Sagada, Shangri-La of
the North
Most commonly dubbed as the Philippines’ Shangri-La of the
North, Sagada is a sure hit for any traveler who is looking for cold climate,
laid-back living, fresh produce, and awe inspiring natural landscape. It is definitely as remote and beautiful as how the novel Lost
Horizon (1933) by James Hilton depicted Shangri-La. It is nestled in a
valley enveloped between the Cordillera mountain range and the Ilocos range.
The road leading to it is both scenic and perilous due to its geography.
Although faraway, visitors going to Sagada will not be faced by uncomfortable
living conditions. The local community has made it possible for tourists to
have decent bed & breakfast and even offer dining options to suit a food
lover’s taste.
Getting There. The
long journey begins.
December 27th. The stokedtraveler and his friends
rode an 8:30pm ordinary aircon bus in Victory Liner Pasay terminal going to
Baguio. The trip took them roughly 6.5 hours with a couple of bus stops along
the way. The trip would’ve been a lot faster if the bus took the
NLEX-SCTEX-TPLEX connecting route (approx. 4.5 hours only).
From Baguio, the group had to ride a bus at Dangwa terminal
going to Sagada. The first trip was expected at 6:30 AM. They arrived at 5:30am
only to find that there was already a very long queue of people waiting for the
bus. Unfortunately, the bus only arrives/departs every hour.
In an act of desperation, they contracted one of the UV
express Vans plying a different route to bring them Sagada for P6,500/van. Each
van could accommodate 14 pax but it would be too packed and uncomfortable to
bear a 6 hour drive along the narrow and steep road leading to Sagada. Instead,
the group of 9 decided to just invite 2 Canadian tourists to lower to cost of
their transport. The group left Dangwa Terminal at 6 AM and arrived in Sagada
exactly during lunch time.
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| Highest Point of the Philippine Highway System at 7,400 ft above sea level |
Shamrock Tavern Inn
Usual check-in in Sagada is at 3pm. Fortunately, Shamrock
was kind enough to alow an early check-in for the group at 1pm. They did have
to wait for the staff to get the room ready for 1 hour.
Because they arrived at 12pm, they decided to take the time
to have lunch while waiting. No pictures were taken that time. Everyone was
probably too groggy (and hungry) to bother taking photos of their food.
The stokedtraveler ordered Sinigang. It was cooked
differently this time. It wasn’t sour at all like the usual sinigang. If
anything, there was a strong taste of ginger in it. It didn’t taste bad though.
It was just unexpected. That meal cost P130. The usual rate for a decent meal
in Sagada that time was around P100-250.
The family room is breezy and had ample beds for 8 pax. The group
took room 401 which had its own veranda and was secluded from the rest of the
rooms. If privacy is your thing, this room will be one of the better choices in
Shamrock (if you don’t mind taking the stairs 4 floors up/down).
A leisurely walk to
the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin
Sagada is small enough to walk to get around. The closest
attraction to the nearby inns was this Episcopal Church.
Sagada is the only predominantly Protestant municipalities in the Philippines. The stokedtraveler didn’t know much of the difference between Catholicism and Protestantism. It was good to know that there isn’t much difference at all. Protestants are not led by a Pope like Catholics are. Most of the teachings are the same as well as the historical origins of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
Don’t forget to pass by the souvenir shops or peddlers
selling freshly baked breads. Their cinnamon wheat bread sold for P25 is huge
and yummy. They also sell a cheese and chocolate variant of the same bread.
Lemon pie is also another popular delicacy in Sagada. You may want to grab a
slice before piling in line at the Lemon Pie Inn. Not everyone likes the tangy
lemon taste in them.
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| Mountain Herbs, Breads and Lemon Pie for sale |
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| Lemon Pie sold at P30/slice has the texture of Brazo de Mercedes with the taste of Lemon filling |
Trek to the Hanging
Coffins in the Echo Valley
The stroll to passing through the Episcopal Church to the
starting point of the trek to Echo Valley was fun. It started to be less and
less amusing as it went on after realizing that the trek wasn’t exactly ‘easy’.
From the cemetery, the trek will almost instantly get more
difficult as you start your decline towards the echo valley. The path is only
partly cemented and the rest consist of damp soil, smooth rocks and tree roots.
Some areas are steep and extra caution is advised.
Sagada climate is usually cold but for this trek be sure to
take off your sweater and just keep it handy just in case. You will surely feel
warm and sweaty just by traversing the path and for a brief moment forget how
chilly Sagada really is.
The Echo Valley is basically that. You shout to the top of
your lungs then it echoes from the other side of the mountains. Kind of cool
perhaps but not so when you are with a flock of other tourists who will think
you’ve gone bonkers blurting out weird things just to hear an echo from it.
Further down the trek leads to the famous Sagada Hanging
Coffins. The ones that can be seen using the easy (not-so easy) trek are few
and can even be mistaken just as replicas of the real ones. The locals however
say those are real and we’ll have to take their word for it. There’s supposed
to be more of these hanging coffins further down on an even longer and more
challenging trek.
Hanging coffins is a tradition reserved only to the most
respected individuals in their community. There are certain accomplishments
that one must achieve throughout their life time to gain such honor. One such
is to grandfather/grandmother children in their family’s blood line. That said,
it is likely that only the elders are buried in such manner.
Sagada Bonfire
Festival
Usually held a few days after Christmas, the Sagada Bonfire
Festival is done during one of the coldest days in Sagada. It was scheduled for
2 days from Dec. 27 to 28. The first day is for the contemporary music festival
with bands performing new music while the second day is for the traditional
festival. The traditional festival came highly recommended by the
stokedtraveler’s friends. He’s heard great stories of the previous year’s event
and got excited for this year’s unusual party experience.
There was also a pre-registration fee worth P450/pax with free shirt and lanyard kits c/o Saggas and Travel Factor. It came at the pricey end compared to last year’s fee so the group decided to walk in on the event and pay at the entrance instead. The festival was scheduled to start at 6pm but the stokedtraveler and his friends decided to go there around 8pm.
It was already very dark and chilly when the group ‘top
loaded’ a jeep going to the festival grounds for P20/pax fare. It was the
stokedtraveler’s first ‘top load’ experience (riding on top of a jeepney). The
cold air, the feeling of dangerously falling off the jeep and the roller
coaster-like experience was something not to be missed by any first timer going
to Sagada.
They paid P250/pax at the entrance which included free
unlimited local fruit wines (blueberry, rice, and persimmon). It was a full
P200 off sans the black shirt and lanyard included in the pre-registration kit.
P250 was still expensive considering the venue this year was in a road-side
quarry! There was no sitting area (i.e. logs) and no fresh pine tree sent.
Everywhere you look, you’ll find rocks, sand and then more rocks. Not to
mention the trucks used for quarrying was also there. The local dances where
performed wearing t-shirts and jeans. Talk about keeping tradition! At the
center, there’s a huge bonfire which seemingly tries to make up for the failed
venue and program on this year’s event.
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| Are white shirts and blue jeans traditional Igorot clothing? |
The stokedtraveler asked his friends if this was like last
year’s and the straight answer was ‘NO’. Something changed this year and
the biggest one is the partnering of Saggas with some big tour operator which
may not be familiar with tradition. After watching some local dances and
drinking their own aged wine, the group decided to head off and go back to
their inn to prepare for next day’s early morning activity
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