Sagada, Philippines Trip (Day 3)

26th July 2014, Saturday

Not able to sleep throughout the night, as the dogs and the crickets were having 'party' during the night. Even the lizards in our room were also having fun. Woke up @3.30 am to get ready to go see the sunrise. But it was sooooo freezing cold, ended up didn't shower. Went out and see the dark sky, it was filled with a lot of stars, it was soooo beautiful (you won't see it in Singapore). And at the ground, there were 2 people torching a giant pig in the dark. Then we smsed the driver to check with him whether he is coming to pick us up @ the agreed time.While waiting, we ate our fruits.But the driver didn't reply us back, so we ended up going back to sleep instead. But my friend was very upset and angry that the driver didn't reply us back and caused us to miss the sunrise.

My Breakfast.. ^_^

We woke up again @ already 7am plus, then we just got ready to have our breakfast. My friend was still upset with the driver. then we went to the restaurant just beside our hostel. The name is called Bana's Cafe and Reston, and there was a small dog running around. We ordered our breakfast and sat down outside. My friend was reading newspaper and i went around taking photos while waiting for our breakfast to arrive. It was a foggy morning too and can see the clouds floating.We ordered mountain tea as drinks, my friend added honey into it. After some time, our breakfast came and it was nice...very filling breakfast. After breakfast, we walked to the bus stop there. There was a morning market opened and it was filled with people selling vegetables and fruits. Everyone just laid a mat and started selling their stuffs. It was also crowded with people buying and selling. We bought mangoes again and steamed peanuts to bring up to the Big Falls (called Bomod-Ok Falls). Then after walking around the market, we went to the bus stop to find the jeepney that goes to the big fall. As there were alot of parked jeepneys and they were going to different places. So will need to ask the drivers to confirm the route. But before we got up on the jeepney, my friend saw a stall selling cup corns. The corns were white in color and it was mixed with coconut milk in it (sometimes like our corn cup here). Then we went up to the jeepney and waited for the jeepney to leave. But the driver will wait until the jeepney is full, then they will leave.

Jeepneys @ Bus Stop

After some time, it was filled with around 18 people inside and a few kids. Amazingly, everyone is cramped inside and in the middle was packed with all the big heavy market bags of everyone on board. And when someone boards the jeepney with their big heavy basket, the other aunties on board can just open up and see what were being brought and they will chat with the owners when they returned. I tried to move one of the baskets in when my friend was saying the aunties were asking for help to move the baskets in the jeepney. I can't even move an inch on the basket and my friend can just move them in...then she said to me, Filipino ladies are very strong and there was another lady with a kid, replied us that it is very true. One of the passengers even have a super big basin and stuffed it into the jeepney. But it was pressing onto my knees, my friend scared i will be uncomfortable on the ride. She tried to help me lift up the basin and it was very heavy too. Anyway, the jeepney finally moved out, and we were all cramped in it....hahaha....Even on top of the jeeyney, there were people sitting. And whenever there got people wanted to alight, they just shout at the driver to stop. And they will alight and pay the driver.

Hiking Steps

Finally, we reached the stop to go to the big fall. There were 2 ladies sitting at the table at the stop there, collected $ and arranging guide to bring people to the Big Fall. So we had our guide, Peter to bring us down. He asked us to choose our bamboo walking sticks, told us that we need to hike 1.9km down to the fall and then hike 1.9km back up again. So we started to hike down the mountain trail, there were just steps down and really need to depend on the walking stick to help us climb down (as the steps were very steep). The guide was walking very easily and he was just wearing slippers and don't even have walking stick to support him.He even helped my friend to carry her bag and our fruits. We passed by mountains, corns plants, rice terrace (even walked round it and people doing rice harvest too). And there were 3 villages on the left, center and right side. We also see their mining factory below and the toilet doesn't look nice to go in...hahaa....And in the village, there was a small shelter where the guide told us that it was the village's town hall. The government will send representatives down to the village and have a session with the villagers, where the villagers will talk to the representative on what problems they are having and what help they need. There was a small shelter for black giant pigs too, they were sleeping inside. Accordingly to the guide, the natives don't normal wear their traditional clothes now but only wear them during weddings and ritual. Sometimes when there are strong storms, the villagers will conduct rituals by sacrifice 1 pig and 2 chickens and they will stop doing all work for 3 days. So during this period, it will be their holidays. We also saw 3 people were using a trolley machine to deliver their goods up and down to the opposite mountain.

Bomod-Ok Falls

After the village, we walked till a metal bridge where there were holes and below is the clear water from the fall flowing down. And we were near to the waterfall, and we were both sweating. Finally we reached the waterfall and all the hiking was worth it. We saw a 3 Filipino trying to do a jump shot for their photos and they were having fun too. We took some photos with the waterfall too, then we went down to the water. My friend went down first, and started splashing water on me when i was climbing down. The water so damn cold but it was very clear and refreshing. I was also shaking from the cold. We just splashed water onto each other and having fun.... :)....Then later the 3 Filipino also came down the water, but they were coming down very slowly as not to be too wet. My friend saw them, she started being naughty and splashed water onto them...hehehe....We sat on a rock while chilling our mangoes in the water, my friend started to chat with the other group. They were working in South Africa previously and their contracts had ended, and they had come Sagada to play. When one of the ladies asked us whether we were working mates, my friend paused for awhile before answering...hehee...And when she asked me whether we had known each other for very long, i just replied that ya, we had met for 20 years...hahahaa....Then we were eating chips and mangoes there too. The other group even offered us soft drinks...lol...One of them even told my friend that i looked very happy. Then they told my friend that they were going to see the sunrise tomorrow morning, so my friend asked them whether we can join them and share the transport fee with them. Then they wanted to leave, so we got one of them phone number and we stayed in the water for longer time.

Kids playing basketball

3 kids came along and wanted to play in the water too, my friend gave them 1 of our chips. They looked happy while eating it....kekeke....but they just threw the wrapper in the rocks. Then we just stayed on the rock and see the big waterfall, it was really nice and relaxed just by sitting there enjoying the water and view. Then it was time for us to go back cos the last jeepney time is around 1 pm plus. So we had to walk back the same route again. Don't feel like leaving there....i was shaking from cold when i came out of the water. My whole clothes were wet and didn't bring extra clothes too. So we just walked back up the trail again but this time we had to climb up the steps now which is more tedious. And my clothes dried up quite fast as the sun was quite strong. We took 1 hr plus to climb back and it seems alot faster when we climbed back up. Finally we were up back to the stop, waiting for the last jeepney to arrive. My friend started to chat with the ladies there while waiting. The ladies also asked me whether it is nice down there. My friend told them that i don't want to leave the place...hahahaa....Then the jeepney came and we boarded. Luckily this time wasn't so crowded, i almost doze off on the ride back to the town.  As we both hungry, we went for lunch first.

Egg Noodles @ Salt & Pepper

We went to a cafe named Salt & Pepper, we ordered 3 dishes and soft drinks. While waiting, we saw a small shop down the street selling bbq sausages and intestines. Then the food came, the portions of the dishes were big and it was heavy for us..My friend still stood up and walked for awhile to digest...hahahaa....The food was very nice and yummy. But it was really very full, so we went out to the shops to see whether we can find any top-up cards and to walk walk abit. We managed to get the top up card and it started to rain again. As we were still very full, we decided to walk to the dinner cafe to change our reservation time to a later time so that we have more time to digest our lunch.Then we also went to buy t-shirts and coffee beans. Then we walked back to the hostel to have our shower. Since it was raining heavily, so we just ended up taking nap in the room.....hehee....We woke up @ around 6 plus, but it was still raining outside. We just waited until 7.30pm, then we made our way to the dinner cafe. We passed by the same bbq shop opposite Salt & Pepper, i got the sausage and my friend got the intestines to eat. It was soooooo nice....Then we continued walking up to the cafe, but we were both still very full from the lunch. It was a cozy place in the cafe, there was even a fire place. Then our food came, the portion was very big too and we were really eating very slowly....kekeke....And throughout the meal, we were thinking that if the last dish comes, don't know how we going to finish it as it was a whole chicken dish...hahaha....

Potato (don't know what)

But after some time, the chicken dish didn't come. So my friend went and asked the staff, then she was told that the chicken dish was not in our order. So we were so thankful that we don't have to eat the last dish...hahaa...Then one lady from the group we met in the waterfall messaged us for drinks but we rejected as we both don't drink.....heheee....So we walked back to the hostel, along the way, we bought the sausages again....cannot resist it...kekeee...I got a hammer keychain too. My friend ended up sleeping while i do my writing. Later she woke up to eat the fruits we bought, it was very sour and she showed her sour face...so funny....hahaha.....And so we ended up our day.