Brigada SAGADA

20 April 2008. A time of waiting was finally over. Tom the free spirit, Anna and Kirstin the peppy duo, and Mark the court jester had successfully found their way to the Philippines. Better yet, to my apartment.

AUTOBUS TERMINAL

To start off, we managed to arrive at the bus terminal an hour prior to the 10pm departure time. There I saw glossy orange buses that were notoriously reputed as what I’ll term as the “Rolling Snows”, “Wheeled Ice Blocks”, or “Honey, I Blew Up the Fridge”.

A couple of sources had me convinced to disseminate the info about the exorbitant temperature inside the bus, but it seemed two of my travel mates scoffed at my suggestions. This resulted to hours of self-whining and the feeble survival schemes to fight hypothermia.

ARRIVAL AT BANAUE

Departing Manila at exactly 10pm, it’s sad to say that you can’t view the sceneries outside your bus window. It was pitch dark, and the freezing temperature just makes you want to hibernate all throughout the trip. Passengers’ requests to have it moderated was ineffective because the bus wasn’t modern enough to regulate the air-conditioning temperature. The moment they turn the aircon on is the moment you experience winter time right smack at the heart of Manila.

It was roughly 9 hours of bus ride from Manila-Banaue. We got off at the Banaue bus terminal at around quarter to 7am, and were clumped by jeepney drivers who were eagerly waiting outside. I looked for Kuya Abe, a jeepney driver, whom I contacted whilst I was still in Manila.

TIP: It is best to buy and/or reserve tickets for your Banaue-Manila travel already upon arrival at Banaue to ensure a seat back to Manila.

BRAVING THE ROADS TO SAGADA

For 300 pesos per passenger, we boarded on a jeepney which will take us further into the mountains. The trip from Banaue-Sagada took 3 hours because of the few stops to view the magnificent sceneries and the glorious 8th Wonder of the World and the only wonder in the world that was made by freemen and not by slaves, the BANAUE RICE TERRACES.

Of course, we had to stop at Philippine National Bank (PNB) at Bontoc to convert Mark’s travelers cheques into hard cash. Thank God there was a bank along the way.

GEORGE GUEST HOUSE

Kuya Abe dropped us off right at the parking area of George Guest House. It was a cute blue and white three-storey building located along a popular road in Sagada. I painstakingly searched for it online whilst in Manila, and we were just too fortunate to be quoted 250 pesos per head for a night accommodation.

For a group of five we were given a beautiful suite at the top floor with a homely everyday atmosphere, and our own spacious balcony overlooking the Sagada rice terraces, villages, and the surrounding mountains. It was nothing short of magical.

DARING THE HANGING COFFINS

After choosing our own beds, we instantly agreed on having our first adventure. We had our fill of food at Sagada’s famed YOGHURT HOUSE. Unaware of the town policy of a “required” registration at the town/barangay hall prior to any touring, we decided to go straight to the renowned “Hanging Coffins” without a map, and only armed with a couple of pointers from the locals we met along the way. 95% of our directions was based on our collective instinct.

Albeit Anna’s fear of headhunters, we dared the forest, hiked and climbed numerous mountains, slipped every now and then until we reached our first cave with hanging coffins. It was followed by a couple of other caves.

As we were nearing the largest cave, Kirstin slipped and lost a sandal in the mud. Her next move led to losing the other pair as well. It took her and Mark quite a while to unearth her precious flip-flops, whilst Anna and I were uncontrollably laughing at her muddy dilemma. Kirstin was that cool to just chuckle it off, and even smudging herself with mud. The funny part was a pair of her slipper snapped and so we had to sort of make a ritual and left her slippers on the cave wall to be known as the “Hanging Slippers of Sagada”.

The heavens must have punished us after a massive amount of flashes from our cameras. We were that unstoppable from taking all the photos we can get of the dead. The skies dimmed at around 4pm, and wildly adventurous that we were, we opted to choose the new route to get out of that place. We took long walks that seemed totally pointless.

As luck would have it it started to rain. But we were still fortunate to have stumbled across a huge cave for shelter. I must admit I was a bit worried about getting into a secret society of cannibals, while Mark was trying to get lost beyond the caves and enjoying the waterfalls on his own. That got us awfully worried because he’s the “only” person whom we know who fell off the Great Wall of China. I hope Mark won’t cut my throat for exposing that.

At about quarter to 6pm, the rain finally stopped. That was just in the nick of time as I suspect the headhunters would be out at 6pm sharp. We proceeded to get back to our old route when we came across a group of students from De La Salle University who also happened to be our next-room neighbours at George Guest House, and whom we met at the bus on our way to the mountains.

Heaven-sent? Indeed! They were with a baby headhunter kid guide so we were sure to find our way out.

On our walk home, we passed by the famous bakery and I was excited to buy the Cinnamon Rolls as strongly recommended by Rissa. We also stopped by a “Halo-halo” stall for dessert. Mark was utterly surprised as to how the lady vendor manually crushed the ice as opposed to their western ice grinders. What’s shocking to me though was the enormously strange macaroni ingredient included in the Halo-Halo. But it was amusingly resourceful of them for having it as an alternative to an expensive Nata de Coco, which I hate eating too anyway.

And whaddya know? We were being videoed for a Japanese televisioin show as we were appriaching our guest house. Our economic values were instantly elevated. What’s more, we were greeted by two radiant rainbows at our balcony. It was inspiring because some of my mates had only seen it for the first time in their twenty something years of living.

Fresh from a “cold” shower, we went looking for a good place to have dinner at. Our fates brought us to LOG CABIN – a restaurant which only opens at night and serves only to customers “with reservations”. It was pure luck that they ended up giving in to my plea to have us dine at their place at that moment. For that I more than highly recommend them. But don’t expect them to allow you to dine without proper booking.

We had with us our five big bottles of local wine we bought earlier at a shop to celebrate our first night in Sagada. The food turned out exquisitely delicious. The local wines tasted like “pee”. With that same reaction from all of us, I wondered who amongst us really did taste a pee.

It was odd for me when I heard that Sagada has a 9pm curfew. Knowing me, I love hanging out on pavements like a typical street kid. But it’s better to abide by the rules than have ourselves abducted by cannibals I suppose yea?

After more than a couple of hours of eating, tasting our horrible urine-tasting wines, and “Never Have I Ever” card game that was heard by all the Log Cabin staff and customers, it was finally time to go home. Besides, it was already 9pm and we were the ones left at the restaurant.

On our way to the cashier’s register, all of us saw the delectable “LEFTOVER Bruschetta” of the Dutch lady. What’s totally shocking and outrageously bizarre was, Kirstin, Anna, and Mark wanted it for our take-away. Before they could even ask the waitress and the cashier for it, Tom and I already teleported ourselves out of the Log Cabin.

Surprisingly, they successfully managed to exchange our five bottles of wine for the “leftover” dish. We were voraciously feasting on it back at our suite together with our tasty Cinnamon rolls whilst drinking Rhum and Coke. It was frankly my first time to ever eat a leftover food from someone totally alien to me. But yes, it was worth the experience. I might even do it again anytime soon.

EARTH DAY (Second Day)

The cold weather in Sagada really makes your morning spanking new. We started our day with a sumptuous breakfast meal at Yoghurt House. The food was almost great – but the snag to it was that the customer service sucks – BIG TIME!

For our second visit we still hadn’t seen a single hint of smile from any of them. The main server was almost irritable at our kind requests for water – and ended up only giving us a glass for the five of us. I swear I could have confronted her had it not been for the kid who was seated nearby. They were like robots. I wondered if they were paid justly and fairly though. Still, that would have been a lame excuse. For a Filipino restaurant, I rate the customer service quality at Yoghurt House as 2/10.

Anyway, after a hearty meal of pancakes stuffed with banana and yoghurt paired with my very creamy coffee, we finally had the decency to register at the town hall. But not before we saw an extremely confusing, yet hilarious sign posted on its wall.

There we all agreed to pay for a “guided” and a bit more expensive CAVE CONNECTION at 400 pesos each which allowed us to explore two connecting underground caves that went as deep as 700m. Good thing our two escorts each had an oil lamp to last a 4-hour caving. Little did we know that the first cave adventure was a matter of life and death experience. With no harnesses but you own sheer mental power and muscle strength to rappel near the cliffs, it could be dangerous to some people. A steep drop could instantly wipe out your consciousness forever.

One unforgettable experience at the first cave was at its deepest, you will find a relatively large and definitely enticing swimming pool. After stripping down to our swimming clothes, we joined force and dived into the clear pool only to find out it was cold as purgatory! Not that I had been to Purgatory – but it was damn colder than iced water. I rapidly swam back to the side with a cramped foot, and was shaking like I just had convulsions or epileptic seizure. Never again!

Our cave connection experience was splendid and it was a timely event for Earth Day. What’s interesting though was that the strictly vegetarian girls wanted us to celebrate it their way. You know, the appointing of elemental names and role-playing our earthborn personas? Only, I was hesitating because whilst they chose to be fairies, goddesses, or whatever higher natural beings they thought of, they wanted me to be a Panda. Such bullies! Ha-ha!

Filthy and exhausted, we walked a long distance. But I was excited because I just got myself a box of Lemon Pie at the LEMON PIE HOUSE. Probably because it was that hyped by my friends, I ended up rating it as just 6/10. Maybe I’d love their other pies more. But that’s reserved for next time.

After a while of restoring our energies at our suite, we decided to go on our separate ways and will just meet up at the local market at 5pm because we were meeting a “new friend” at BANA’S CAFE at 6pm sharp. It was still 4pm and we didn’t have any watch or cellphone with us – good luck. Mark went ahead for his walking spree as he loves getting lost. Anna and Kirstin went to an internet cafe, and since Tom’s pet-worms inside his tummy demanded food every short while, I decided to accompany him to MASFERRE’S COUNTRY INN AND RESTAURANT. For heavy meals, I strongly recommend that place.

Before we could finish our food, it rained for an hour so Tom and I decided to just chill and meet the others at Bana’s Cafe at 6pm instead. We enjoyed the homey ambiance and the good vibes at Masferre’s, and were captivated by the exceptional view of three rainbows. Sagada was really enchanting. Of course, it can’t escape my mediocre camera for a mad picture-taking.

We finally met up with the rest of the squad at Bana’s Cafe. And since the “new friend” didn’t make it, Anna and Kirstin decided to shop for vegetables. Mind you, the girls brought their own portable stove and pot. The three of us guys decided to stay put for dinner and were drooling over the “Pinikpikan” which was a local dish, and cost a whopping 800 pesos for a single order, but can be good for 3 average people anyway. It was frustrating that we couldn’t have it since it needs to be ordered the day before because it takes eight hours to prepare the dish. I will certainly come back for that dish on my next trip to Sagada.

We truly loved their “Afritada” and their “Boneless Bangus (Milkfish)”. And it was a pleasant surprise that at long last, there’s on eatery in Sagada that really had a superb customer service. All the praises go to our waitress (she was male by birth). After three hours of chatting, a friend of our newfound friend who failed to meet us at 6pm arrived…and the rest was history.

ADIOS SAGADA (Third Day)

It was the last day for Mark, Tom, and I in Sagada because the girls were staying for a week and will head on to Baguio City after so the three of us woke up very early at 6am. We were determined to go to the famous Bomok-od Falls, or what’s commonly known as Big Falls, without a tour guide.

We had breakfast at a coffee house fronting the local market, and how I wish I could remember the name but it was religiously eluding me and hiding somewhere in the veiled corners of my brain. I tell you, it was definitely worth going for breakfast. And I loved the skimmed milk for my MILO. Hmmm!

After a lip-smacking breakfast, we started our 2-hour walk to Big Falls which seemed endless. There were split roads, and had it not been for the locals we came across with, we would have seriously lost track and ended up joining the list of “Missing People”.

We thought we could get away with paying a tour guide at the town hall. But after more than an hour of walking, we passed by a small settlement and it was compulsory to have a tour guide for 300 pesos. It was required mostly for the safety of the tourists, so we obliged. And besides, it was cheaper for us since it was already close to our destination.

The Big Falls was remarkably beautiful! It was huge, and the area was very windy. But nothing can stop us from abusing the waters. I think abusing is such a strong word. There were little boys offering their massage services (*eyes wide* I know, right?) but ended up swimming with us anyway in pure Sagada fashion – in the nude. Don’t worry that fashion style was exclusive to kids and not by all Sagadans. That would have been ghastly. Did I mention we dived into the waters like action stars?

The climb back to the main road was such an arduous task I felt like meeting Zeus at Mount Olympus, or God at Mount Sinai. After some time, we were thankfully able to hitch a ride back to our guest house. All set and ready to leave, all of us went to the local market where we bought mangoes and my cinnamon rolls. It was truly a sad moment as we bid farewell to Anna and Kirstin. But poignant grief cannot endure forever. We just had to move on with our lives. *sniffs*

An interesting jeepney driver paired with our own “CNN field reporter-like” Mark on our way to Banaue Bus Terminal for Manila really made our 2-hour trip flew by like seconds. Just listening to Mark’s stories, be it serious or not, was like watching Saturday Night Live. Along the way, I earned huge points for making them eat our notorious “Balut”.

In our 3-day and 2-night stay in Sagada we hadn’t taken a poop at all. I just wanted to explode it all out in one swoosh of nasty gastric air. But seeing the appalling “open back-view” of the comfort room at the Banaue bus terminal and the little kid smiling peeping through the sack-cover of the CR just instantly made me feel well like I had taken a pail of loperamide hydrochloride. I was sure I was still going to be all right for the next eight hours or so.

Finally, the rolling snow Autobus departed Banaue past 5pm. But during that time, I was more than prepared.