Pines Kitchenette & Inn Bontoc

... breeds excitement. So Sagada feels like home, and so I am short on words. Tomorrow we leave. We travel down the great Chico River returning to Tabuk. I have given three weeks of my life to this watershed. It has been a great relationship.


Certain other things move me. I was living shortly with two other Americans who were invited by my same host. They liked rum and beer and other substances. They liked firecrackers. And chaos. I was so frustrated to be mixed with them ...

... and cassava and green been vines. Bananas are wreathed in nasturtiums. Chayote vines hang out on guava trees. Its a melange of colonial horticulture. For example, cassava is a South American crop(which incidentally accounts for 30% of Ghana's daily caloric intake). Tomatoes, an Aztec crop, grow here. Cabbage grows here, first domesticated in pre-Roman Europe. And it goes on and on and on. For lunch I ate sticky rice with crushed peanuts wrapped ...

... for burials.
Tired I dropped dead instantly and early next morning tried to finish my short visit to this remote destination. I wanted to reach Kiltepan peak supposedly providing great views, but just below the top a dog decided to protect it by madly barking at me. At least I managed to get to Echo Valley lookout, but the view was disappointing. Before lunch I took a jeepney back to Bontoc and subsequently a night coach to Manila.

... with it potentially the secluded vibe it currently offers.

Although secluded Sagada knows how to welcome ...

... I bought and drank a lot of water there. From the saddle we could see Batad which was still a long ways away. From the junction there are two ways down to Batad, a shorter but harder way and a longer and easier way. They both join together a not too far below the saddle. We took the short cut which consisted of a bunch of big steps. It was alright going down but would be hard going up. From the saddle to Batad it was all downhill and it took about 45 minutes ...

... across then slipped and fell slightly.. half way I thought she was stuck bt no she made it across and smiled with excitement and on we went. It was great! A 2 hour adventure and we saw amazing rock formations and blue underground pools and came out full of adrenaline and smiling. On the way back to the hostel we walked to the Hanging coffins, yep that's right, years ago these people hang their dead ...

... que ca, j'en dors presque de bien-etre. Nous dinons, Joel se met a la guitare, ils sont fous de country dans ce coin, les guitares se font echo... Je songe, en buvant ma biere, que c'est a dos d'hommes que viennent les caisses, au moins 2 heures de marche, qui montent et descendent (les marches, pas les heures) pour trouver le premier chemin praticable. Je la savoure d'autant mieux. Au lit. Comme d'habitude, les coqs commencent a se reveiller vers 4 h du matin ...

... l'eglise (ceux qui on survecu!!!), les enfants qui court partout et crie, en plus des gens qui bavardent. Nous avons dormi avec les chants d'une guitare et le chant d'un gars qui ne chantait pas tres bien. Une chance qu'il terminais a 23h00. Aujourd'hui ce fut la decouverte de la region. Nous avons commence par une nouvelle chambre. Bien jolie, et esperons plus tranquille. Nous avons rencontre de nouveaux canadiens. Decidement ils sont partout ...

... awe of the spectacle. Our guide took us through the old village, also built like birdsnests clinging to a cliff face, down perilous steps. The old huts remain where the headhunters lived their simple existence. We walked among the rice terraces, at times precariously. They have special 'flying steps' - long stones sticking out of the wall, with enough room for knarled, small monkey feet (step-forward Raza), not so stable for mine. We craned our necks looking ...

... can be a pain because every bus company has its on bus terminal so there are literally hundreds of the bloody things everywhere...and no central terminal. The ride was the usual bumpy affair but under cover of darkness I was spared the scare factor of the cliff drops. Because of the recent hurricanes the direct route to Bontoc was blocked with landslides so I had to go the long way via Banaue. Chatted to a pair of cool Filipino girls on the way ...