The tranquil Sagada in Mountain Province, a remote town that is fifteen hundred feet above the sea, 275 kilometers north of Manila, a town that has so much to offer to anyone who chooses to experience its distinctive charm. With its cold weather, marvellous cliffs and caves, supercilious rice terraces and waterfalls, delicious foods and delicacies, wealthy heritage and traditions, Sagada guarantees everyone an extraordinary experience with nature and culture.
Having relatives in the town was a huge factor for us to easily go around, take pleasure in and go for an unlimited escapade. Need I say, my relatives were the ones who started weaving since the 1960s, hence they were popularly known as Sagada Weaving.
...and so discovering this spectacular Sagada begins with these places that you must visit:
Church of St. Mary the Virgin which was established by the American missionaries. It is a vibrant Protestant Episcopal parish considering that Sagada is the only town in the Philippines with only less than 5% catholic population.
Echo Valley and its Hanging Coffins that serves as a view point if you want to see the famous Hanging wooden coffins of Sagada. Note that a local tour guide is required to trek closer to the hanging coffins where it is believed that it will prevent the departed bodies to be taken by beasts and also they strongly believe that souls would rise up easily from there compared to burying them underground.
Burial Caves of Lumniang that shelters coffins from what they believe the bad elements. Stacks of coffins are neatly organized so as to prevent the people from stealing bones as souvenirs.
Bokong Falls (the small falls) which is just a few minutes rice field walk from the town center. It is about 20 feet high and the depth that is approximately 17 feet just under the drop off point. There are no shower areas or dressing areas nearby so it’s just letting your clothes dry as you walked back to your hotel.
Bomod-Ok Falls (the big falls), which is a challenging 2 hour trek in the Bangaan Rice Terraces (the real life Farmville) in search for the Mother Falls where tourist can do some cliff diving.
Sumaguing Cave creates the challenge among tourists of getting inside the cave and being rewarded with stunning rock formations, stalactites and slagmites. It also makes your creative mind work as you can think of too many things as to what a certain rock formation is. It was dark inside that every guide brought a lamp to help us see the trail. Steepy and slippery, one must hold tight to the rock formations and also the trek was also made hard by the bats' guano all over. At some point, you'll need to remove your footwear as it would be easier to walk barefooted on the steep rocks. You'll surely disregard all the snags in getting inside with the cave's amazing and spendid beauty. There were various rock formations with funny and interesting names. Some of these formations were called rice terraces, turtle, chocolate cake, king's curtain, bear, pig pen, elephant and a pregnant woman. It took us about 4 hours to explore the cave.
Last but not the least is the prominent Sagada Weaving which is the home of quality woven products since 1968 where you can purchase some souvenirs.
Dont limit your challenges. Challenge your limits by chasing adventures in this spectacular Sagada!
