The Road Less Travelled (Day 2)

Continued from Day 1 Banawe-Sagada Adventure...

5:30 am, awake and sort of ready na... ako haha And yet, we went out ng 8 AM na! Grabe! Since we were going for the "trekking by ourselves" thing, we walked to the Bokong waterfalls (AKA small waterfalls). And since late na, breakfast on the road again, consisting of bread that we bought yesterday.


We asked directions, we took a wrong turn twice, and took the harder road before we eventually reached the Bokong falls. Bad trip kasi may easier trekking route pala na paved and everything na!

Since kahapon pa sa simple trekking namin, lost din kami eh hehe From originally, 20 minutes accd to the map, naging 1 hour ata kami going to the falls. Look at our route below. Pero at least ng pabalik na, mga 30 minutes na nga lang; mas closer doon sa nakasulat sa map hehe

As for the falls, ang ganda! Tapos solo pa namin! Kaso there were flies sa may shed, so we didn't stay or eat (our junk food there). We just took a lot of pictures by the rocks. It looks very deep, so hindi na kami nag-swim. 

On the way back, we used the very easy, paved route and stop over at this cabin, which I think is still under construction pero pwede na. Then we reached the highway, started looking for a jeep to hitchhike. It was at that time that we met Ate Ligaya, saying it was an hour long walk to where we're going, and that we should just wait for a jeep there. We hang out at their place and had coffee there. They were also renting the house for P200.00 per head, but the whole house is already theirs for the taking. Usually, families are the ones that occupy these houses and those with cars. Probably because it's a bit far from town.

Anyway, after two and a half hours of waiting, and about 30 minutes of Julie probably scarying the drivers so we couldn't hitch hike, we were able to hitch hike with a police car! Hooray! Our first hitch hiking experience! They say, it's very safe in Sagada without crime rate since 1991 so we thought we'd tried it hehe Besides, hitch hiking seems to be common here, with only a few jeeps to go around.

When we arrived there, it was already 12 noon. We had no guide, so on the way down, we took a wrong turn (surprise, surprise!), and talked to the owner of the nearest house. We asked Faith, Jovy, and Gwen to come with us to the falls as our unofficial guides. Turns out they wanted to go there anyway. It takes 30 minutes usually to go to that small village down. We paid P10.00 for the entrance fee or whatever before going into the rice fields/forest part.


From the map, it stated it takes 2.5 hours to trek, which we did! Yes, at least nasa average kami hehe Grabe! It was a very long trek. Imagine na nga lang on the way back, naging 3.5 hours na ata pabalik at panay paakyat eh hehe Pero pagdating sa falls, it was all worth it! Ang ganda tlga, all my senses are alive! Ang sarap matulog doon or mag meditate. Si Julie nag meditate nga eh, looking for answers... And I guess dumating nga iyong answers ni Julie haha baka in denial na nga lang siya sa mga answers na iyon hehe

As for the water, it was very cold. I had to keep repeating myself about the Liliw waters that I had survived it, I could survive this. Pero siyempre, this falls was situation on top of Mountain Province, so cooler! Anyway, I thought I could never swim to the waterfalls itself, but I could! Pero sobrang high pressure eh so I couldn't strike up a pose long enough for Julie to take hehe Anyway, I probably swam 30-45 minutes lang. Louie kasi nag ka-cramps so she couldn't accompany me sa falls. Besides, at the time, Julie's answers dumating na so we had to go back.

By the time, Julie and I arrived, it was already 5 PM. AKA wala ng jeep going to the town. As we waited for Abby and Louie and our other guides (we tipped or paid them PhP 200.00 since they were not our official  guides, after all), we met Cristina and said she'd walk with us to the town proper because that's where she also lives. However, nag break time pa kami when Abby and Louie reached the highway and they ate lots of ice cream to quench their thirst hehe

On the way home, Cristina talked about the Yamashita, wedding traditions, and other stuff. It was creepy walking because there were lots of dogs, and they don't have much street lamps there (hence, the suggestion to bring a flash light). Eventually, we get to hitch hike on the jeep going to town. Yehey! Julie and I got what we wanted: to ride atop the jeepney and feel the winds in our hair! Especially, without that much dust and sun, if we rode during daytime. Sayang si Louie got cramps so hindi na siya umakyat. Actually, I also got cramps on the feet (not on my leg), wherein luckily I could holster myself up with my arms to the roof and just dragged by feet to the railings.

When we got there, we ate at the famous Masfarre's Inn & Restaurant. Masfarre is the photographer that took photos of the old original Sagada and made it famous. Some of his photos can be seen in the walls of the restaurant. Louie and I ate lemon chicken (P 180.00), while Julie and Abby got liempo and binangoonan. We also got the Sagadan Mountain Tea. Siyempre, hindi na kami nag take ng pictures because we were so hungry at the time we didn't even think about it hehe

Finally, afterwards, we went home, showered, packed our things. Oh yeah, finally found a place that could cook Pinikpikan for us for P600.00 including the red rice and some wine (all of which are Sagadan delicacies).

More pics here
To be continued again...

The Road Less Traveled (Day 2 in the Sagada Adventure)

Woke up, rather early at 5:30 AM but we left the house at around 7:30 AM na ata

We trekked for 1 hour plus to the Bokong (Small) waterfalls and reached it after two wrong turns and 1 harder, steeper, muddier turn (where we saw another route afterwards that was so much easier). Took pictures for about 30 minutes. Didn't swim because it looked very deep.

Trekked back to the highway for 30 minutes. Meet Ate Ligaya, had coffee in their house, made chitchat for 2.5 hours while waiting for the jeep (it was a 1 hour walk daw kasi to where we're going eh)

Finally, able to hitch hike at a police car, trekked for 2.5 hours to the Bom-od (Big) waterfalls. Arrived there after 1 wrong turn (1 lang, but we were able to get our guides from that wrong turn). Waited for the native boys for about 30 minutes to leave, before we can go swimming in the freezingly cold water.

The tourists we met up with yesterday showed up again, and it was getting dark, plus we have to catch a jeep so we trekked back. There was no jeep, by 5:00 pm. So we have to walk to the town center.

Met Cristina, who's also going there. Started the walk back home. Good thing we found a jeep we could hitch hike with. Yehey! We sat on top of the jeep, as it is part of the Sagada experience, except for Louie who had cramps before getting to the top of the roof.

Had dinner at famous Masfarre's Inn, where Louie and I had lemon chicken. Julie and Abby had binangoonan and liempo. Saw very nice photographs of the old original Sagada, which was made famous by Masfarre.

To be continued again, tomorrow na siguro...