My feelings about birthdays are always evolving.
When I was young enough to grasp what's happening around me up until elementary, I'm excited whenever my birthday is just around the corner because of the gifts and the food. A typical Filipino kid's party must-haves are spaghetti and hotdog-on-stick with one or two marshmallows.
When I was in high school and college, I always feel awkward and nervous when my birthday is coming up. This is the time when birthdays are a HUGE deal. Wondering if your friends will remember and dreaming up what kind of creative surprises they'll come up in school. Quietly expecting is nerve-racking.
After college, there was a transition point. I wasn't in school anymore, so I would expect my friends to up their game with surprises. If not, it's when you treat your friends to dinner.
But it changed when I moved to Manila where I didn't have friends.
In 2018, I celebrated my birthday when I was about a week into my first job away from my hometown. So, nobody knew it was my birthday. My father had a business trip abroad, so there's no family to celebrate with. I remembered I ate at Shakey's alone. Haha!
In 2019, my father still had a business trip abroad. My officemates knew it was my birthday this time. But I filed a vacation leave on my birthday weekend. This time, I don't wanna eat at some restaurant alone. I want to do something that I have always wanted to do: travel alone.
Not just a solo trip, but a spontaneous solo trip!
Okay, I do not mean the literal spontaneous. I might have done some background check about Sagada: how to get there, activities to do, cheap accommodations, etc. But what I meant by spontaneous was, I didn't book anything. No travel package. No accommodations. No itinerary. Just departure and arrival dates. The rest? Wherever the wind will take me 😅
I chose Sagada because January is one of the best times to visit its cold climate. As someone who grew up in a tropical country such as the Philippines, I always look forward to visiting other countries during their coldest climate because it's the only opportunity where I can sport winter fashion clothes. Haha! But if you want a quick getaway, the Philippines also have elevated areas in Ifugao and Mountain Province, or even closer to the capital like Tagaytay, where we can cozy up with a blanket holding a hot cup of coffee. Another reason is that I love long trips where I can be alone with my thoughts. Imagine my excitement when the bus departed at 10 PM knowing that I'll be at my destination the next morning!
Banaue Rice Terraces
I deliberately chose not to take the direct route because it's more exciting that way. Initially, I chose the longest route: Manila -> Banaue -> Bontoc -> Sagada. I wanted so bad to experience riding top load on a jeepney. But from where the bus stopped, only direct vans to Sagada were available.
I asked around where the jeepneys were, however, during that time, jeepneys weren't allowed to travel because rocks were falling off from the side of the mountain. Okay. The wind directs me to the van. The van it is, then. It wasn't a missed opportunity altogether, because I still experienced riding topload the month after when we went mountain climbing in Mt. Pulag. It was an experience meant to be shared with friends, after all 😉
Since we're already in Banaue, of course, we weren't going to miss the famous Rice Terraces! Where Thanos chose to retire 😂
I'm in Sagada! Now what?
I was getting nervous and excited at the same time when the van arrived in Sagada. Now what? I was freaking out because I did not have a booked hotel, but then I reminded myself, this is the thrill that I wanted. So, the first place I went to was the town center. As I was scanning around the area, the busiest corner was where the tourists were pointing at maps and discussing with what seemed to be a tour guide. I ditched finding a hotel first and headed to book travel activities instead.
I asked a local guide by the posters if they have a guide for a solo traveller. He said trips are usually in groups especially if I was to go mountain climbing. No problem for me, I can join other groups as well. The guide asked for my number and he'll let me know when he forms another group already.
Just then, a nice young couple asked if I was alone. They were familiar to me because we rode the same bus from Manila and in the private van. So I said yes, I was alone. Turns out, they were also having a hard time getting into a group because it was just the 2 of them. They kindly asked if I could just join in with them. I was so relieved, I said yes!
However, the local guide said they could take a group with a minimum of 5 members. We were short of 2 people. We looked around for the missing puzzles that can complete us. Our prospects were another couple, this one a bit older (in their 40s), who were also looking at the maps. We presented them our proposal, and they too were relieved to find a group. Great, now we're complete! The local guide told us to meet up back again in the tourism office at 1 PM.
Time for me to find a hotel first to drop off some of my things. After we exchanged numbers and began to go our own ways, the young couple asked where I was staying. I said, I don't know yet I still have to look around 😂 I forgot the guy's name but the nice girl was named Jehann. Jehann offered that I get a room at their hotel, too, so it's easier to meet up for tomorrow's activities, as well. And so, the wind directs me to be in the same hotel as the nice young couple.
Day One: The Eco Tour
The Echo Valley
People in Sagada have a fascinating or eerie (depends on you) burial tradition. For most of us, we bury the dead underground because we believe that humans go back to where we started: from dust. But for the Igorot tribe, they bury their dead in hanging coffins so it's easier for the souls to reach heaven. It's a conundrum as to how they placed those coffins there just suspended by wires. Well, it's tradition. Some of the oldest remains of their ancestors are in those coffins, while others are placed in the highest corners of cave walls. The higher, the better.
Also, you may assume that the short-length coffins contain the remains of a child. But no, sometimes they place the body in a fetal position because it's believed to bring peace to the soul. Those hanging chairs? That's where the relatives arranged the body in a fetal position, cover them with linen, then placed inside the coffin. Just as I was writing this, I was quite curious as to when was the last time someone was buried this way. According to this blog, Mucking Around Manila, the last one was in 2008. So it's just a matter of preference, especially for the traditional folks.
Others choose to be buried in Calvary Hill, especially for the modern folks. The dead here are not buried in pre-owned lot spaces, but according to the cause of death (e.g. childbirth, illness, war, etc.). Being situated high up the hill, it's hard to keep the candles lighted because of the wind. So, they light up and smoke charcoals instead.
Bokong Waterfalls through the Underground River Entrance
Through the Echo Valley, we were to pass an underground river to get to Bokong Falls. I was used to climbing steep slippery slopes just to get to a waterfall. So this was a first-time experience for me via an underground river. Granted, the path towards the entrance of the cave was steep. But it was mostly pebbles and large rocks. So the challenge was to properly place your foot to avoid sprain.
To be honest, I'm not usually impressed with caves because it's dark and musky inside. Or maybe because sometimes I don't see how the rocks are supposed to be coincidentally formed. Maybe that's why I don't remember much about the journey along that underground river, haha! I think I still prefer the conventional way - through steep slippery slopes.
However, despite that, it was only in Sagada where I appreciated caves because of spelunking. I'll talk more about that in Part 2 😁
Anyway, I imagined the falls to be as majestic as the ones I've been to. But it turned out to be just a mini-falls, with a mini water basin for swimming. We stayed for a short while in here, rinsing our faces and arms with the cold freshwater.
After we chilled by the falls, it was time to go back to town. To make it exciting, of course we hadn't gone the same way as we came to the falls. We passed by lush green rice fields that were so pleasing to the eyes. I could trick my mind that I'm in Ireland (my dream country) because of all the greens my eyes could see.
That's it for Day 1! It was just a half-day activity near the town center. A warm-up adventure for what's coming on Day 2. In Part 2, I'm going to share our climb to Marlboro Hills hoping to witness a sea of clouds, then to the unique Blue Soil Hills, and the main highlight of my solo trip to Sagada -- spelunking!
☘️END OF PART 1 ☘️
