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Up until this point we hadn't seen any other tourists, western ones that is, standing out in the crowds of dark hair but Sagada we had met a few. It is the low season after all which means bad weather and lots of rain, but thankfully we were lucky to enjoy the cooler and cleaner mountain air without this irritation to which it would mean we would have to spend indoors.
With many activities in this area mostly based around hiking, viewpoints and caving we signed up for caving on day 1 which included a few spots along the route to get there to see the hanging coffins of which many of them had been placed there 500 years ago or more. Marlieke unfortunately is deathly scared of heights and many of the viewing platforms with steep drops unnerved her to a point where climbing down into a pitch black cave on slippery bat shit covered sharp rocks made her turn back to the hotel before even entering the cave. At this point it was just me and the guide (Ben) making our way down into the abyss using only a kerosene lantern to light the way.
Carrying my new $2500 camera was daunting for me as a missed placed step would have sent me on an extremely painful roller-coaster ride to the center of the earth, however it was worthwhile for the great photos of the Sumaging Cave's highlight which is the calcium and limestone rich waters creating rock pools and incredible formations that has taken hundreds of thousands of years to grow - apparently 1,000years would have the forming wall grow by 1 inch.
Sagada was a place recommended to me by a Canadian working at a hostel in Vancouver, it was a great place but due to the lack of tourism at this time of year not much was happening - not necessarily a bad thing as the chilled (and cool location) of this town was a welcome change from the hectic and hot capital of the Philippines.
Hiking around Sagada, checking out the hanging Coffins
The people of Sagada
I wonder what the fate of this dog is…?
INto the Sagada Caves.
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