As I am deathly hungover, I am too lazy to be creative. So I am going to recycle an email I sent to friends when I was in the Philippines last February. Just sit back and go on vacation with me!
If you ever do make it to Luzon (the main island of the Philippines) then do not miss Sagada. It is a great town with amazing things to see. We took the bus from Baguio to Sagada and I thought the bus was going to fall off the mountain a few times and once we nearly collided with another bus! We safely arrived however and checked into George's Guest House. We had our own little patio, which was nice because I did some laundry and could put it out to dry. I felt domestic. Anyway, we spent one day trekking through Echo Valley where you can see hanging coffins and some beautiful valleys. People in Sagada still hang their dead….the most recent was 2 months ago.
We also climbed down some rice terraces to the "Small Falls" which turned out to be really, really small. Still, the rice terraces were beautiful but it was kind of strange to walk on the edges of someone's field and climb around in people's backyards. The next morning my friend wanted to go on a sunrise thing where he could take some photos but he had to get up at 4 so I didn't go. He serendipitously met up with this guide named Erwin, who then took us on more adventures later in the day. At 9am we started with an hour long hike down through a valley of rice terraces - beautiful beautiful beautiful - which ended in the "Big Falls." Now this was a real waterfall! We were early so we were the only people there and we jumped off big rocks into the icy water and swam for a bit.
Unfortunately, we then had to spend an hour climbing back up the rice terraces afterwards! We took a break for lunch then headed out to the "Big Cave." We ran into two Filipino girls who wanted to come too so it was the 5 of us in our group. We headed down into this cave and it got crazier and crazier! Erwin took us on the adventure trail (other ppl took a shortcut and missed out on some amazing stuff) and we slowly made our way through the cave. It is millions of years old - there are seashell fossils in the walls and this is all the way up in the mountains, about 4500 feet above sealevel! There were also huge stalagmites and stalactites which apparently grow at an inch every 10,000 years. We squirmed through small passages, slid down rocks, used ropes to get between caverns, waded through corridors (sometimes the water was up to my chest!) and ended at a small lake about 300 feet down in the mountain. Justin and I went swimming for a bit (the two Filipino girls thought we were crazy because they were cold) and then it was time to head back out. That took some time and more crazy climbs. We were soaking wet and muddy when we got out but it was AMAZING and one of the best experiences of my life.
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| After Sagada we went to Banaue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We decided to do a 2 day hike that took us through Cambulo and into Bataad for the night. We stopped in Cambulo for lunch and it was an amazing place. No roads go down there and everything people need to build structures, use for farming or cooking, etc all had to be hand carried down the terraces and into the village. We continued onto Bataad and when we reached the viewpoint it was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen in my whole life. We took photos but they can never really convey the real scene. |
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| Bataad, Philippines |
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| Myself and Jerich walking along the terraces |
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| Another view of Bataad |
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| The view from our guesthouse We spent the night there, which was great because some other travelers and guides joined us at the guesthouse. Our guide, Jerich, played guitar while we all sang and drank beer deep into the night. In the morning we hiked down to another waterfall and swam there for a long time – and of course took more photos. Unfortunately we had to hike out again (never go down to a waterfall without enough water to climb out!) and then spent about 5 hours on a grueling hike out of Bataad back to Banaue. My friend loves hiking and I had decided to go on this trek pretty much because of the look on his face when the tour guide told us about it - but in the end it was amazing and I am so glad that I did it! I would do it again in a heart beat. |
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| Bataad Falls |
So that's the story of Sagada and Banaue. The best part of those two cities was that I did things that I never thought I could do. If you knew me before this trip, you never would have thought I would go cave diving or embark on a 2 day hike. Sure we stayed at a guesthouse but trust me, it was no hotel. After traveling to these two cities I really started to think differently about myself. Yes, I had decided to go to Asia for 6 months, but I still was a very safe person. After doing these things though, I felt like maybe I didn't have to be so scared to go out and try new adventures.
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