It was a cold morning dew that greeted us while taking our first meal of the day. Rice terraces showed its fine rice field made to appear like stairs which has been protected and destroyed by decades, weather and its community. We were 6 adventurers who took courage of going up North and experience a once in a lifetime journey.
First day in Sagada in a fine morning started very well as we were greeted with warm host and an unexpected architecture of their local inns. We did not took photo of how it was inside, because we were all excited to feel our bed and later on was too tired to take notice that we did not had any decent photos to give justice to how it was an interesting place to stay. The place has one bathroom with hot shower, dressing area with a partitioned curtain and across the toilet was two queen sized bed and one single bed, enough to host 6 backpackers with different personalities. Outside our room was a porch and stairs going up to the main house. Before noon we started looking for some place to eat, the street was full of interesting concept restaurants. There is the famous “Lemon house”, the home of “orange chicken”, the French “crepe house”, the “must-try sagada-yoghurt” and many other res
taurants that are not cheap. Based on experience, I don’t think that Sagada is cheap when it come food, unless you’ll buy raw and cook it. We basically ended up tasting the “lemon house” and getting decent lunch at the famous “orange chicken house”.
After the luscious lunch and much resting we are up to another adventure, which I thought was great, but later on regretted it. We went to kill ourselves at Sumaguing Cave, a supposed 4-hour spelunking (fyi, it means exploration of caves). The guide oriented us to leave belongings at the van, no jackets (as this might hinder from sliding and entering though small holes), no bags, portable gadgets are ok for photos and trust and respect.
Going down from the top nobody would know that there exist an entrance to this enchanted cave, as the guide mentioned their deads are buried just outside the cave where sunlight can still enter, because everybody needs a little bit of sunshine, right?
Before entering the cave, the trek going down is 10 mins. It was pavement then soil then pavement then soil, on the left was a mountain rock, on the right was forest. The cave is majestic, the big entrance with old and new coffins will greet you with hello and amazement. I thought that this trip will be life changing and relaxing, but no! I was awed by how difficult the path were. Rumors had it, we went through small holes to go down the cave, slide through, step a little, sit and move to the side, hold on to the rock holes, step left then right, hold the rope and step to the guide while chin is close to the chest
to go up, remove the s
lippers, walk in the 2ft.
water and many more instructions from the guide, was it worth it? It should be. The cave was dark, lamp or flashlight are used, it smells like bat poop everywhere, the water inside was cold, the ways going up and down are a risk and a dangerous path when not guided by local, the natural form of the cave made it seem like people from the past had somehow manage to live inside as there were wide-flat areas that can be habitable at some point, but I do no recommend as it is very scary and creepy inside. Stalactites and stalagmites are everywhere, some formed faces, genitals, animals, expressions and deity. For those who had a weak heart they can take the easy route in which they can just go down and do a little caving, but for those who loves risking their lives it is best to do the cave connections like what we did. My friends would ask me if I would suggest that place, I always tell them that life is precious and living like it was your last will make it remarkable. Going down the cave was difficult enough, but going up outside the cave was dreadful because after all the climbing, sliding, stepping the most challenging is going up the stairs – with tired feet and legs. We ended after 2 hours, it was fast for beginners, but if there were a lot of tourist it will take 4hrs. to as long as they want. The guide mentioned that they had an experience when they started the tour early and ended up at 7pm. Obviously, nobody on our group wanted the same fate as we were quick with all the instructions, pacing and photo ops.
Going through the hardship of caving made me realized that life during the time that the locals are exploring the area could have been difficult. I asked the guide, how did they discover and knew the way around the cave, he said that before it was only the oxygen they follow and the sound of the water, and the flow had them going down below that cave. It wasn’t 100% of the cave he said, some are still exploring deeper to see what’s inside, but I think and saw that there are areas that should be left untouched and let the next generation explore it. It was risky enough for some old locals to guide the tourist their way through.
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