I haven’t get over yet with my Mt. Ulap experience and yet here I am again joining Livemore Adventures and Tours for another awesome weekend getaway. Originally I supposed to be going south for a Caramoan Adventures but for uncontrollable circumstance the tour was cancelled and I got diverted back to north – in Sagada.
As always our meeting place is at KFC , Araneta Cubao near shopwise. I got there by 9:00pm, too early for our 11:00pm call time since the sky is sending the warning that heavy rain will fall if I don’t pick up my butt up and leave home early. Participants got complete right away so we left Cubao before 12:00mn. We pick up some remaining participants in Mcdonalds, Mindano Avenue and four more participants in two other pick up points before heading north.
We took the Manila-Banaue-Sagada rout so we can take a look at the view of the famous Benue Rice Terraces. Since It’s a long weekend and due to a lot of road constructions ongoing we got a little bit stuck on a moderate traffic. Not everyone noticed it though since they were all asleep. Before 6:30 AM we got to Mcdolands in Solano, Nueva Viscaya for a stopover to have some breakfast.
After more than two more hours we have seen the arch welcoming us in Banaue. We took another stopover for some photo ops. Another 45 mins of road trip and we then reached our first destination, the Banaue Rice Terraces View Point in Poblacion. Its mesmerizing to see the Banaue Rice Terraces (Hagdan-hagdang Palayan ng Banawe) with your own naked eye in person. It was more beautiful than what you can see in postcards, The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2,000-year-old terraces that were carved into the mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by ancestors of the indigenous people. They are frequently enlisted in the "Eighth Wonder of the World".
Aside from Instagram worthy views you can also find souvenir shops around the area. You can find variety of items from ref magnet, key chains, clothes, unique wood products and more.
Since the sun is starting to demonstrate its greatness we then decided to go to main destination. We finally reached Sagada after additional more than three hours tiring ride. We are actually already late from our scheduled Itinerary. In fact we were not able to stick with it. But who cares about itineraries and schedules when you are have so much fun? We’ve checked in to our transient rooms around 1:30 pm. We had lunch by 2:00 pm then started our activities for the day.
Our first activity? Spelunking or caving. At first some participants were hesitant to join us but then we were able to convince them to go with us. We took the LUMIANG TO SUMAGUING CAVE connection. we get to the entrance of Lumian Cave by quarter to four in the afternoon and we exited at Sumaging Cave by pass eight in the evening. This is the most challenging part of our tour. It was beyond everyone expectation. I personally was expecting that it was just a simple tour inside the came but never did I or anyone expect that this is an extreme activity. Exploring the cave will require you to go through very narrow openings. This is a real challenge for claustrophobic and people that are afraid of the dark. You have to navigate through passages that go up and down. You have rappel using a rope to go down the big rocks, crawl through narrow spaces and wade through cold water bodies. Yes! It does sound extreme that when you are inside it was all worth it. The Cave houses beautiful rock formations, stalagmites and stalactites and burial grounds.
The following day we woke up early. Everyone was already out by four in the morning so we can catch the breaking of dawn and see beauty of the sunrise at Keltipan. I have no enough words on how awed I am with the experience of witnessing the glorious sunrise. Let just these photos speaks for itself.
Aside for the sea of clouds you will also see the sea of crowds. The place becomes crowed specially during holiday since it wasn’t just us who wants to witness of what wonders the nature has to offer. If you haven’t had breakfast yet before heading to Keltipan, it alright since there are a lot of vendors around the area as well where you can have coffee and light breakfast.
We decent Keltipan tower via “Top Load”. Top loading is one of the ways in riding a jeep. Instead of getting inside of the vehicle, you will go up to the roof the jeep. No comfortable chair but the experience is awesome!
The jeepney then drop us in Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Then we trek to Echo trail, Echo Valley, Sagada public cemetery and visit the hanging coffins before we head back to our transient to have our breakfast.
After we had our self full, we then prepared and to our next destination – Pongas Twin Waterfalls. Our service drove us to the jump off and we have to trek again for an hour a half. As we get to the fall all exhaustion were turned away when I got to dip my feet in the cool fresh running water. We haven’t stay long in the falls since we’re running out of time. After thirty mins we have started the an hour and a half trek descending from the falls.
After we had our self full, we then prepared and to our next destination – Pongas Twin Waterfalls. Our service drove us to the jump off and we have to trek again for an hour a half. As we get to the fall all exhaustion were turned away when I got to dip my feet in the cool fresh running water. We haven’t stay long in the falls since we’re running out of time. After thirty mins we have started the an hour and a half trek descending from the falls.
We had super late lunch at Salt and Pepper before we left Sagada by 4:00 PM.
We supposed to have a short stopped over in highest point at Benguet but the weather didn’t permit us. The fog covered the entire please and the rain started to fall. We are all stuck in the van, throwing corky jokes and had so much fun as if we already know each other for a very long time.
It wasn’t a perfect itinerary since 2 days and 1 nigth is not enough to explore sagada. There were places that we were not able to visit but just like what I have stated earlier who care about itinerary if the memories and people around you were more than enough? It was truly an amazing Sagada Adventure with such amazing people! I’m looking forward to travel you all again!
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