The usual time of travel from manila to Sagada is about 8-9 hours but unfortunately, ours took longer than expected due to traffic from a road accident. While on the road, I keep my composure and just listen to some random funky music to ease my frustration. Some of us are quite nervous because the road to Sagada includes steep and deep sided cliffs that could make you feel anxious if you're not used to the breathtaking view. Our trip became a whole day.
We arrived at 10pm at the rented house which has three bedrooms fit for 13 of us. Although tired and hungry, we found satisfaction from the place because it has an upper balcony and bedroom windows that overlooked the entire neighborhood in Sagada while enjoying the cool breeze that comes into it. We ate at the nearby simple restaurant with few servers. The food is really great but you have to wait for a few minutes patiently because there are a lot of tourists and customers. I ordered for Fish fillet with mayo sauce for dinner and a soft drink. After dinner, we went for a walk and stopped by a nearby café that says "Yellow house French Crepes" that served freshly made crepe with different flavors. I ordered chocolates. It was quite funny because some customers got annoyed when they saw that I ordered 13 crepes and the line took so long but anyway, it tastes good. In the morning, I was really mesmerized to wake up and feel the cool breeze from the outside of the bedroom I shared with my parents and sister. I wore a thick blue jacket, a leggings and rubber shoes.
We went for a walk and found a souvenir shop. My mom looked for some stuff that she could bought and the owner gladly introduced us to a nearby wine seller that sells Bugnay wine and other alcohols made from fruits that can be found in Sagada. We bought some wine and had a free taste. I also found a strawberry planted in the yard of some neighbor and I felt amazed because it's my first time to see strawberries growing outside some random backyard that you can just pick up anytime. There are a lot of small nearby shops in Sagada so we took part ways for a while with the others. I also saw the Sagada public market and there are local vendors who sells fruits & vegetables with random souvenirs and local hand-made stuffs.
In the afternoon, after our lunch we headed to the hanging coffins of Echo Valley in Sagada. But before we can finally reach the said coffins, we hike for at least 45 minutes from a local church (built during 1900s) with the help of a Local tourist who's very informative about the place and the history of the coffins. He's really friendly that after we went up hiking, we saw his random selfie on my mom's phone. We passed through a cemetery, I noticed that there are a lot of burned firewood in front of each grave. The tourist told us that locals prefer to celebrate with their deceased loved ones. Anyway, learning the history of the coffins, people in Sagada has a very unique ritual of burying the dead. They hang the coffins either inside the caves or on the face of the cliffs. They believed that the higher the dead were placed, the greater chance of their spirits reaching a higher nature in the afterlife or become closer to the heavens. Of course, the coffins were not to be touched, and should be left as it is, out of respect.
There are few travel memories I had with my family but one of my favorites is when we visited the Sagada, Mountain Province back in the year 2018. I haven't added a diary entry about it so I decided to include it despite of being a late. I had a one of a kind experience on that trip because it was our first time travelling altogether, thirteen of us. We also visited the well known Lake Danum where a lot of people are waiting for the sunset. The lake is surrounded by big pine trees and the guide told us that we could spend our afternoon there, while waiting for the sunset to show up.
Luckily, we arrived minutes before the sunset appeared. There are a lot of tourists up in the campsite, it was really crowded but I got lucky to witness the sunset up in the mountains. As the sun sets beyond the horizon, the yellow and slightly orange color of the sky is an amazing view to be cherished forever. We went to the lake and we ate Taho from a vendor whom they say, famous for his "Strawberry Taho." I forgot his name. After a long day of tour, we went back for a final stop, One of my favorite stop is the Sagada Pottery. The finished products and displays are not to be taken photos. They demonstrated pottery making for those who are curious, we are grouped into 10 people and someone got to try how it works. The displays and pots are beautifully painted and decorated, giving an antique look.
Our Dinner was served into the yesterday's restaurant where I ordered fish fillet again because I was too tired to think of a meal. The whole day ended and when we got back to the house, I stayed in the rooftop before bed for almost two hours with a strange dog sitting beside me as I enjoyed the clear dark skies full of twinkling stars and the cool breeze of the night. I'm wishing that time could somehow slow down into existence so that I could stay there longer. When the morning came, we packed up our things and went to Baguio City for a side trip. It was my Second time.
The first time we went there was back when I was in High school. I could say that there are a lot of things that had changed. First, the people are crowded and the chill wind disappeared unlike those early years of staying in Baguio where I can feel a fog coming outside my breathe when it's cold as if I'm in a K-drama winter movie. We ate at the same restaurant when we first visited Baguio few years ago. It's the "Good taste café & Restaurant." After lunch, we visited the Burnham Park. We took good photos, One of my favorite shot was when I took Lola Ebang's Picture in front of the lake. When she died last year, that photo was displayed in our sala remembering those great times she travelled with us. Truly, "Makakabalik ka sa lugar, pero hindi sa panahon." Looking back, Our trip in Sagada is one of my favorite travel memories with my family. It took 3 days, but the memory last longer. Hoping for more travel memories to come!
