| Driving through Baguio |
Driving from Baguio to Sagada there are apparently two roads you can take. SB chose the route, he was chief navigator. He assured me it was the ‘good’ road, the ‘quickest’ road and the ‘safest’ road.
| Unsealed road |
| A washed out part of the road |
The roads became even curlier than the previous day, with sharp blind corners you held your breath for. Large busses familiar with this road would just fang it around corners taking up precious room on your side of the road. Jeepneys were a constant driving along and in areas where a good stretch of road was destroyed and down to one lane, it was roulette as to who got right of way if you happened to come bumper to bumper with oncoming traffic. There was often nowhere to go and reversing back on these roads was like being blindfolded, waiting for one of two outcomes. I had visions of our car plummeting over the edge and our bodies getting eaten by bears before someone found my smashed up mobile phone as it played Justine Clarke's ‘Little Day Out’ on repeat…
| Photos do not do this scene justice |
Once again, photographs failed to capture the extent of damage to the road.
The irony of this situation was that within this intense fear I was feeling, I was also feeling almighty awe at the absolute gorgeousness of the mountains. Seeing how the farmers cut their fields into the mountain sides made me think they must hang by their toe nails planting cabbages up this high. Looking at the lovely patterns the fields made in the landscape helped calm me at times I felt overwhelmed by fear. So I learned quickly that it was worth looking outwards at this incredible sight, not down, and definitely not out the front window.
| Roadside waterfall |
| #lovewaterfalls |
We stopped for lunch in a charming village called Kabayan. This was the point I realized we had taken the wrong road as this was a town I was hoping we would come to and explore the Mummy Caves, where bodies were preserved and placed to rest. However my research had indicated the road was rough (ah - yaha!) and we did not have time for that on this trip so I bypassed that idea. Yet here we were, in this little town. We found ourselves sitting in a quaint little restaurant built into the mountain side having a delicious lunch of chicken adobo, pork soup and rice. The only dishes it happened to serve. We chatted with some local farmers who were enjoying their lunch and the children played with some other children who were there.
| Where we stopped for lunch in Kabayan |
| Waiting in line for the debris to be cleared up |
Finally we found ourselves entering Sagada. The landscape had changed and our road was winding between rocky terrain on each side. It was like we were entering a different world. Little buildings with personality appeared nestled into the trees and the rocks. I started to become very excited, this was my dream to come here, and we had arrived.
The sun was setting and we needed to find our accommodation so after asking directions we drove just out of town a little, up another rough road to find the lodge we were staying at. We looked at this gorgeous A-framed wooden and glass home overlooking mountain ranges and said ‘wow’.
After unpacking the car, exploring this house and dealing with a few issues you find when booking accommodation in the Philippines, we were settling in. I-Bug and SB went into town to find food, and I got the children showered and ready for bed. The fire in the lounge room was lit and we were settled in for the night, preparing for our big adventure the following day. Tomorrow we would start getting to know this town that I have been dreaming of visiting for the longest time. Would it be as magical an experience as I was anticipating?
After unpacking the car, exploring this house and dealing with a few issues you find when booking accommodation in the Philippines, we were settling in. I-Bug and SB went into town to find food, and I got the children showered and ready for bed. The fire in the lounge room was lit and we were settled in for the night, preparing for our big adventure the following day. Tomorrow we would start getting to know this town that I have been dreaming of visiting for the longest time. Would it be as magical an experience as I was anticipating?
