I was trapped!!! And stranded because of the many wild dogs swarming the street on the way back to our place! (If you didn't know, I got bitten by a dog on the finger when I was 7 or 8, so I can be expected not to be warmed with dogs.) I didn't know how to get back, time's a wasting, and I was alone! But let me start from the beginning...
The day started out cold... again (despite only 1 window open during the night), thus I woke up and cannot go to sleep at 5 AM. Thinking that this is my last day in Sagada, I decided to go for a walk around town, maybe go to the church (where I heard the bells ringing yesterday at quarter to 6), buy some breakfast (AKA bread). I thought this was my time to contemplate and meditate on things... again. So I brought my Ipod, phone, and P50.00.
When I got down, I chit chat with Tita Mary for a while, telling about our plans for a while. I was fiddling with my Ipod so I didn't notice the number of dogs starting to get up and populating the road. When I finally did notice, I was already in the middle. It was too late to go back, so I decided to distract myself with texting a nonexistent person, just so the dogs wouldn't smell my fear. Finally, I passed it.
I went straight to the bakery and bought breakfast. Then decided to stop by the church (in top photo:the white thing is the roof, in the middle of the forest; this photo taken from above our rooftop) before heading back home. It was 6 AM at the time. There were still no people as the mass starts at 630 AM. I went back to our street, but paused when saw the number of dogs out there. There were 6 of them, but that was during the first part. I could hear the barking though. So I went back to the church.
From the church, I could see the road leading to our place, could hear the barkings coming from there! Grabe! Ang ingay! Considering that I was in the opposite valley/mountain na. Sometimes, I could hear some child screaming, too. Siyempre, imagination ko na lang nag palala. I felt so stuck! Good thing I have my phone, so at least feel ko louie's still with me.
Buti nalang nag trekking na noong 1st day so I just went through the long cut, instead of the high way. However, when I was near the highway na, I saw two dogs again and back out. Buti nalang I met someone going to the highway, and asked if I could go with him because I was scared of dogs. Buti nalang people in Sagada are so nice, so I went with him, just had a sort-of one-way conversation with the man though to distract myself from the dogs haha
Finally, I got back sa inn after an hour. Siyempre, running late again, and we still had to go to the municipal to get a guide (which I should have done since I was out on the street na eh, but slipped my mind due to the crisis at hand). Julie asked Tita Mary for recommendations for the guide, so she called Eddison to go directly to our place nalang. And from there, we walked approx 45-60 minutes to Sumaguin Cave.
I think the cave was fun and easy (hehe siyempre natapos na kasi) after going through the first part.
The first part consisted of walking through white slippery lime stone, where you had to hold on to this rocks, which was covered with guano. Pretty sure, I didn't care about touching bat poo, knowing this could save my life! haha After which, there was this rope part (feeling ko Indiana Jones haha), where you had to hold the rope in order to go to one rock to another to avoid getting wet. And then there was a tunnel that you had to cross with water. It isn't that high, about high-waist level lang for a 5'3 flexible person.
At the end of the tunnel, you will reach the deepest part of the cave, the fun part. There's a swimming pool for those crazy (AKA adventurous) enough to swim in the freezing cold water, and the sand stone formations, (sabi nga ni louie, "pwedeng mag foot spa because it feels like sand paper"), which was the fun part. I felt like I was a child, playing in Megamall, climbing all those inflatables hehe
Oh yeah, officially, the sand stones that we saw were the pregnant women (with clitoris, labia majora and minora exposed hehe), the penis that made it pregnant, sea turtle, curtain formation, and some baby elephant (actually, we were the ones who proclaimed it, so it was not official hehe)
When we got out of the cave, it was already 1045. Ang bilis ng oras! Since nagmamadali kami, medyo Julie and I are running (advanced na raw for the training when we get back to school) ahead of Abby, Louie, Eddison, and Eddison's other friend (which I didn't get the name). It was hard kasi uphill and downhill siya eh (good for the butt and thighs! hehe).
By 1130, we were there, and we split. Julie went ahead to the restaurant to tell the boy that we're going to take the food out nalang, while the rest of us went ahead and packed our things. We were going to take the 12 NN bus, so we asked Eddison if he could tell the jeep driver to wait for us. We paid Tita Mary (PhP 200/head/night), thanked her but did not get the chance to take our picture with her.
After passing and getting the food (and getting only one shot), we went to the jeep. Sayang, the place has a nice ambience. There was only one boy in the restaurant at the time, and Julie think he's the one who cooked our food. According to Julie, parang nalungkot siya when Julie said that we'll be taking the food out. Sayang nga eh! More pics pa nmn sana and mainit pa tlga ang food noon.
When we get to the jeep, it was already a few minutes past 12 (depends on whose watch you're looking at). T
he driver said that we'll be leaving at 1 PM, saying that the 12 NN jeep was already gone. Aww... you mean, these people had a special 1PM bus for us?? Oh di ba? Ang bait tlga ng mga taga-Sagada! Touch... Anyway, with an hour to go, we didn't waste it eating our food. We went souveneir shopping. Pinakyaw na namin iyong mga suman doon (there were two kinds), also got brown-red rice, and lots of wines hehe Buti nalang there was an hour to go para at least we could sample the wines for free! hehe
When we got to Bontoc, it was already 1:45 PM, so we dropped our things at the office, and ate in their cafe next door. We just bought drinks in the cafe and gave service charge for our plates and utensils. Ang sarap ng Pinikpikan! If you're going to Sagada, don't miss it! haha Although may ibang tao baka ma-weirdohan hehe
In Pinikpikan kasi, they say it's like tinolang manok, but there's also itag (smoked pig) on it so the taste of the soup is still different. It was hard to prepare (needs to be told the day before) because the chicken has to be killed "softly". They didn't spare any part of the chicken. Sa food, you could see the head, the adidas (chicken feet), and even the liver and intestines. Though nobody ate those parts hehe The meal consisted of PhP600.00 but it was worth it because by the time that we were finished, half of the red rice (approx 3-4 cups), chicken, and wine was still untouched... Well, we did taste the wine though hehe
Instead of leaving Bontoc at 3 or 3:30 (as was Filipino time), we left at 2:45 PM. They said that we have to go early because it might rain and we could experience a landslide. It was rather hard and scary to look at the window. Makikita mo na talaga ang bangin! It was more scary than the jeep, which had a gap of about 1 forearm's length, while the bus had less than 1 hand's length nalang from the bangin... Scary!
Cable Bus Tours had 2 stop-overs (almost every 2 hours) before stopping over for dinner. The first one, there were vegetable stalls that were really cheap (approx a little more than 2 kg of cabbage for PhP20.00 only and 1 kg carrots for PhP20.00 --> hence, Julie bought a lot! I only bought this native upo because it looks so different from what I normally see in the market. Medyo nahuhuli na nmn kami sa bus, and Julie was in a panic, so I brought her veggies.
Trying to imitate the locals, I tried to bring it on my back. But instead, it didn't reach my back, but laid it on my head instead. Kwento ni Louie na sabi ng driver, "parang native ah" haha After noon, medyo tulog na ako, so couldn't tell you anything. Louie was more awake during the ride though, texting I dunnowho hehe Okay, basta when we got to E. Rodriquez, it was already 2 in the morning.
Just in time for my driver and my dear brother Miguel to pick us up hehe
The adventure is over... sigh...
