Okay, so how will I start this new blog post? Let me try this, hi Super Folks! How are you today? Wherever you are in the world, I sincerely hope you're doing fine, enjoying your waffle, sausage and coffee there, at home. Appreciating God's creations, like the peaceful morning sunrise. By the way, happy Earth Day!
COVID-19, you're completely unacceptable. This pandemic is hurting everyone, physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and financially. Everyone is exhausted. On the other hand, as far as this planet is concern, it's undeniable that yes, it's somehow healing, because of the lockdowns and community quarantine, there's only like a thin line of air pollution. Perhaps, that's the silver lining, it carried bluer skies and cleaner air. Oh my, I really miss traveling, that's one of the things I'd like to do again, after this nightmare. I'd like to visit Sagada again, see the rice terraces, like the picture above, and the sunflowers.
Hiking with some friends. See the mountains, waterfalls, meet nice locals and try native delicacies. Oh good Lord, I'm daydreaming now. I'd like to go to the beach too, experience another island-hopping and enjoy another sunset. Just happy moments.
Look at this sunflower, so pretty, isn't it? I hope we could go back to the old normal, in a snap. We could travel without too much restrictions. The word "freedom". I guess today, it's better to just be more imaginative. Close our eyes and remember the good old days, the past travel stories.
Free spirit, heard it before? According to Merriam-Webster, it's a person who thinks and acts in an uninhibited way without worrying about normal social rules. Like a Bohemian, one who lives a wandering or vagabond life.
You know, I felt that, more than a year ago. When I was in Sagada, with my friend. When we were there, trying to find ourselves, our own missing piece. Even though, we weren't able to go inside Ganduyan Museum, one of the tourist spots, because it was closed to the public, considerably, this place was so memorable.
It was one of my best travel experiences, in my country, the Philippines. We felt no worries, just appreciation. No Metro Manila, just this beautiful destination, a perfect retreat place.
Actually, I always feel free-spirited every time I go on vacation or tour. I'm away from negative thoughts. I will never forget Sagada, its people, some are selling fine vegetables and coffee, its simple life. They are all precious.
Of course we didn't forget to check this famous place, the Sagada Lemon Pie House. We went there on our first day, first afternoon. Surprisingly, there were no customers, just cute and welcoming stray dogs outside, but all kidding aside, it's laid-back, indeed homey.
Of course we also didn't forget to try the Lemon Pie. It was unique for me and my first time to taste it. First impression was? It's like "Brazo de Mercedes", a meringue with lemon cream filling. Clean and light taste, perfect for coffee time. It's a good souvenir too.
The travel time from Manila to Sagada will take roughly 12 hours, take note, that's just one way. It's like never-ending, truly time-consuming and not easy. Thus, this journey must be your dream and part of your long-term adventure bucket list.
Sagada is on a remote location in northwestern Philippines. It is one of the smaller towns in Mountain Province.
Thanks to Coda Lines, a bus company that has direct service from Manila to Sagada, we had a very comfortable and affordable land travel.
In addition, we had a short layover in Banaue, to take pictures of the breathtaking rice terraces. I honestly didn't expect it, that was just less than ten minutes but that was one of the highlights.
Jaw-dropping! I never thought we could see that view. That was beyond the feature of our Philippine twenty-peso note.
Just to share, based on the old pocketbook "What's On the Philippine Guide", the word "Banaue" is derived from the word "Banawor", a nocturnal, swift flying bird that lived in one of the oldest sitios of the town. When the Spaniards occupied the town, they mispronounced Banawor as Banaue, and the name stuck.
Furthermore, because of its high altitude, Banaue is often described as "where land merges with the clouds to meet the heavens", and the rice terraces as "the stairway to the sky".
Tagged as the "Eight Wonder of the World", the Banaue Rice Terraces start from the base of the Cordilleras and reach up to several thousand feet high. It's length, if stretched from end to end, could encircle half of the globe. The rice paddies are fed by mountain springs and streams that are channeled into an irrigation canal that runs downhill through the terraces.
Our second day was challenging and exhausting, yet it was more fun, like the official tourism tagline of the Philippines.
Well, I know because of this novel coronavirus, many of us cannot go outside to see the full beauty of this planet, but for now, let's just stay home, to save lives, and enjoy somewhat virtual tours on YouTube, like the relaxing "Our Planet", a British nature documentary series made for Netflix, or travel stories like this.
Going back, we had to wake up early to visit one of Sagada's natural attractions, the Bomod-ok Falls. There are also other well-known tourist spots in this town like the Hanging Coffins, Sumaguing Cave, Echo Valley, Mt. Kiltepan Viewpoint, Marlboro Hills, Sagada Brew and Sagada Weaving.
Sadly, since we didn't have enough money and time, on a "shoestring budget", we had to choose only one. Tours are actually available at Sagada Tourism Office, make sure to drop by and check the updated prices, also the environmental or tourism fee.
Good thing, the caretaker of the transient house where we stayed, helped us in making some arrangements like contacting our van driver and giving us info about the place.
Nevertheless, our roughly three-hour hike to see Bomod-ok Falls was priceless. We were lucky to be accompanied by a jolly and great conversationalist tour guide, an awesome photographer too. We talked about our lives while walking, our work, history and nature.
There were times that we had to stop and just enjoy the view, and the morning breeze. Sunflowers are everywhere. We also went to this community where we saw pet monkey and black pig. Bomod-ok Falls is also known as "Big Falls". Look! Pictures above speak for itself, how beautiful this place is. Swimming is okay but the water is very cold, so, be extra cautious. Honestly, I only enjoyed it when my body went numb, I thought I could already resist the temperature.
Before we left, we stopped at this local store quite near the waterfalls. We had our snack, ate Filipino street food like Banana Cue and Fish Balls. And then, went back to Sagada Town Proper and continued the exploration.
Second afternoon, we went to the Church of St. Mary The Virgin, the main Episcopal church in Sagada.
Additionally, we wandered down the street, checked local shops, waited until the evening, until the sky turned black. It didn't end there, we even watched traditional dance.
Cold weather, that's one of the things I truly miss the most. Plus the pesto pretzel from Masferre Country Inn & Restaurant.
I guess, my friend's big pretzel was ham and cheese? The blueberry jam which I bought there was also good. I really need to go back.
On our last day, we did what the normal tourists do, our only activity was to buy souvenirs.
We went to roughly three stores to find unique fridge magnet and keychain. Of course, as a "black coffee" lover, I had to buy Sagada Arabica.
There are shades of rice. I mean, there are different types, you can buy Sagada black rice, brown or red.
From black rice to black rice wine.
Anthony Bourdain once said, "I'm a big believer in winging it. I'm a big believer that you're never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I'm always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary."
Sunday noon when we left Sagada. It was bittersweet, I wish we could go back again, next dry season, longer and more friends. That's it! Super thanks again for reading my blog. Next post, we will go outside the Philippines! Don't forget to subscribe on my YouTube channel and follow my Instagram. Stay safe and be kind always.
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