SAGADAventures Day 1
Out of all the trips in my list for this year, I really
looked forward to this one because it would be the first time that we'll get to
join other groups in a tour. Most of the time, our travels are exclusive for me
and CJ or our friends. I look forward to meeting acquaintances and be able to
adjust with their travel pace.
We barely had a month to plan this trip and I am so thankful that Paula, took
charge in planning everything. Yes! That’s actually a great help for me since every
time Cj and I travel, it’s usually me who makes the itinerary. We get a tour
packages that costs Php 3200, for the accommodation and transport from Manila -
Banaue - Sagada. The side trips activity such as spelunking are in our own
account as well as our food. But I can say it was a good deal already. Our
driver, Kuya Dennis, has been in the business for almost 10 years and he
already have mastered the curve road going up to the mountains. Before leaving
Manila, I have t ask some of my friends who has been there on what to expect about
the trip and most of them have a lot to say about the road and the travel time.
The assembly time in Trinoma was 9-10pm but we went ahead of time so we can have the best and most comfy seat inside the van.(Tip #1 for people who travels by tour packages or as joiners!) We were supposed to leave by 10pm but two of the
passengers were stuck in traffic thus we have to wait for them. (Tip #2 Never be late! Nakakahiya sa kasama ibang mga kasama mo. And it would affect the tour itinerary)
We left manila by 11pm. Kuya Dennis have heard news from other drivers that
there were traffic somewhere in Santa Fe (road going up to Banaue) and some
arrived in Sagada 3pm the next day. So He decided to drive us up to Baguio then
Sagada. The only thing he compromises to us is that we will not be able to go
in Strawberry Farm. But we all agreed to it. We are 12 inside the van, supposed
to be 13, but our friend Aica, didn't make it.
At around 3am we are already in Baguio, by 430am, we've already reached the
highest point in the Philippines railroad system. We took some photo ops and
bought some hot noodles to wake us up because it was really cold at 16C.
The road from the highest point going to Sagada is so curvy. As in blind curve! and guess what is just beside the road? on your left will be the mountain and on your right is a steep view of the province.
We took another stop over to pee and had some photo ops in the middle of the road.
I was lucky to took a shot of their local transportation.
We arrived in Sagada at around 8 in the morning. From the town, we can see a
lot of tourists already roaming around the area. It is quite crowded already.
Kuya Dennis dropped us at Indigenous Inn, our accommodation for the next 3
days. We took our brunch inside the Inn's Cafeteria. The only available in menu are longsilog (longganisa, fried rice and egg) and bangsilog (bangus, fried rice and egg). The girls opted for the longganisa while Cj wants the Bangus. We
patiently waited for around 20-30minutes for our order. You really have a lot
of waiting to do in Sagada especially in their restaurants. Unfortunately for
our health, we slept and took some siesta right after eating. This one is a bad
habit I shouldn't be blogging. Hahaha. But please 'wag tularan'.
Our activity for the day is the Spelunking inside the cave of Lumiang and
Sumaguing. Tourists can choose which one to take. As per our tour guide, Kuya
Zandy, the easier one is the Sumaguing. This are for beginners. We are also
beginners but heck the adventurous side of me decided to take the extreme one
which is the Cave connection where in we get to go inside both caves. The two
couples in our group took the Sumaguing. I haven't had the time to ask then how
was their experience. I can only share ours.
We went inside Lumiang Cave at around 1pm. The cave welcomed us with hanging
coffins right in front of it. We're not scared yet. The only light we had was
the lampara brought by Kuya Zaldy and his side kick Kuya Oniel.
Good thing I
bought my mini flashlight so it helped me go around. The experience inside the
cave was really something I would treasure for the rest of my life. I cannot describe
what its like inside. But I'm sharing few pictures I took with my iPhone. We didn't brought high quality camera because we expected to be wet inside.
I am in awe its beauty.
It was really something that
you have to try on yourself. And I guess this is really what Sagada is all
about. I've never thought I can do such thing. Climb to a slippery floor, swim
on a freezing cold water almost chest high, hold on to a rope with your life at
stake. I've conquered such extreme and I'm so proud of myself as well as to my
friends. We did it and the feeling of fulfillment is immeasurable. The most
scary part of this spelunking was when we are about to go out of the cave. It
suddenly rained so hard outside so there were mud and water and rocks gushing
through the lane going up. When I saw that and other people who are panicking,
I guess it was adrenaline rush that made me climb that steep and rocky road
going up.
It was 5pm when we safely went out of the cave. I couldn't believe we are
inside the cave for a good 5 hours.
WE CONQUERED SAGADA CAVE!! (Cj, Grace, Me, Sophie and Paula) |
We head back to our rooms to wash out all the mud and bat poops in our body. By
7pm, we are all ready for dinner. We decided to try Sagada Brew for dinner.
You
can order a meal that consists of a cup of rice + 1 viand + salad + dessert +
unlimited lemon water for Php200.00. The coffee shop is famous for their Lava
Cake so we had to try it and behold, it didn't disappoint. Their lava cake is
perfect! We even had to take out one for
us to munch in our room.
That's all for Day 1! Day 2 and 3 deserve another post! Soon!
no video for cutting the lava cake? :)
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