Category: Mt. Province

At the Echo Valley, with the Hanging Coffins of Sagada

For all her natural beauty and mass media appeal, the one thing that you can never take away from Sagada – and her neighboring towns, if I might add, if only you’d care to venture out of its borders – is tradition. To this day, despite modernization easing its way in none too gracefully, the place is enveloped with it that you can practically smell it in the air when you step out of your ride. You breathe in, and just know, you are somewhere steeped in tradition. Continue reading “At the Echo Valley, with the Hanging Coffins of Sagada” →

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The Church of Saint Mary The Virgin in Sagada

More than design and architecture (which I really know next to nothing about), the one feature that intrigues me when visiting notable churches is what they are made of. Modern churches, especially, now seem to look commonplace, and so we turn to seeking out older churches to somehow fill that curiosity for something novel or not usual. In this case, stones. Churches made of stones never fail to impress me, regardless of their scale or size.

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Orange-Picking at the Orchard of Rock Inn & Cafe

After welcoming the day at Kiltepan Viewpoint, we made that short drive to do some damage, I meant, orange-picking. Since I can remember, “Sagada Oranges” have become something like an institution in our region, kinda like how you’d identify other produce as “Baguio beans” and “Baguio strawberries” which, IF I MAY, I have a couple of things to say about. First: beans and most other highland vegetables are NOT from Baguio, you guys. Neither are strawberries. Continue reading “Orange-Picking at the Orchard of Rock Inn & Cafe” →

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Waiting for the Sun to Rise at Kiltepan, Sagada

There are only two instances when you can look, or stare, directly at the sun (without hurting your eyes, that is): when it rises and when it sets. So we take our chance as much as we can. The sad thing is that, we wait for the sun to rise, but we don’t always see her in her full glory. I know. I’ve had several experiences where I woke up real early at dawn in time to watch the day break, only for the sun to be her moody elusive self, and hide behind clouds. The upside? The knowledge that even if she does not show herself fully, SHE IS THERE.

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Lumiang & Sumaguing Caves: The Sagada Cave Connection

The Sumaguing Cave in Sagada, Mountain Province is my first cave experience, and that was way back in 2007. Since then, I’ve been to a few others, and no matter how you try not to, you cannot help but make comparisons. Fortunately, the time that we explored Sumaguing Cave was a period where only a few people knew about it. Between then and now, of course, the place practically blew up and practically hundreds of visitors drive up to Sagada every weekend. That was certainly one of the shocks I received when I set foot in the place anew. Continue reading “Lumiang & Sumaguing Caves: The Sagada Cave Connection” →

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Drive-by: The Bontoc Museum in Bontoc, Mt. Province

Every single day we wake up and go about our daily lives the usual way, our minds occupied with schedules and meeting objectives, there just seems to be room for, well, not much else. Most of us go online, and check out what’s going on in the world or with other people and, if curiosity strikes us, even try to learn about them: their cultures, their quirks, and even the most random things about them. So it is quite a bit of fresh air when, once in a while, we are reminded of how our own culture – our own quirks and randomness, even – are just as interesting, perhaps even more so, than that of some strangers’ in another side of the planet.

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OdysStay: Where to Stay in Batad and Bontoc

In every journey, pit and rest stops are a given, and I felt it only right to share some info about mine. I consider it my small way of providing something helpful and informative, as opposed to just talking about what I’ve seen and what I did. If that even makes sense. #odysSTAY will chronicle what I remember of the places that served as my shelter on my various adventures. For this post, I will be talking about the two places we stayed at during our “Plan B” road trip through Batad and Bontoc.

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Bauko, Mt. Province Pt 4: Pre-Begnas Activity Photodiary

This is actually an excuse to draw out my reminiscence of this experience (which I previously talked about here, here, and here) and to post some more pictures, haha! You see, I get a kick of going back to my blog entries at least six months after they have been posted, and I would like to reopen this post this September and relive it all over again.

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Bauko, Mt. Province Pt 2: Mt. Polis, A View Deck in the Sky

Whoever said that one mountain is just like any other clearly does not know what he’s talking about. Or hasn’t gone to more than one mountain. Simple as that. I love how, despite experiencing something that is seemingly ordinary, we are still somehow given a surprise. It’s like the Creator is telling us, “So you think you’ve seen everything, huh? You think you’ve experienced the best and the finest. Well, I have a lot of aces up my sleeves to show you yet.” To which, I could only say, “that is one looooong sleeve you got there. BRING IT.” One of those aces, it turns out, is called Mt. Polis.

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Bauko, Mt. Province Pt 1: Through The Spanish Trail

This was another one of those “ok, just tell me when and where, and what to bring, and I’ll be there” things. I didn’t know what event we’re actually joining. Just the mention of “let’s go to the mountains” made me take off like a shot. I then learned it was the Pre-Begnas Activity, which also includes the Lepas Fiesta. It entails trekking and camping, before joining the festivities the next day.

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