After the fun adventure in the cave we took a break and ate our lunch. Sagada has many small restaurants they are affordable, tastes good and they serve a good amount of food per serving. After eating and a bit of talking we went on to our Echo Valley tour. Echo Valley tour consist of rock climbing, hanging coffins, underground river and that shouting activity in a cliff cause if echos whatever you say. The town is small-- houses, inn's, and restaurants are huddled close together. We walked our way to the Echo valley tour. First stop was St. Mary's Church,Dan told us the history of the place but honestly I forgot about it (hahahaha). Then we walked towards the cemetery and to the valley. We walked and talked and our 3 guides keeps on trolling around but still managed to give us right information about the place. My two cousins tried the rock climbing activity. We had fun watching them and cheering for them. I wanna try it but I'm too lazy to get my ass off the chair...I was pretty comfortable so I uttered my "no, thanks" to rock climbing. After an hour, we walked towards the hanging coffins. It is their old way of resting their deceased to rest. The coffins are 100 years old and they are hung on cliff faces. They believe that it brings the dead closer to heaven. Only pure blooded Igorot are allowed to be hung.
After the hanging coffins we head to their underground river but we weren't able to go deeper since it was getting dark and we don't have flashlights with us. The Echo valley tour was fun because we play "baril-barilan" game (hahaha) (it is a game where we shoot each other like we are in war using our fingers or a branch of tree for a gun) and so we walked and talked and play. We reached the main road and after a long day of adventure we were exhausted but very happy for all the fun stuff we did.
The next day we rose up early around 3 o'clock in the morning for the Kiltepan Sunrise. Much as we want to curl up and go on to our sleep we dragged our bodies to get up and get ready for the sunrise. Lyncel picked us up an hour late, his dad is driving us to Kiltepan. We were complaining that we rose up very early we could have use that one hour to sleep. His reason was there is no sunrise at 3 am! (hahaha). We reached the destination and people are gathering, some are having coffee and noodles to keep them warm and awake. There is only one store so its pretty much jam packed. Its very cold since I don't have my jacket with me. We waited and talked and waited and talked. Finally the sun came up and I swear its one of the most beautiful thing in this world (well except that there are a lot of people chattering up and taking photos, I hate crowd so that makes it less spectacular but the sunrise alone is beautiful if it was just me and the sunrise without all those people then its perfect)
After the sunrise we head back to our inn and ate our breakfast prepared to checked out since we were planning to transfer for a home stay which we didn't even use since we went camping that night.
This day is busy for us, after the sunrise we went to Bomod-ok falls which by the way if you don't have the strength and endurance please think twice before you going. We trek down many hills or mountains am not sure, then we passed two or three small villages. We went down and up then down and up. We hiked for an hour and a half under the heat of the sun with our bags. There are small stores on the way so we ate some food and the "halo-halo". I must say I was a bit disappointed with Bomod-ok I felt like its not worth it. Aside from the crowd there is a little water from the falls since its summer time. But we're there already so I went in for a swim and the water is freaking cold!!!! like ice water cold. I was shivering at first but then I just swim and swim and my body somehow get used to it. After an hour we decided to climb back up and the arduous journey way up began. Despite the heat of the sun and the tiring journey I still appreciate the nature around me. Finally came back to the top Lyncel and his dad were there to pick us up. The smile on that troll's face is so wide that he knew what we went through.
So we settle down to our home stay rooms which is a nice house very simple its wooden but very comfortable. Its a shame we didn't even enjoy it much. So we slept and it rained I was secretly hoping that they won't push through the camping activity. I want to just curl up in my bed and sleep since our body are beaten from our trip to the falls. But the rain stopped and so camping we go. They were planning to go to Marlboro but since it rained and I think our guides are not that prepared we settled for Lake Danum. When we reached the place its already dark, there are people there who were camping but they also went home since they didn't plan to stay over night. Somehow I felt like its not a good idea. First the place is dark, then there's no one there except us and its so open that everything could happen (like in the movies like horror and thriller movies hahaha), but Daddy (Lyncel's dad we call him daddy) assured us that our guides are reliable and the place is safe. Sagada has 0 crime rate so that's pretty assuring coming from the old man. Daddy left us there and would pick us up in the morning. And so Lyncel and the 3 younger guides who came with us started setting up the camp. Fire, tent, and food. Dan and Ian came late because they prepared the food. Its very cold like super cold and we're not properly dressed. It took some time for everything to settle down.
While waiting, some of my cousins stayed inside the tent while me and my sister and Xy stayed outside near the fire talking to the new guides. Feeling the warmth of the bon fire. Its almost perfect for our first camping trip.
Now what went wrong to our first ever camping experience? its because we were not prepared for it. The night is freezing cold and our tents are not for the cold weather they said its a summer tent so it moisturizes and the inside got wet. While lying on the damp tent I was imagining the comfort of our room in the town. It took sometime to cook the food. I also learned that just walks away there's a house located just outside the camping area. My mind was busy thinking of scenarios like those in the movies and how to escape or survive it (hahaha). We ate and talked and talked and talked and oh maybe drank some liquor but that's it. Dan is pretty much engaging in making us spilled our little secrets about our love life (hahaha well not really love life but...yeah). When all of our stories including his story finished some of us went inside to the damp tent and tried to get some sleep which is impossible for me because its so freaking damp and cold. My sister and Dan talked the night away since its pretty useless to sleep. Despite our situation with the cold and the damp tent I can say we enjoyed the camping and somehow we bonded with our guides and the 3 younger ones. When morning came we cleaned the area and went home when Daddy picked us up. I was so happy to see the bed, we were all sleepy and we slept only for an hour and prepared to go back to Bagiuo and Manila and to our home. Good thing Daddy had some business in Bagiuo so we rented his jeepney and so Lyncel and Dan came with us.
Honestly I felt sad leaving, I feel like the there's so much to explore and to do there and I super love the place and the weather and I came to appreciate the people. Ian was a bit sad when we were leaving because his best friends are coming with us. Riding on a jeepney is surprisingly pleasant since its an open air vehicle so we didn't get dizzy and all that stuff I experienced coming to Sagada.
When we arrived in Bagiuo we went to Burnham park with Lyncel and Dan and just walked and had a glimpse of the city. We ate our dinner and we went to the bus station got our tickets to Manila but the bus was scheduled for midnight trip. So we waited there beaten and sleepy and me feeling the trouble of my tummy again. Lyncel and Dan waited with us, we even joke that even in Bagiuo they are still our guides. So our bus is ready for the trip we said our goodbyes with the two of them. It's quiet sad because we really like them.
I felt a little sad that our adventure ended but with all the memories, experiences and the people we meet is enough for me to be happy and thank God for the chance to experience things and a chance to appreciate the beauty of His creation.
Tips:
Bomod ok falls is at its finest during September to February
(My friend who lived an hour away from Sagada told me about it and he even showed me pictures of the falls which to my surprise its very different from what I saw. The water is big and its beautiful)
For camping just bring proper clothes and make sure your tent is up for the cold.
Don't bring anything heavy when going to Bomod ok falls.
Choose younger guides because they are fun to be with (haha)
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