Sagada, Mountain Province | Getting There and The Caves

The Cordilleras have always been on the personal Bucket List since Grade 5 HEKASI, when we were asked to research about the Cordillera Administrative Region. Heightened by the increased number of Highlander friends, it moved up and up the bucket list, until "That Thing Called Tadhana" happened. Now, I REALLY. HAD. TO. GO.

So, when my cousins started planning their Sagada trip, despite the short notice, I knew I would do anything to get to join them (including begging my mother, agreeing to a later departure time, and a pre-departure "briefing" from her). But, in any case, I GOT TO GO.

We left Manila at 0300H, later than the originally planned 2400H. Some of my cousins left with the tour company's (JCE Travel and Tours) van from Trinoma at midnight, but because I had a long negotiation with my mother, we were left behind to leave later. Nevertheless, we caught up with them when we got to Nueva Vizcaya, even being able to stop-over at Jollibee somewhere along the way. NOTE: DON'T TRY THIS. Take your time. We were trying to catch up with them so we could join the first tour of the trip.

When we finally arrived Banaue, my heart could not stop fluttering. What an AMAZING view. Beautiful beyond words. This early on in the trip, one item off my Bucket List has already been checked off.

From here on, the road was sickeningly zig-zaggy. My friends and I had to stop talking to each other for a good hour and a half, trying to breathe evenly and stop ourselves from hurling in the car. Imagine how food feels passing through your intestines... I bet that's how it feels like.

We arrived Sagada at around 1400H. And being the excitable first-timer daredevils that we were, we pushed ourselves to continue as originally planned, albeit a couple of hours late.

We first visited Lumiang Cave where there were coffins stacked at its entrance. Freakishly enough, there was one open coffin with a hand sticking out. It was interesting to learn about the indigenous tribe's beliefs of the afterlife. According to our guide (Christopher), they stack the coffins of their dead at the entrance of the cave where the light shines so that they may be guided by the light into the afterlife. Some coffins were also smaller than the others because the dead were placed in a fetal position, to symbolize that life returns to its infancy when we die.

I have a cousin who is deathly afraid of heights and small and enclosed spaces so we decided not to go through Lumiang Cave as it required a lot of climbing down dark openings. Instead, we decided to go through the Big Cave, Sumaguing.

This is the first time any of us, my friends included, have gone spelunking so we were completely unsure of what to expect. Personally, I used to HATE anything to do with the outdoors, not because I'm lazy, but because I don't find meaning in tiring yourself when you intend to enjoy.

But, honestly, Sagada and Sumaguing changed my mind completely. I guess it was partly because of the coolness of the cave. Or maybe, it was the ability to have a free-hand in maneuvering through the rock formations as you go deeper and deeper into the cave. Or maybe it was simply the company - my cousins and friends were absolutely supportive, encouraging, and pleasant the entire time. I never once thought to quit, mostly because they wouldn't either.

Sumaguing Cave was introduced to us in 3 parts. The first part was the most difficult as it required us to make a steady descent into the deepest part of the cave. We had to walk along the slippery cave floor with nothing to hold on to but the equally slippery cave walls. According to Christopher (our guide, if you might have already forgotten) and <insert the other guide's name - I forgot what it was>, if something drips on you and it's cold, that's called holy water. If, for some reason though, something drips on you and it's warm, then that's called holy sh*t. Yes, like the caves you read about or see in National Geographic, Sumaguing Cave was home to some thousands of bats. You could hear their eerie and loud squeaking all throughout the first part of spelunking.

After the first part of the cave, we were asked to remove our footwear and leave them on an unmarked rock. We were going to descend further and it was only going to get colder. We were doubtful about leaving our footwear at first, but Christopher and <insert other guide's name here> assured us that it was the best way to maneuver through the second part of the cave. The second part was covered in limestone that, according to the locals, "love the water". They look smooth and slippery when wet, but are apparently rough to the touch. They felt cold and soothing to our aching feet and we appreciated the advice of our guides even more. It wasn't icky at all (if the younger me ever gave it some thought).

We had to go through huge limestone boulders, even at one point rappelling diagonally to get from boulder to boulder. The second part of the cave is where you start to see the beauty of the Sumaguing. Here, the cave becomes like a vast and grand hall filled with natural sculptures. Our guides were hilariously pointing some of the formations out to us.

One of the most challenging parts of the spelunking was the need to drop down a one-story high ridge of limestone. There is basically nothing to hold on to other than the hands, legs, thighs, and head of our guides. We literally have to make like Spiderman just to get down the wall-like ridge. The bottom is a slippery limestone with only about a foot of space between the ridge and a small pool of water. A lot of us nearly slipped, but thankfully, we survived intact.

After taking a few photos, our guides asked us whether we would like to proceed to the third part of the cave which is going through 5-6-foot-deep waters in a nearly pitch-dark part of the cave. We decided not to proceed with it though, not because we were scared of the water or the dark, but because we (by we I mean about three of us) were petite - for example, I am exactly 5 ft. tall, hence the name of my blog.

Instead, some of us decided to continue into the deepest part of the second leg of the cave which again required us to climb down a ridge, higher than the one above, and this time, there were no walls to try and slow down our fall. Christopher had to make himself like a human crane, holding on to us and swiveling us to <insert other guide's name> so he can catch us. Some of my cousins were left behind - particularly my ate who doesn't like heights.

In this part of the cave, we saw a lot more formations and, interestingly, remnants of animals and other living organisms that must have been fossilized in the cave walls!!!

Scrambling up was another feat in itself. In what is the last ultimate challenge of the cave, we had to hoist ourselves up a rope and walk up a huge limestone wall. Here is where my cousin nearly broke down. In all fairness, we were tired and wet and smelled a lot like bat poop. Nevermind that she was deathly afraid of heights. In the end, she got a little help from our friendly guides and we all made it up.

We were the last ones out of the cave, leaving at around 2130H. But BOY, did we enjoy.

As I am not a daring person to begin with, I was pleasantly surprised with myself, as were my cousins and friends. I did not complain at all (or if I did, I must have made it seem like it was a joke) and I can proudly say that I did this on my own. I am also EXTREMELY proud of my family and friends for having gone through this. I know they've had to overcome a lot, but in the name of adventure and not being called a killjoy, they completed the Sumaguing spelunking, with minimal tears involved.

What a great start to our Sagada trip!

Now, there are sights and experiences you treasure but would honestly not do again, but if you told me we'd go spelunking in Sumaguing Cave again tomorrow, I'd seriously say YES in a heartbeat.

#LittleGirlBigWorld

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