though; minsan mahilig din silang mag-trip, papahirapan ka nang husto, may mas madaling way naman. But I guess they really wanted us to experience adventure. :D) You need to believe that YOU CAN. There's no room for doubt when doing the cave connection. It won't get you anywhere. And you'll just be a burden to others who are excited to do the activity. Which brings me to the other requirement to complete the task: PATIENCE. With yourself. And with others. Because most of the course would be taken one at a time. And you can't rush anyone because it's a matter of life and death. One wrong move and you'd find yourself falling in the deep ravine.

The golden rule. Everywhere.

Thank God we all came out alive (with some minor injuries). :D And especially for me, it was a major achievement! I feel like I can do anything after that. Yes, feeling Wonder Woman na. Haha. 

Then we went straight to Isabelo's to clean ourselves up and prepare to leave. We had lunch at the same place we had brunch the day before. The rest of the group went to Yogurt House for dessert after. I decided to stay because my legs are already dying. And my throat is already irritated. Huhu. 

We left Sagada at 3PM, still aboard a Coda Lines bus, and arrived in Manila at around 2AM the following day. The journey home is an hour earlier because it had less stops. Good thing they have a toilet on the bus (though I was not really able to use it because I was just sleeping most of the trip). 

There goes our Sagada adventure! Yes, we survived! And we all had a wonderful time! ♥

I'm actually looking forward to the next escapade! :D

To more adventures with you, love. :)