One of the important activities here in Sagada is caving. Sagada is littered with dozens of limestone caves that are just waiting to be explored. There are two near ones which are being promoted. I intended to visit these caves. But first I needed to get a guide to be able to explore the cave.
The municipal hall is the place to get a guide, it doesn’t matter whatever it is for, it could be for caving or just a hike. The municipal hall right beside the main “square” of Sagada and has a prominent location. This was where I first registered as a tourist when I got here. There is desk to the left of the entrance of the municipal hall where you can request for a guide. There are some options for caving but I took the one with only one cave. Being a beginner they did not advise me to take the two cave option.
The municipal hall was a nice little concrete building and it is clean. Amusingly, there is prominent sign for the locals to refrain from spitting “momma”. Momma is basically betel nuts which the locals, particularly the men, are very fond of chewing. As you may know it has a red extract which they locals spit just about anywhere. It was quite disconcerting to see these bloodstains on the road. But I was relieved to find out that they were just stains from eating the momma. Equally disconcerting is that bloody grin the local men would always flash whenever they meet visitors. It was like saying “I want a taste of your blood!”
I never really did try the momma, nor did I desire to contribute to the bloody red stained pavement to be found all over the village. Yuck.
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