These are also where are the rice terraces, some of which are classified as World Heritage by UNESCO.
Another weekend, green this time, starting on Friday evening by bus to Sagada, 20h, 12h for buses.
The bus is not really modern, but at least not cold tonight!
The road to board the mountains is quite twisty, but it happens without incident around 6 am on the side of Banaue, with a magnificent view of rice fields graded at sunrise.
The road continues another two hours to reach Bontoc (small town Cordillera). From there, take a jeepney ride to Sagada, about an hour on a road / mountain path, all on the roof, with all the baggage, we can say that it is an unforgettable experience (for cocci also ).
We thus arrive at 10am in the town of Sagada, a small village lying in the middle of the mountains, clean air, freshness, what more?
Except countless stray dogs, it is Paradise!
Allie (my flatmate Philippines), had planned a nice little program, it is left fairly quickly drop our business in the guesthouse, before heading to the first cascade of the weekend for a small dip.
The rainy afternoon then turned into after midi humide voire trempée puisqu’après 30 min de marche sous la pluie, nous sommes allés faire un peu de spéléologie dans une grotte. La moitié de la visite se fait pieds nus, dans l’eau (pour finir à nager dans de l’eau glacée), mais le paysage vaut bien la bronchite assurée. En effet, la rivière qui traverse la grotte a creusé dans la pierre calcaire de multiples formes étranges, des dents, au marbré au chocolat, en passant par des petits bassins, le tout dans le noir. Le guide avait sa lampe tempête mais à cinq derrière, il fallait faire attention où l’on posait les pieds.
You can imagine
5 crazy frozen in the rain, soaked, back in their little house and enjoy: a fireplace, ouiiiii because even if you're not scouts, with Mary Lou, it was pretty good unscrambled (between matches who walked halfway and gas), and we spent a nice evening by the fire before a much deserved rest.
The next morning, starting at 4:30 to sunrise on a mountain paradise, overlooking the rice terraces.
Après le petit déjeuner, on se dirige vers d’autres rizières que l’on traverse sur un chemin en pierre étroit, pour atteindre une grande cascade, baignade rafraichissante avant de remonter.
L’après midi sera plus culturel que sportif puisque la première étape sera les cercueils suspendus. En effet, ces « hangging coffins » are the final resting animists (the last date to be suspended last year), who believe that being buried six feet underground would prevent them from breathing, and, worse still, take them away from paradise. They are hanging on the cliff, 4 or 5 meters in height.
By late afternoon, we visited a place quite fantastic. Indeed, an Igorot woman, old enough (a descendant of the tribes of the mountain), is a museum in Sagada in the Cordillera culture.
It has amassed in recent years an impressive collection of various objects, traditional clothes, jewelry, through weapons, cooking utensils, or old photographs, depicting the life of different ethnic groups in this region a little mysterious .
This old woman, explaining that vocation by his sudden cancer survival was also one of the first students of the pottery of Sagada, and draws well.
This visit was really affected. Indeed, in 40m ², are preserved memories of hundreds of years of history, life, woman managed to save it from the clutches of eager collectors (many of whom are French, according to her) for the Philippines. This country has a real soul. Raped and robbed a soul, a soul torn, damaged by successive invaders, the capitalists and corrupt, but the soul exists, and when we see plots like this, we no longer wonder why we love it country!
The last day was very picturesque!
In fact, we had to leave fairly early to catch the bus, and go up to Baguio (the largest city in the Cordillera), before returning to Manila. However, at 6am, the bus was leaving at 5:30 was always there. Delay due .... in a landslide ... Indeed, during the rainy season, entire collapse of cliffs across the roads of the Cordillera, sometimes blocking transport for several days.
But another way to pass is possible!
In our case, the bus stopped just before the landslide, everyone came out, took a bridge across the River. From there, 10min walk to a second bridge, and to find new crossing road and another bus to continue the journey!
And what a ride! A scenic drive, with a breathtaking view over the cliffs, and mountains, hostile at first, but tamed by people, who built their rice fields and terraced gardens, optimize the space of a dramatically .
But do not be afraid of heights ... nor fear of anxiety attack.
It has indeed learned a few days after our return, two buses had finished in the vacuum in the corner there ...
Baguio in itself is not pleasant, but there would be things to visit. We do however not really had time, if not a strange monument the "Bell Church", known as "mixed Taoist / Christian" by our Lonely Planet, but more like a huge Chinese temple very kitsch , out of nowhere!
Then back to Manila, pollution, and the jeepney with loud music =)
I Love The Philippines!
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