Spelunking in Sagada

Sagada
Sumaging Cave


     From Banaue, we arranged a car transfer to take us in Sagada.  We don’t have a hotel reservation, so we checked one by one all the hostels and guest houses around the town area.  During that time, there were many locals and foreign travelers that finding an available room good for 9 people was so hard.  We ended up in Sagada Igorot Inn that can accommodate us all but with shared comfort rooms.

     I fell in love with Sagada’s laid back town and cold climate.  I’ve been here before and I still want to visit this place at least once a year.  Every visit will show you something new, so we tried what I never did before.

     We did spelunking in Sagada’s famous Sumaging Cave.  Well, it was not easy at all.  You have to listen and follow your tour guide’s advice to avoid accident.  We were careful enough and a bit slow going down the rocky and slippery path of the cave.  Since I love adventure, I never got afraid.  Then at the lower part of the cave, we were asked to take off our slippers and sandals, and walked down the sandstone formations without haste of sliding down.  At the end of the trail, there we saw some beautiful formations of stalagmites and stalactites.   The underground shallow lakes are crystal clear as it reflects the light from our lamp.

     Going up the cave to get out was a bit easy than going down.  It only took us a couple of minutes to get out of the cave, than an hour or two to go down.

     After a total of 2 hours inside the cave, we still got a chance to visit the Lumiang Cave.  Some of my friends have never been to Sagada, so I made sure that they will see the hanging coffins even if it started to get dark.  I ended being their tour guide, as our tour guide looks tired already from several tours they guided in a whole day.

     Hungry after our cave adventure, we headed straight to Yoghurt House even if we were dirtied from sliding down the cave's trail and have not yet taken a bath.  Imagine we endured the adventure without having our lunch.  But we enjoyed their delicious dishes up to the last bite after 30 minutes of waiting.

     Still with little energy left, after we took a bath and rested for an hour, we went out at night in a freezing temperature to drink a few beers at Kimchi Bar.  We only had one San Miguel Light because the foreigners in front of our tables were smoking a marijuana.  We got uncomfortable and went out of the bar right away.

     Sagada is just a small mountain village that has many beautiful attractions to visit.  An overnight visit is not enough to see all their tourist spots.  That is why I keep coming back to this place and every visit is such a wonderful and different experience.

Sumaging Cave
Going down the cave

Sumaging Cave
At the pig pen as what they called

Sumaging Cave
Elephant formation

Sumaging Cave
Pregnant Woman formation

Sumaging Cave
Turtle formation

Sumaging Cave

Sumaging Cave

Sumaging Cave

Lumiang Cave
Lumiang Cave and the hanging coffins

Sagada Rice Terraces




Travel Date: January 21, 2012
Location: Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines

Comments

Jam Santos said…
i miss sagada!
lovely photos! :)

jam
http://diaryofamodernmariaclara.blogspot.com/
October 3, 2012 at 10:57 AM
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