[A letter given to a friend after Sagada trip]
I’ve never thought we’d end up in Sagada in fact. I told you before we will have an outing but the plan was to have it in Banaue and Batad. I don’t know what happened why two days before the departure they suddenly thought of Sagada and asked me to see some possible accommodation and itinerary.
Of course in my head the first thing I thought of is the lodge where I usually stay but I was hesitant at first because we were 23 people and I don’t know if the place can accommodate us all. Thanks to heaven, a miracle happened. When I contacted the owner, she told me “Ah Ms. Lourraine we would be glad to have you back! You are lucky we only have two guests on your date of stay” and voila ! It was suddenly a dream come true ! I never thought also that I will go back to Sagada this year (I was supposed to go there last February right but I was scared of going alone*) but see how life works ! We were there and I was genuinely happy to show SOL** family my 2nd home.
It was a cozy and homey experience for all of us. For one, the weather was so inviting and relaxing compared to the heat of Manila and everybody was in good spirits. It’s amazing to see the people I love being with me in the place I love. I became their tour guide, I told them stories after stories of all my trips there; some of which were not really happy, some were embarrassing.
The girls loved it… but not the hard part.
You see, Sagada is best experienced by foot; you have to walk all your way going to the good places and it requires patience and openness and energy to do it all. Knowing the girls, some of them complain especially the walking part.
I heard a lot of comments, some I didn’t like and some could probably a lesson learned for them.
They all wanted the good stuff; seeing the sunrise, reaching the falls, looking at magnificent view but they never liked the process and frustration it entails.
We were on our way to lake Danum and I never really imagined it was far (because I think the concept of distance becomes blurry based on how you perceive it; when I did the walking myself, it felt doable because I was absorbed by my thoughts and everything, I was not focusing on the length of the walk) the girls started complaining and some hitchhiked (yes! the put your thumbs up and smile at the drivers hitch hike!). It was fun seeing them so happy since probably it’s their first time doing that and it’s not dangerous at all since we were all scattered on the road. The mood was good.
Not until we reached the lake. I heard someone say “Ito na yun?” (This is it?) as if to say “all the walk for nothing?” While it’s true that the lake is not as beautiful as before (THANKS TO TOURISTS WHO ARE RECKLESSLY DESTROYING NATURE – Its once bottle green color became brown and it’s slowly losing the water), still it was so sad to sometimes see people losing grasp of what is beautiful in front of them. During the walk we were laughing, singing, sharing stories — it was beautiful. But then suddenly the whole trip concluded with them being dissatisfied just because their reality – the brown lake – did not meet their expectation – what exactly, i don’t know. I guess all people pass through this stage anyway, I probably had the same thoughts and reactions while traveling before.
The next day, we started walking again.
Our destination was an unknown Falls with an unknown walking duration (Bomod-Ok Falls: 6.8km from where we were – yes I researched now) . It turned out to be longer than the one of Lake Danum and what’s even more saddening was that we didn’t manage to go to the Falls just because we needed to avail 4 tour guides! what pissed me off was that the ratio of tour guide must be 7 tourist to one guide. we were 22 (not including Maece) and for us to continue, they said we need 4.. come to think of it, 7:1 ratio is equivalent to 21 tourists… we were 22, and they still want us to get another one for the 22nd people ?! It’s also funny how people sometimes are boxed in their so-called “rules”.. “it’s the rules ma’am” one lady told me. I told her. “Ma’am, if we avail a 4th guide, it means to say one person here will have her OWN tour guide, and it’s crazy right? whereas if she goes to one group and they become 8, it won’t do much harm right?”… She stared at me as if I am an alien talking in a language she could not understand.
We decided to leave downhearted.
On our way back, I remember a story I read a year ago coming from a book I brought with me during my last visit in Sagada. It’s about Rumi.
Once there was a teacher who was expected to give a talk to hundreds of people. The hour came for the talk but the speaker was nowhere to be seen. Hours passed and people started leaving, sold to the idea that there will be no talk for that night. After a couple of hours, with almost half of the audience present, a drunken teacher appeared. He was throwing insults and misbehaving and more people left irritated and betrayed; they waited for hours just to see a drunken man in his fit. After a while, a number of people stayed, so few you could count them with your fingers.
The drunken teacher sobered up, he was not drunk at all. He told the people, “There are two lessons I want you to learn tonight. One is to be patient for you don’t know when the time will come. Second is to be open to whatever it is you will find in the end… For it may not be exactly what you expected it to be. You passed both the test, it’s you I will teach”.
Now, I don’t remember exactly the story but it feels like this haha (I don’t have the book with me but if I get a copy, I will share with you… the title is “The Greatest Miracle in the World” by Og Mandino)
Our encounters with the Lake and the Falls heavily reminded me of that story. And thinking about it, I think it would be the most apt theme for our trip: Patience and Openness. (and I think to be careful; I feel like I just ruined my ears after cliff diving in the other smaller falls, I have to observe my left hearing to see if I damaged my eardrums.)
The next day we had to wake up at 4:30am to see the sunrise. The walk going up the hill is the killer; it’s amazing how one can never experience the same situation twice. I remember last year as I did the same thing, the whole scenery was filled with golden rays of sun; the pine trees all big and crisp and glowing under the sun. But this time, as we ascent the foggy hill, the pine trees were eerie; the road was covered with mist it looks as if it was draped with a silvery silk… It reminds me of the Forbidden Forest of Harry Potter haha it was amazing.
The morning was too foggy and as expected, when we reached the hilltop, everything was covered by thick fog which also means, the chances of seeing the sunrise are slim. Still, we had hope. We waited. The night before that I checked the sunrise time, it was 5:38am. The time came but there were still no signs of a sunrise… I saw the faces of the girls; they were disappointed. They said “Hindi lang mga tao ang paasa, pati Sagada!”
And so we were already sold to the fact that there will be no sunrise for us… We headed to the stalls to have our breakfast. And just as we sat down waiting for our hot arroz caldo, the sun shone in its full glory! You should have seen the faces of the girls; they lit up and rushed towards the cliff, they were filled with so much joy and it’s happy to see them like that.
And at the end of the journey, despite its ups and downs and rolling and walking, we all went back home happy, our spirits full and our memories fuller.
The wonders this place really hold.
*Narrative of my previous trip in Sagada can be read here: Sagada II : Home is where Love is
**SOL – School of Life Program, a shelter-based program of ACAY Missions Philippines, Inc. that caters to young women at risk. Know more about the mission here
Lou x Raine 