We had an educational trip for our Photojournalism class last January 30-February 2. From the moment my feet touched the lands of Sagada, I knew this will be the start of my journey.
This was one of the most dangerously amazing trips I ever had.
Sagada, Mountain Province is located north of Baguio City, and it took us a day to get there.
We rode on a bus going to Baguio first, which took us 9 hours. It was very tiring, just by sitting for many hours. And the problem is, I can't sleep, no matter how much I tried. My classmates and I just took pictures to let go of boredom.
When we arrived in Baguio City at 1:30 am, and we have to wait for three hours to get a jeepney to another bus station that will lead us to Sagada. It was too cold already in the station, but my friends and I bought ice cream. All the people were looking at us oddly, eating cold food in a cold place. Not for long, we ate our cup noodles, too. Our professor shared his stories to us while we eat. We slumped on the chairs, unable to sleep, as we listen to him.
After a while, we decided to explore outside the bus station. It's the middle of the night, but it's fine with us. We walked from the station to SM Baguio, then down to Session Road. We got back to the station at 4 and we started to get ready.
We rode a jeepney on the way to the next bus station. The driver charged us with 20 pesos and got disappointed when we found out that the station is just near, and took us less than 30 minutes to get there. That's too much for 20 pesos. Anyway, when we arrived, it was freezing cold, which reminds me that the temperature in Baguio City has dropped to 8 degrees. I tried creating friction with my hands, hoping to get heat, unfortunately, nothing happened. I'm already wearing my extra thick jacket, but the cold air still gets in. So I decided to wear my sweater then my jacket. Again, it was useless to gain heat. Now all I need is a bonfire in front of our block to give us heat.
The line of people buying for tickets is too long, which made them look like a human snake. The ticket booth is located at the corner of the station. A cafeteria found on its left, while on its right, one could see the parked buses. And beside those buses, there's another cafeteria. Two of my classmates bought our tickets, and we were wondering why it took them so long in buying it. We waited outside the cafeteria beside the buses for an hour or so, taking pictures and talking non-stop.
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| Look down. |
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| Look right. |
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| Look left. |
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| Smile! |
I am so afraid that I'm just one step away from hypothermia. Then that's the time I decided to get inside the cafeteria. I invited my other friends to have coffee or hot chocolate. It was small, and we sat on a table for four. The guy serving tables gave us a menu, but we told him we just need a cup of coffee and hot chocolate. When I finally took a sip, I felt better. My other friends were creating friction after they took a sip, while I stir my cup of hot choco. We exchanged stories and looked at the lone view of the big letter 'M' of McDonalds behind a building. Being away in Manila for a day felt like forever. Suddenly, we want to eat at McDonalds, but we don't know how far it is. So we just sighed and continued drinking our coffees and hot chocos.
Some of our classmates were sitting outside, guarding our bags, others went to the other cafeteria to eat. The food in that cafeteria is expensive so I didn't get in there. My two other classmates were still stuck in the human snake line. My friends and I went out to join the others, while the others get inside the cafeteria. As I was out I knew I'll be cold again and I sighed because the cold bothered me anyway.
The sun has already shone in the horizon and it was still freezing cold. Great. We took more pictures, and we talked more.
Suddenly, I heard my stomach rumble. It's time for breakfast already, and I need food to have energy. Finally, I decided to eat at the other cafeteria, of which I mentioned as an expensive cafeteria. My professor came along with our group and we ate while we talk about our trip to Sagada. By the time we were done, we got our tickets and got on our bus. By the way, that was 7 am.
We only rode on an ordinary bus, because the cold air is way more than the air conditioner at school. It's totally freezing. I was grateful that I took a long walk earlier that morning with my friends on Session Road, because I finally dozed off to sleep. I woke up after an hour or so, and the view of houses and other establishments were gone, and was replaced by trees, mountains, and greens. There's no civilization in here being far away from the city, I thought. The view was magnificent and incredible, but don't look down. I think we're more than a hundred feet from below, but I feel scared and excited at the same time. Jeez. It was really beautiful outside, so I brought out my cam and took pictures. Here are some of my shots.
We had our first stopover in a little souvenir shop, complete with lavatories. Yep, you heard it right, a stopover over a hundred feet. There was also a gasoline station beside it. I'm still getting this severe coldness even if I had my gloves on. It was 8 in the morning and the sun is shining brightly in the sky, but it's still cold. All of us went out to pee, then took pictures again. After that, we're off to the road again.
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| This is our first stopover. Saying hello to that Petron gas station over there. |
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| Yours truly. :) |
All I can say is, the road to Sagada has created whorls in my eyes. It is full of big turns that are only made for drifting cars, not buses. But if you're riding on a bus, you'd better have a driver that can deal with such roads. Filipino drivers are one of the best, really. The road to Sagada would've made a perfect racetrack for Gran Prix. This place is too high! It's too high that I felt like I was standing on top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. And if I were Percy Jackson, I'll think of this as Mount Olympus already. Anyway,
the road is too narrow that one cannot overtake. Unfortunately, I saw a vehicle pass by our bus. Okay, I got scared for that fella.
Just like I said, I think we're more than a hundred feet from the city below, and we're going farther up. From what I see now, the cliffs were very rocky and there's NO WAY someone will ever survive if they'll fall off, unless you're a demigod. There are few houses here, and they're 20 kilometers apart I think. I was wondering how do they get food here.
On this view, I am starting to think on how are we gonna get down to the city again. I'll never forget this view, and I can sing 'top of the world' now.
It's already 9 am, and the sunshine is still not helping. The air sent chills on my spine and it just got colder. My breath is not helping, either--it's as cold as the air already. So much for the cold never bothered my anyway. I've tried everything to keep myself warm, but there's no success. Even if I stay under the sun for hours, it won't make me warm, but it will only make me darker.
Along the way, I saw this Daycare Center surrounded by houses, and.. is that a school on its left?
According to my professor, we will be having another stopover. So how far is our hotel then?! Maybe it's located on the stratosphere. Hahaha. Everyone's quiet, so I thought my classmates were asleep. I looked at them and found them all looking at the stunning and dangerously attractive view outside. At this point, there's no signal, and no internet connection, which means we are all by ourselves now. It's just us, our luggage and our cameras. My thoughts are perturbed by this long and winding road, I should say. And I'm starting to get dizzy and sleepy from this road.
On our second stopover, I felt lazy to get down on the bus, so I stayed inside and looked at the road. It's still far and I don't know exactly when will we arrive at Sagada.
These colorful lines that I saw in the ceiling of the bus caught my attention, so I just took pictures of it.
After a few more hours, the long wait is finally over. We arrived in Sagada by 2 pm, and walked our way to our hotel. We went to this hotel called Canaway Rest House. My professor greeted the girl on the desk happily, which I found out that they were friends. We stayed outside, because the space is not big enough for all of us. It was beautiful inside, the wood is polished, clean tiles and everything is organized. Not for long, the girl went outside and motioned us to follow her. I thought we're going to stay there. But then, she led us to a house near the fields. There were other houses too, and it seems that the lone house that we're staying at is the only house with no one living in it.
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| This is the house where we stayed at. There is a big field on the other side. |
The girl opened the house and we got in, greeting the house. Before we explore the house, we went straight upstairs to put down our luggage. There were three bedrooms and there's a big space enough in the middle to put three beds. Our professor took the first room, while my friends and I took the second one, and my other classmates took the third one. I noticed that our room has letters and pictures of people. The shots must've taken a long time ago, like 1970s or something. It was old-fashioned. There was also a poster of Mother Mary at the back of the door. When we finally took a rest for a while, I explored the house,
and my friends came with me.
When I was going down the stairs, I noticed a door facing me. It's beside the main door. It was opened ajar, and I didn't look inside. It's enough that I knew that it was ajar. I stepped on the wood flooring and checked the room. There were three wooden sofas that filled the room. There were three beds that lay in there, too, complete with pillows. I stood at the entryway of the room, and I saw another door at the end of the room. Adjacent to that door, is another door. This house is full of doors. There were also old pictures in the house, and there were many of them, different from the ones in our room. Some of my friends were in the kitchen, others went in the living room, too. I decided to take shots of every part of our house for a souvenir, but I thought better of it. I felt scared, so I didn't continue it.
Not for long, we grabbed our wallets as our professor told us that we're going to eat outside. We ate on this restaurant for our lunch. We took pictures while waiting for our orders.
After we eat, our professor gave us a choice, and said that we can go back to our house, or go shopping. Five of us went back, because nature has been calling us and we want to rest for awhile. After 30 minutes or so, our classmates were back, saying they want to have a rest too, and decided that they'll go shopping in the afternoon. I was about to sleep when I heard my classmates laughing and joking. I didn't get to sleep anymore because I was laughing too, and I get to join them.
During the afternoon, we went outside with our cameras to explore the neighborhood and the town proper. While we explore, my other classmates went off to the market to buy our food for tonight. Others went shopping already. We promised that we will wash the dishes tonight, so we get to explore all afternoon. When we got home, I found my classmates already preparing the food for dinner.
I helped in other matters in our house. While we were washing the dishes, my other classmates were cleaning the table, some were waiting in line in front of the lavatory, while the others stayed in the living room with our professor.
I didn't hear much while we're washing the dishes. But all I know is that my professor was talking about the house we're staying at. Probably, it was something scary. Glad I wasn't there at the living room and made the right choice of washing the dishes with my friends. It got even scarier when my classmates screamed when the lights went out. I got afraid too because of their screams, then I felt better when they laughed eventually. I looked outside by the window in front of me and found out that the other houses don't have lights, too. When the lights went back after a while, one of my classmates went in the kitchen and told us what made them scream that much. He said our professor told them something about the family who owned the house then suddenly the lights went out. And he was laughing because our professor laughed at their faces when the lights went back. I smiled at him but I was a bit scared at that moment. Even if it was a joke or not, I started praying to myself every day and every night.
Some of us took a bath at night, because we know that it's hard to take a bath in the morning. While waiting, we went to our respective rooms and fixed our luggage for us to fit in such a small room. We talked happily and looked at our pictures. The boys were joking outside and on the other room, we can hear laughter and jokes. All in all, we're all very noisy in the house.
It was time for the next batch who will take a bath. My classmate went out of the lavatory freezing, and told me that she didn't use the heater because there were sparks whenever she tried to put it in the socket. Okay. I didn't the use the heater also. And the water is like melted ice. The cold bothers me, and I'm not Elsa, okay?
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| While I was drying my hair, I joined my friends in the big space in the middle part of the 2nd floor. |
When everyone is done, we went up and joined the others who were conversing happily. At first, we wanted the guys to sleep downstairs, but decided that they stay in the large part of the room in the middle. After an hour or so, we went to sleep in our rooms and started to get ready for tomorrow's big
adventure. :)
