The "tour guide" from Banaue arranged a direct van transfer to Sagada at 8.30am at 300ps. It's slightly more expensive than taking the jeepney but direct and faster. On the way, we had brief photo stops at the rice terraces of Banaue. Majestic but not as pretty as Batad.
2.5-3 hours later, we arrived in Sagada. It was much colder here than I expected, kinda like Genting Highlands.
As recommended by many blogs, I had my lunch at Yoghurt House.
My sandwich was average but the honey yoghurt was to-die-for. So creamy and luscious, it was slightly sour but the generous drizzle of honey managed to complement it really well.
Yoghurt House's resident husky. It's so cute and friendly though a little scruffy/smelly.
There are many activities one could partake in Sagada, such as the cave connection, spelunking, hanging coffins, hiking, waterfalls, etc. Still feeling achy from my Batad hike, I decided to take it easy and just visit the hanging coffins. Moreover, I'm slightly cave-phobic so I was happy to skip the caving activities.
One could get a guide to get to the famed hanging coffins in Sagada, but I decided to brave it alone to Lumiang Burial Cave.
Short hike down to Lumiang Burial Cave. The rectangular wooden blocks are actually coffins. One could venture down into the caves but it looked pretty steep and I didn't have a light with me, so I didn't.
The gorgeous view near the caves.
After the short trek to Lumiang, I stopped to have tea at Sagada Lemon Pie House, famed for their lemon pies.
The pie was light, airy and had a nice tartness. I managed to finish it despite not being a dessert person.
A visit to the local market just as they were closing.
In the evening, I saw boys playing basketball in the community court. With the younger kids watching on, rolling on the grass, laughing, hammering metal caps, etc. Doing everything a kid should be doing instead of having their eyes glued to an iPad. It was such a heartwarming sight and slowly, I began to fall in love with this simple town.
Dinner at Strawberry House was average, but the strawberry yoghurt was pretty good!
The next morning, at a friend's suggestion, I headed to Sagada Brew for breakfast, and coffee of course! I enjoyed the food (the coffee was a tad weak) and the chill cafe ambience. However, I was the only customer at that time.
There seems to be a high concentration of adorable kids in Sagada. Everywhere I went, the children had large sparkly eyes and dainty features. This pretty girl, Summer, who just turned 1 is learning how to walk. She let me carry her and cried when I returned her to her mommy! Awwwwww.....
I made my way to Echo Valley for the hanging coffins. The route wasn't clearly marked so there was some confusion whether to turn "left" or "right" occasionally. Thank goodness there was a big tour group with a guide in front of me and 3 other French tourists on their own so none of us got lost!
St Mary's cathedral
And all too quickly, my holiday in Sagada has ended. Saying goodbye to St. Joseph Resthouse where I spent the night.
My rather spartan room which cost 300ps.
The driver who brought me to Sagada told me to wait for the return to Banaue at 1pm. I had a nagging feeling that he may not turn up; after all, it was a private transfer so I reckoned that if no one wanted to come from Banaue, they would not operate the service. Out of caution, I checked-out much earlier and waited to see if the van would appear. It didn't..yikes (or at least I didn't see it). I ended up taking the public jeepney to Banaue via Baguio (40ps from Sagada to Baguio + 150ps from Baguio to Banaue) and it turned out to be a really good thing! I bumped into the French tourists again and made some new friends along the way!
A glimpse of Baguio
Interesting bunch of travellers from the Philippines, Finland, France, Spain and Malaysia!
