I woke up at 4:15 AM, as I had set my alarm. I slept quite well. It was easy to get ready because I had prepared as much as I could the night before. I personally do not like having a lot of things to do in the morning. So, wherever I stay, before I go to bed, I organize my stuff around me to prepare for the next day as much as possible.
I wore long pants, a short-sleeved T-shirt, and a long-sleeved sweater since it is cold in the morning in Sagada. After changing my clothes, I went downstairs. Nanay had forgotten to turn off some of the lights, or perhaps she had already woken up.
I went outside, and it was still dark. Once I got to the main road, EJ was already waiting for me with his van. He opened the door for me, as he had done the day before. We took off.
You have two options when you go to Marlboro Hill to see the sunrise: wake up earlier and hike for about one hour, or wake up later and “hike” for about five to ten minutes. Since EJ did not seem to want to wake up early when he asked me which option I would take, and I am not an early morning person, I picked the latter. I would have had to wake up at 4:00 AM if I had chosen the former option.
The ride took about 10 minutes. On the way, I could already see the spectacular view from the window. EJ told me, “You are lucky.” I had no idea what he meant by “lucky” since I did not know what the view was usually like. But the thick layer of clouds below the mountains was absolutely epic.
We arrived at the viewpoint, where there were already some people waiting for the sunrise and some vendors selling food. After we got out of the van, we walked a little farther uphill to another viewpoint. It was about 5:00 AM, and according to EJ, the sun would rise at 5:30 AM, so we started waiting.
While we were waiting, we talked about what I was going to do for the rest of my stay in the Philippines. He gave me some suggestions for my next destination before going back to Manila.
As we continued waiting, all the clouds suddenly came up, and before we knew it, the entire view was covered. I hoped they would go down by the time the sun rose. Luckily, the clouds started sinking right before sunrise, and we could see the tops of the mountains above the thick layer of clouds.
As EJ had said, the sun rose at about 5:30 AM. I could see the sun moving vertically while the clouds drifted horizontally to the right. That was absolutely the highlight. EJ took some pictures of the view for me, and I simply enjoyed the moment.
The spectacular scenery washed away all the negative thoughts I had, whatever they were. I did nothing but focus on and enjoy the moment for five to ten minutes. Whenever I see nature like this, it reminds me of how small I am on this planet. Human beings are so tiny compared to nature, something you sometimes forget when you live in a big city.
As it started getting crowded with other tourists from Manila, who, according to EJ, had come on tours and were taking lots of pictures, we decided to leave. By the time we got back to the van, the clouds had rolled in again, and I could see nothing but clouds.
The window for being able to see the sunrise is probably only about 20 minutes. Right before EJ dropped me off at the pickup point on the main road, he told me to go to the tour company office at 2 PM for the Hanging Coffins tour.
When I came back to Baey Bogan at about 6 AM, Nanay looked busy doing something outside. She said, “You already came back?” I said, “Yes, but the sunrise was spectacular.” She said, “OK.”
The way she talks is a bit cold, which feels normal in Sagada. People there are not overly friendly and keep a good distance from others. I assumed that is simply how they communicate with strangers.
I settled down at the table in the kitchen and started thinking about what I was going to do next with my laptop open. Nanay came back from grocery shopping at a public market, and she also suggested my next destinations—San Juan, La Union, and Hundred Islands—since I told her that I might want to go to a beach because I had not been to one during this trip.
She was also preparing her breakfast. As I was planning, she said, “OK, you have to join me for breakfast.” I was like, “Really? Can I?” She said, “Yes.”
She cooked rice in a metal pot, just like my mother does, along with eggplants and a flat egg omelet. She gave me a plate and served some rice onto it. As Nanay did, I put a quarter slice of the omelet, some small pieces of eggplant, and a generous amount of chopped green onions on top of the rice.
The rice was perfectly cooked, and the other dishes gave me a sense of home, which I do not often have while traveling. Having breakfast with Nanay was probably my highlight in Sagada. During our conversation, I got to know a lot about her, which I am not going to talk about here. What’s more, I loved seeing the smiles that she rarely showed.
Since she had cooked a lot of rice, I was able to have several servings with the other dishes. At the end of the meal, I was simply eating rice with green onions. After finishing, she washed the dishes for me. I said, “Thank you very much.”
After that, I took a nap on one of the couches since I got sleepy after waking up so early and was full from breakfast.
At that moment, I decided not to go to Banaue to see the rice terraces because I had already enjoyed a lot of nature in Sagada. I had also been told that the rice terrace season was over, meaning the harvesting had already finished, so you could no longer see the beautiful green rice terraces.
When I told Nanay about it, she suggested that I go to Gaia Coffee, where you can see rice terraces in Sagada. According to Google Maps, it opened at 10 AM and was about a 20-minute walk away.
I eventually went there at about 10:30. When I entered, there were no customers yet. The sea salt latte (200 PHP / $3.20) on the menu caught my eye, so I ordered it.
Among the bookshelves packed with books, I picked one called An Utterly Impartial History of Britain by John O’Farrell. You could also see the rice terraces from both inside and outside the café. While I was reading the book, I sipped my coffee, which was delicious. I remembered one sentence: “The point is that the way we recount the past is deeply affected by how we feel now” (p. 17). While I was looking at the rice terraces, it inspired me to travel through the countryside of Japan. Although I like being outside my home country to experience different things, I feel like I should spend more time exploring other parts of Japan as a Japanese person. There must be much more nature like this in Japan.
As it got busier with other customers, I returned the book to the staff and left. I came back to Baey Bogan, and Nanay asked me, “Where have you been?” I said, “I was at Gaia Coffee, which you recommended.”
It was already after 12 PM, when I was supposed to check out, but Nanay did not seem to care. Since I had decided to stay in Sagada for one more night, I asked Nanay if I could stay another night, and she agreed at a lower price than the online rate.
I took all my belongings and said to Nanay, “I will come back.” She replied, “Wish for that.”
My third stay was at Isabelo’s Inn and Café Sagada, which was the cheapest option online. I checked in at the reception after filling out a form. Although the official check-in time was 2 PM, I was able to get my key because my room had already been cleaned. I went upstairs, and the room was small but clean. To me, cleanliness is more important than size when it comes to accommodation.
After settling down, I realized that I had forgotten my laptop at Baey Bogan. I did not want to go back there right away, so I spent some time editing videos from my camera instead. I decided to pick it up later.
At 2 PM, I headed to the SEGA tour office. On this tour, a different guide named Eddie took me to the Hanging Coffins. We started walking toward the viewpoint. Whether he was nervous or had some kind of condition, his voice was shaking as he guided me along the way.
Although his explanations were very informative and I learned a lot about the history of the place, he kept spitting something, so I asked him what he was chewing. He showed me the contents of his bag. It turned out to be betel nut, betel leaf, and lime, which he was chewing and occasionally spitting out. The wrapped mixture is called a betel quid. This has been a tradition for centuries in many parts of Asia and the Pacific. It has a stimulating effect similar to tobacco, making him feel relaxed. However, chewing it produces bright red saliva, which stains his teeth.
He asked me if it was common in Japan, and I said, “No, I’ve never seen it.” I was glad to learn about the history of Sagada and why and how they have hanging coffins during the tour.
On the way back, it started raining, so Eddie and I had to wait under part of the graves until the rain stopped. The rain soon turned into a downpour. We started running back toward town once it became a little lighter. I ended up leaving Eddie behind as I ran. It must have been very difficult for him to run because he was wearing thin slippers with bare feet.
I could not make it all the way back and took shelter at a local roadside shop. It was only about 50 meters from Isabelo’s Inn, but the rain was too heavy to continue. About 20 minutes later, when the rain became lighter, I decided to run again. As I was running, the rain stopped.
I then ran all the way back to Baey Bogan to pick up my laptop. Nanay looked very surprised to see my clothes and hair completely soaked. I picked up my laptop and borrowed an umbrella from Nanay, promising to bring it back just in case.
After taking a shower at Isabelo’s Inn, I spent the rest of the afternoon updating this blog, although I could not really focus on it.
At about 6 PM, I started feeling hungry, so I went to Vincent’s, which had been closed when I visited the previous time. Earlier that day, I had checked its opening hours. A young woman who looked about my age told me that it would be open until 9 PM.
At the restaurant, I was the only customer, which I had gotten used to. During this season, you do not really see many tourists, which I have actually quite enjoyed.
I ordered sisig, a famous Filipino pork dish that I had wanted to try while I was in the Philippines. The hot plate kept the minced pork and rice warm while cooking the raw egg as you mixed everything together. I think it is one of the must-try dishes in the Philippines, and the price was not as high as many other Filipino dishes: 200 PHP ($3.20).
When I paid, the young woman, who turned out to be the owner, was at the counter. I said, “It was very delicious. Thank you very much. I might come back!”
After leaving, I headed back. It was not completely dark outside yet. I could see a mother and her child, young students, and older people walking with canes along the road. The atmosphere was so peaceful that I fell in love with this town all over again.
After I came back, I continued writing this blog entry, which I finished at about 8 PM. For the rest of the night, I just relaxed in my room. I do not think there were any other guests on my floor that night because it was so quiet, and I did not see anyone else there.
Although I need to get used to the random heavy rain, I really like the lack of tourists. I went to bed before 10 PM.
Marlboro Hill
Gaia Coffee
Vincent’s
