A lot of people has probably gone to Sagada (Mt. province), which has a reputation for being secluded and hard to reach. In a way, it is, if you count 5 hours driving from Manila. (through zig zag roads)
Sagada is enchanting for its raw beauty. the cool crisp air and the freshness of everything, very far from the noise of the city.
We did the usual, of course like eating at Lemon Pie house (not the best I have eaten, honestly speaking). Yogurt house (superb! esp with the mountain honey)
What I would like to write on is the
Lumiang-Sumaging caving experience. I would consider myself fairly adventurous. I can hike several kilometers to go up mountains with no problems. So when we did Sagada, which I think is so raw that everything you do here is WITH EFFORT... I was open to anything.
Our guide (Apiit) told us we can really do the long course of the caves (lumiang-sumaging), which I though would mean a easy caving experience. Was I wrong!
It was a long way down to the entrance of the cave... at the mouth, you can see some hanging coffins that we cordoned off (maybe in case someone might try to steal them)
We were supposed to have a gas lamp, but somehow, our guide was having a hard time making it light. So we just made do with our cellphone lights.
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| deep recesses of the cave |
The first part of the hike, I was wondering how we could reach the bottom from where we were since it was a long long way down... with no sign of any path. When Apiit took us to a hole in the wall (Literally, A HOLE...... IN..... THE..... WALL.) my mind screamed..... whaaaaaaat?
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| the hole where you put your body |
It was a good thing there were a couple of other people ahead of us (actually a big group) and their lamps were also helping us... basically, we tried to keep up with their group so we can have light.
There was one point (and here I don't have any pictures).. where Apiit said, "Mam, please move to the left when you pass through because at the right side is a crevasse. 😱". BUT WAIT.... there's more... ( you can see why I don't have picture since I have to hold on to the walls..).
buhay muna bago picture (life before picture taking)
When I crawled to the other side he then proceeded to tell me to cross a rock face wall using only my hands and feet while looking for hand holds (think Sly Stallone in cliffhanger).. Remember, we didn't have any lamps of our own... so basically, my husband had to shine a light on me while I try not to
die! This is where hugging the wall and being/channeling spiderman works. I screamed at my guide.,.. why didn't you tell me it was like this inside?
So, you can tell I did make it out alive. (lol) I used my cellphone when I got to the other side to shine on my husband. whew!
We also had to navigate climbing up a wall. (rappelling/wall climbing)
swinging from one side to the next
and basically trying not to accidentally slip down anything sheer. like a 30 foot drop.
In the middle, there was a small pool and a huge
stalactite .
What kept running through my head was... good thing it was just us and I wasn't with the kids. I would have had a heart attack from worrying how they would get out.
We skipped going to the other pools in sumaging cave (there were bats there and everything was slippery...) and by that time, I was ready to come out.
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| the way out... climbing a rock wall |
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| i see the light! |
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| yes!!!! |
The last picture is the entrance to
Sumaging cave.... for us, the exit... They do not charge entrance fee for visitors, but in my opinion, they should and the fees in turn would be used to improve the facilities of the cave for the safety of the visitors.
Honestly, we weren't even given helmets! My husband's shoes kept slipping from the rocks (very very dangerous I tell you)
I guess you could say, that will be the last time I will do Lumiang. (won't recommend it to others either)
