This is the Philippines? A Mountain Retreat in Sagada

I left Banaue and Batad feeling physically exhausted after three days of intense trekking through the Cordillera rice terraces. But as I boarded the public Jeepney that would take me three hours to Bontoc where I would transfer for another three-hour public Jeepney to Sagada, all for less than five dollars, I was filled with excitement. I was on my way to meet Heather, who has become one of my favorite world travel buddies. Long term readers will know Heather as my photography mentor in Grand Cayman, where I worked as her assistant for a summer, my wedding date in Philadelphia, where we met up to celebrate our island friends’ marriage, and Oahu and The Big Island, where we terrorized Hawaii together for two weeks before I went off on my own.

This had been a very last-minute trip on Heather’s part. We frequently chat on Whatsapp, and before I left Thailand I was going through my upcoming Philippines itinerary while she was lamenting island fever — she still lives and works on Grand Cayman. I think I jokingly responded, “Why not come to the Philippines?” A few days later she had booked a ticket.

I love having friends as crazy as I am.

Lonely Planet Philippines describes Sagada as “the closest thing the Philippines has to a backpacker mecca,” warning that it can at times be “packed by travelers” and even mentions the “wide consumption of cheap local pot.” The latter of which I have no interest in, by the way, but it does point to a certain, er, traveler culture.

This was not the first nor the last time that my usually trusty guidebook brand left me scratching my head on this trip. Sagada was a tranquil mountain town indeed, that part they had right, and it had loads of appeal — cool air, quaint atmosphere, one major quirky attraction, and one major adventure activity (to be revealed!). But a backpacker mecca it was not — the entire town was fast asleep at 8pm (in fact our guesthouse locked us in at 9pm!), the usual barrage of internet shops, comfy cafes and travel agencies was non-existent, and there was nary a dreadlocked or singlet-wearing or backpack-toting vagabond in sight. The only other white faces we noticed at all in our few days there were the Irish couple and the Israeli couple that had been crammed into my Jeepney on the way in.

But we didn’t mind — we’ve both had heavy doses of backpacker culture in our travels — and it was quite nice to have the place to ourselves. We checked into the sweet and homey Residential Lodge and set off to explore.

Photo on left by Heather Holt Photography

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Our first stop — and soon to be daily addiction — was the one nod to the backpacker atmosphere that Lonely Planet had promised. Yoghurt House became our home base in Sagada thanks to an inviting balcony and  a menu of delicious homemade yoghurts. Had there been wifi, we might have moved in.

Photo on right by Heather Holt Photography

Post fuel stop, we set off to explore the town. With just two roads making up the heart of Sagada, we didn’t have to go far. But we did enjoy seeing the provincial staples of village life anywhere in the world — a fire station, local transport, a school, a house of worship.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

One of the things I love about traveling with Heather is our shared love of photography and being able to indulge in long photo walks and shoots together that might leave less artistically inclined travelers tapping their feet. However, we end up with a lot of shots like this. Here’s my version:

And here’s Heather’s. Love it.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

One thing that we were really tickled by in the Philippines was the proliferation of silly signs, many of them instructing you not to do things that, well, you’d think might be common sense. However, based on the amount of public urination that I witnessed in my three weeks there (hint: it was a lot), I guess they really are necessary.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

And of course, almost any city in the Philippines will hold a fleet of colorful, overcrowded Jeepneys and tiny, brightly painted trikes.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

We skipped the motorized transport in favor of our own two feet. Sagada is on a mountain slope, meaning a serious glute workout is required even for a short walk up or down the street. Heading down the road, literally, we soon left buildings and exhaust fumes behind in exchange for lush rural rice paddies.

While I wouldn’t say these compared to the rice terraces I saw in Banaue or Batad, they were beautiful in their own way — gently sloping, verdant green, and backed by untamed mountains.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

In the opposite direction, towards the highest point of town, we set off on another adventure. Following vague directions we climbed a set of stairs behind the church, cut through a graveyard, and then looked in vain for paths down into the overgrown valley below. We had a few false starts at first and I had visions of us emerging covered in sweat, dirt and blood after hours of crawling through the thorny brush in vain, but eventually we heard voices and followed them to a clearing in the base of the valley.

And that’s where we found the hanging coffins that have made Sagada famous.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Rather than bury their dead underground, the people of Sagada have traditionally chosen a rarer path — suspending the coffins up on the area’s famous limestone cliffs, or stacking them at the entrances to the region’s many caves. Today, most people are buried in the nearby cemetery, but there have been coffins added to the wall as recently as the last decade. Locals believe the suspension provides an easier path for the spirits to reach their eternal resting places, as well as a more practical reason — it kept the wild animals away.

Either way, they do make for a surreal afternoon in the heart of a pine forest valley in the middle of the largest island of the Philippines.

Photo by Heather Holt Photography

Hanging coffins and all, what I’ve detailed here might not be enough to justify the incredibly uncomfortable twelve-hour bus ride from Manila to Sagada for some people. But my next post? Adrenaline junkies, hold onto your screens.

Things are about to get wild up in Sagada — stay tuned!