Let's get not too far, a ride 2-3 hours away from Manila - Laiya, Batangas.

For those who wanted to have a pool and an ocean at the same place and will accommodate a people in a team, in a project or even in a company, Laiya Coco Grove should be on your list. An airconditioned room in a tree house is one of their room's best seller, our project chose this resort because first of all it is affordable and near in the city. It is suitable for just a short time outing and offers a nice and relaxing atmosphere.

The pictures above were taken end of March this year, although the resort has only one pool but it is big enough for I think 40 persons. What I dont like in their pool is that it is shallow, having 4-4.5 ft as the deepest knowing the fact that it is an adult pool, so I prefer the beach instead. Sorry I dont have so many words to describe what it was like being there, I would say if you are looking for a relaxing place then this is a good place for you. :)

You can visit their site here http://www.laiyacocogrove.com/ if you wanted to know more about them.

SAGADA (part3)


Where else? and What not?

Aside from the nature's best Sagada has to offer, here's the additional fun to share with.

Ready you voice when you walk towards the Sagada's one of attractions, the Echo Valley. Shout loud once and hear your voice bounce back a few times, cool eh? Hephep! kindly choose the words that you will be shouting else you are going to wake the remains from the hanging coffins. Hehe. Just a little advice, dont yell the words 'traffic' or 'confetti' or same, have respect and remember echos can only bounce back the last syllable. :)

Hanging coffin (left) | Echo Valley (right)

We didn't have enough time to trek down the valley to have a near view of the hanging coffins there, they said the last wake hanging in the rocks was happened last year (2008) - this is part of their tradition, instead of burying the dead body, they put them in a coffin and hang the coffin in the rock, I dont know what that means though. Maybe if we will be having chance in some other time to view the hanging coffins a meter away, I would not hesitate to share the pics and experience of course, I believe there is a little river somewhere near down the valley which we never got the time to see.

Sagada's Pottery is a definite place you dont want to miss. As in oh-em-gee, I'm pretty amazed not only on their work but get this - I'm stunned with the potter herself.

Sagada Pottery

Sample works

Uhm, I forgot her name (the female potter) but she is sooo entertaining in a way that I realized I'm drooling with amazement. She speaks in foreign tongue fluently all throughout the time we were there, she answered our questions in English and even had a pot demo in a non-native accent. She already at her age, but man! we were amazed... very very nice place and people not worth missing. :)

Orange Farm is also a great place to visit in Sagada... this is suitable for those who wanted to eat a lot (hehe), why? Because here you just have to walk towards the orange plants, pick an orange and eat it.. take note: FOR FREE! Yeah. You have to eat those oranges if you wanted them free, if you just want them as pasalubong then you have to pay for every kilo of oranges you picked, well at least it is you yourself who picked the oranges from a tree... nice experience dont you think?

Orange Farm

Yes, Sagada people are Catholics that is why they have this famous church - St. Mary's Church.
The church interior is simple and sacred, there is a huge Jesus crucified figure in the middle of the altar, it is small but can accommodate Sagada people. Near the church is a cemetery where you have to climb a high stairway and have a few steps to get there. You will pass this when you're going to the echo valley which is just behind the cemetery.

St. Mary's Church and the Cemetery

But why do they have the hanging coffins while they already have their cemetery? hmm.. it's for you to find out.

Time to eat!

Java Chicken and Carbonarra in Yoghurt's House

Breakfast

I always look forward for the food whenever I go to places like this, it is something that you cannot share when you got home, I mean the dine in thing. There are a lot of restaurants in Sagada that offer great cuisine with an affordable price, one of the most popular is the Yoghurt's house, a very accessible place sitting in the heart of the town, just near the inns. They were serving a single plate that looks like for two persons, it definitely make you full. Other restaurants serve good food too like in Straberry Cafe, a small eatery but has the best adobo in the town, thumbs up!

So for the remembrance and goodies, Sagada opens their market in the street early in the morning if you wanted to bring some fresh food at home like dried fishes and dried fruits. People there were so busy every morning, starting to work hard, so are the expats who buy so hard. hehe. For the things that you just wanted to keep or give your friends, you can easily find the stores where you can buy a lot of stuffs like shirts, keychains, etc.. People there were so accommodating, they would even give you discounts and let you take pictures with their kids. :)

Street Market and Goodies Store

For sidetrips, you may want to visit Baguio when you are on your way home. Of course on the way down to Baguio, you dont want to miss a stop over in the Mountain Province's gate and take some pictures. Also, dont miss to visit our Philippine Pali, the highest point of highway system in the country.

Mountain Province Gate and Philippine Pali

Goodies in Baguio

At last! On behalf of my batch, we would like to thank of course the people in Sagada for being hospitable and accomodating in every second we were there and for taking pictures with us ^_^. Many thanks to our tourguides - the SaGGAs, an association of trained tour guides in the place. For helping us and keeping us safe in every place we visit and of course for cracking your jokes just in time, we really appreaciate how you treated us, you people in Sagada are one of the kindest here in out country. I recommend for those who read this site to visit their blog, http://sagadagenuineguides.blogspot.com, there are a lot of infos there about Sagada which is being maintained by one of the SaGGAs. Kudos!!!

SaGGAs Headquarters

Also, Taking credits for our organizers (discoverAsia) for a job well done, serving us with a great itenerary throughout the Sagada days, and giving us warm company! Wee! Please visit their site.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

SAGADA (part 2)
February 2009

Whatever you will see here is part of our 2nd day tour.

SUNRISE

Alright, actually I hated waking up so early after the cave connection a day before (please see SAGADA part1) but I feel that I have to since I am already there, so sulitin na anumang makita.
We got up around 5am and prepared ourselves, remember that early this year we had a very cold temperature in Metro, what more in in North right? I have to wear clothes that will cover me well since my body get cold easily. Huhuhu.. >.<>

Rice terraces in the dark

Pag minamalas nga naman, the sun did not come out from the clouds that's why we can't see its shape but we can see the light behind the clouds. So instead of the sun, we enjoyed ourselves with the clouds and fog na lang. :-P

Kaye and the sunrise (left) | Legs shot (right)

RICE TERRACES

Oh well, our country's famous rice terraces is can be seen also in Sagada. Actually, mountain provinces have their own build of rice terraces, its just that Banaue 's build is more like natural wherein the side of each step is made from hard soil while rice terraces' steps in Sagada is made up of rocks to harden the soil and prevent landslide. The best time to see the terraces is that when the rice plants are green and taller, February is not the best time though because I think that is the month where they are starting to plant.

Rice terraces (not a good view in Feb)

On the way to the falls, we have to walk down through the terraces. It was quite exciting since we had to see those hard working farmers and took pictures with them. I never tried planting rice before since we dont grow rice here in the city. Hehehe.

Weehihihi....

FALLS

There are 2 famous falls along Sagada called the small and big falls. I dont know what is the name of the small falls but the big falls is called Bomod-ok Falls. After an hour of walking down the terraces, at last! the big falls greeted us with arms wide open and offered us some bath. Hehe.

Bomod-ok Falls

Bomod-ok Falls

LAKE

Yes, there is lake indeed! As I've said, Sagada is a nature's package weheheh. This lake is called Danum which means 'water' in tagalog. When we got there, the fog is so heave, it reached the water so are we and the wind is so cold. But then, we just stayed there for a while because we can't see the water clearly and it's not safe for us to travel down the mountain with the thick fog.

Lake Danum and the thick fog

So there... where else? see you in part 3.

SAGADA
(February 2009)

The place of Sagada is a one stop big time if you are looking for a treasure hunt kind of adventure which will make your jaw drop together with your underwear when you found the gold. You will surely forget the 13 hours drive from Manila to Sagada when you have seen with your naked eyes what was there. Sagada is a one place in Mountain Province that is popular to a tourist, oh no I’m not talking about whitesand, nice beach here, but think about the nature has to offer aside from those… Yes – caves, falls, river, mountains, lake.. Name it! I’m sure this place has that body pain you are looking for. Hehehe.


CAVES
(Connecting Burial cave, Lumiang cave and Sumaguing Cave) – Cave Connection Adventure

This is the one you should try, not just visiting the most popular cave which is Sumaguing, but knowing that there are 3 caves that are connected to each other then why not visit all. Hephep! This will take 4 to 5 hours of walking, rappelling and climbing, so make sure to wear your trekking shoes/sandals and that you are physically fit and prepared mentally and emotionally before you try. Make sure to go on with the team throughout the darkness and not delay them because of your regrets. Hehehe.

So what’s up with the cave connection? Well this is a hell of a quest! On our first day of our tour, we just had ourselves for lunch, then SABAK AGAD! I was really nervous since it was my first time to go in on a cave but it was all worth it seeing the hidden pieces on each cave.

Picture above is I think part of the Burial cave, this cave have huge rocks where we have to rappel down many times. Burial cave, of course from the name itself, was the place where people in Sagada keep their dead loved ones. The entrance of this cave has a lot of pile coffins which are made up of a body of a tree and almost half the size of the dead body itself.


This is the first formation we have seen when we started in the Burial cave’s entrance. This is more like a mushroom/cabbage or something, I forgot what they call this one (someone help perhaps?) hehe. I believe this is still growing because of the water flowing through the rock and there is a flowing water right below the rock. Kumikinang to, parang crystal na may dumadalaoy na tubig. Ang ganda sobra! You can see this not in the Sumaguing cave, but I think this is part of the Lumiang cave.



Above pic is the ‘Queen of the Cave’ because it looks like an organ of a woman. Wenks!

The King’s Curtain



Water terraces








Those were just some photos I can share, credits to Eme! but we have a lot of photos taken from the cave, check out my friendster instead. Hehehe.


Here are some tips to enjoy your cave connection:
1. Cave’s tourguides - Please be friendly to the tour guides as people in Sagada were the most kind people I can imagine, so for every four persons should have one tour guide and that is the maximum. Why is that? They will help you a lot! They will carry you most of the time, and each guide have their own burners so more burners the better because it is really dark inside.

2. Bring 1 to 2 cameras only for the group and you may ask the guides to hold them for you. You will definitely get wet inside; you have to cross an almost 4ft deep of water or else you want your camera to swim too.

3. Taking camera shots should be handle by the tourguides, just let them know how to use it then leave the angles to them – trust me they know where to stand to have a very good shot.

4. Do not wear super short shorts! If you don’t want to have a lot of wounds and bruises on your legs then you have to wear something that reach below your knee from your waist. This would cover your knee from the rocks as you can experience a lot of kneework and at the same time it won’t get wet easily when you are crossing the water which is a feet high.


Cave connection is an amazing experience! I’m not kidding. Be ready for muscle pain after you conquer all the 3 caves, mata mo lang ang hindi sasakit. Promise! Better take a body massage! ^_^

Goodluck!



Please visit
http://www.sagadagenuineguides.blogspot.com

Reviving this blog...soon... :)