BANAUE-SAGADA Experience (Part 1)

My previous Sagada post was all about expectations. Sagada and Banaue are places worth going to. It is rich in history and culture. There are many stories have to type here. It may be too long for just 1 post. I have yet to upload the pictures. It will take a while.

The organizer is Violeta "Violet" C. Imperial. She's the Board of Director and Consultant for Ecotour Development Sale and Marketing for the Nature Awareness and Conservation Club, Inc. (NACCI). She is the only organizing intinerant I know so far.

If you want to contact her you can e-mail her on Mother_Nature888@yahoo.com She does other tours as well.

http://philecotourism.wordpress.com/ This is her site.

DAY 1
It all started on the wait for a Florida Bus near UST at 10-11pm of April 8, 2009. This Florida Bus had a CR in it. It was so crowded and so hot to wait for this bus. Since alot of people are going to the CAR (Cordillera Administrative Region). I never realized that there would be 34 people joining. We left Manila at 11pm. Had a stop-over somewhere at Nueva Vizcaya for a some snacks or so at 4am. We arrived Banaue at 7:20 am of April 9, 2009. There we ate breakfast. I ate bangus.

The restaurant we ate for breakfast is the very first look at the Banaue Rice Terraces. The most popular of the other rice terraces in Luzon. It is a UNESCO Heritage Site. I started taking pictures of the view, but its just too big.

Then after which, we went to the viewpoint where we can pose with the Ifugao elders as they represent their ethnic group. The beauty of the rice terraces at first was thrilling. Banaue is around 318-330 KM from Manila through route distance. It is indeed the richness of indigenous culture in the CAR.

The "Violet" group was splitted into 4 or 5 vehicles (Van and Jeepney) because it is obvious that the buses cannot go through the zigzag mountainous region between Bontoc and Banaue. You could see a fantastic view of the mountains on the other side on high altitude. The vehicular trails have less rails on the edge. There are also 9 small waterfalls there in the different parts of the region. The highest point we've been to is at Mt. Polis (My interpretation is Mt. City LOL, which is the English version of Polis.)

Bay-yo Rice Terraces can be spotted on the way to Bontoc. There is only one problem here, there is an infestation of houses right beside the terraces that could destroy the great view and the sustainance of basic culture of the Ifugaos.

Bontoc is a town in the Mountain Province southwest of Sagada. I think that "Bontoc" is the Igorot term for "Bundok" in Filipino meaning "Mountain". We ate at a restaurant called Tchapayan restaurant for lunch. There was this museum in Bontoc right beside an elementary school.

This museum is very precious as it holds alot of artifacts regarding the Igorot culture. There is this rite where the dead is being put on a chair with its mouth and eyes covered as if that person is still living. When it's time to put that person in the coffin, that person has to be squished to one size to fit inside the coffin. That means, furthur post-mortem fractures. There is ONLY 1 size.

Now, we finally go on to Sagada which is 16 km away from Bontoc and approximately 385 t0 400 (Though the furthest point I've been to was 396 km). Take note, these are only estimations. It is around 5,200 feet above sea level.

The Final Destination is Sagada, traditionally named as Ganduyan. The name is Sagada is because there was a miscommunication between the locals and the foreigners. Sagada means "Fishing net" which refers to the chief occupation of the town which is fishing.

It was raining in the afternoon during Holy Week. That's true, That's what Pag-asa said.

The place the group stayed is in "St. Joseph Resthouse", which is a resthouse run by Episcopalian nuns. The rooms are named after the apostles and other disciples of Jesus. It is located at Barangay Poblacion.





This is what it looks like from the balcony of St. Josephs Rest house. NOTE: This is not my video. The room I stayed in is St. James.

It was great to socialize with people who were once strangers then became good friends. Honestly, there are many landmarks in Sagada. I will not go into the history yet.

Meanwhile, The Violet Holy Week 2009 group will always be memorable. When I see Sagada, Sagada reminds me of them. It feels like I have a very good sense of belongingness when I see this group with the following: an ophthalmologist, a food blogger and photographer, A thin female Californian traveller, 2 Indian software engineers, a stuttering Filipino of Spanish descent, A retired ROTC Commandant and marine, 2 groups of 4 adolescents (1 group of 4 girls, 1 group of 3 girls and 1 boy), Some teachers and bankers, and the misc. I had this bond of connectivity to some of these people and they have a showcase of empathy and caring.

I wish I could know their names but it's too late. In the afternoons my guardian prepares Hors d'œuvre for some of the group making it dinner. LOL The blueberries in the market is great and it's almost wild.

Log Cabin is a restaurant and an inn. This restaurant is not very big, but it has a chimney and a fireplace. The food is mostly vegetarian, but they've got pork.


There is this SAGADA website http://www.sagada-igorot.com/ which can help you understand Sagada more.

Sometimes, Violet's itineraries tend to change suddenly due to different factors. It is complicated to explain, but everything changes without prior notice.

Day 2 and the rest will be in my next post. I will compose a good poem on the igorots, the group and the place. I never did went the caves, I will tell you why on my next post.

PS: All of my Pictures will be posted soon. I got the pictures of this post from the net.

PSS: I didn't really sleep well on the way to Banaue simply because The Lion King songs were stuck in my head for a while.