St. Joseph Resthouse Sagada

... to find myself at chess school way up here in these mountains. I am teaching a group of men how to be river guides. They already take tourists into local cave systems, and hiking, and even rock climbing. A local expatriate has decided he wants some company on the river here. And he wanted the guys to have another adventure to offer visitors. So my brother Daniel and I, and some other American guides, have been sitting in the passenger seat and talking the trainees through the ...

... ground resembled a slide more than a solid surface. I am certain only the will of the passengers allowed that overloaded outdated vehicle to pass safely and not plummet down, down, down to the rocks below.
To travel 100 kilometers, I sat on that bus for almost 9 hours. I talked to local kids while they smoked cigarettes and chewed betel nuts. I admired the the great serpentine Chico River winding its way from the mountain providence to the plains ...

... adventure. It started raining like every afternoon and the horrible road became even worth. Gravel and mud made it often difficult to ascend. From time to time I had to get off and push the tricycle. A trip to Batad would probably be a better choice.
My next destination was Sagada, little village located in even higher altitude than Banaue. I planned to take a jeepney there, a symbol of the country, a vehicle looking like an ...

... invaded they never managed to take Sagada and it therefore still has a lot of its old traditions; the locals are keen ...

... It was a rigorous hike through some amazing scenery. We had to walk through the terraces first. Next we had to walk up some steep steps and then down a whole bunch steps. Once I was soaked in sweat again, I took my shirt off. I ended up getting a slight sunburn for my troubles. Once again we were beat by the time we reached the waterfall...and we still had the climb back to the hotel and then to the saddle to look forward to. At the waterfall we met a group ...

We then made a four hour trip to the tranquil mountain top town of Sagada. The journey brought better weather and eventually blazing sunshine. Sagada was beautiful with amazing mountain backdrops, not many tourists and hardly any traffic. Children were always in the one street laughing and playing, and we noticed how content they were with nothing but an old tyre to roll around. The next day I wanted ...

Bonjour a tous, Quelques achats de merdouilles en bois m'ont fait sortir mon moyen sac, qui est mon sac supplementaire de secours pour le surplus a rapporter. Du coup je laisse mon gros sac a Banaue, j'y repasserai. Direction Sagada a 3 heures de route, qui est fameuse pour ses grottes et ses cercueils suspendus. En outre, le village est perche a 1500 m d'altitude, ce qui veut dire qu'on doit se les geler ...

... 2emme voyage aux Philippines. Je me demande l'effet que cela doit faire. Retour a la pension pour dejeuner. Je prend mon temps, je bouquine, je regarde, j'emmaganise les images et nous repartons. Quelques heures de marche encore, puis l'intersection avec la route, le trajet de retour en tricycle est surement le plus eprouvant d'ailleurs, secoue comme... un truc qu'on secoue sans menagement... C'etait magique !!! Demain, je vais vers Sagada un peu plus a l'ouest. Bizatous ERic

... le fond de la valle (echo valley), un sentier super le fun. A un moment nous avons passe dans une caverne avec un ruisseau pour y resortir un peu plus loin. genial ce sentier. Nous avons vue encore une fois des cerceuils mais cette fois-ci, ils etaient fixes sur la paroie de la falaise. Tres impressionnant tout ca. Ce beau chemin nous amene dans le cimetiere de la ville. Decidement c'est un place de receuillement. Bisouxxxxxxxxxx France et Rejean

... During his stay he met and then married an Ifugao woman, Lingayo Gambik.  Together they had the first American-Ifugao child, Bill.   Our interest in the Ifugao culture led Tess to take us out back to the property's Ifugao's House and the rice terraces the Beyer Family still own that landscape the mountains behind the hotel.   Afterwards we quickly viewed the Banaue Museum, located on ...