Continuing past the cemetery, there is a gentle slope down the valley to my next destination. Unfortunately, again there were no signs for the lowly tourist without a guide. Fortunately, on my way down to the valley, I spotted someone hanging out at the lookout point near the top of the hill. He pointed me the way to the valley but wasn’t exactly clear about that. It guess there would be only on way down, right?
Turns out, getting to the valley it relatively easy, just follow well trodden path down the mountain until you reach the valley floor. From here, I can see the hanging conffins of Sagada, for which Sagada is known for. They are hanging on one side of the mountain much like the previous hanging coffin I saw earlier in the day. I wanted to get a closer look but the path to the hanging coffins isn’t really very clear and not well trodden, which was kind of weird since Sagada is already famous of this, you’d think there would be a more worn out path. If there was one, I sure didn’t find it.
I followed some trails which seemed to have been created by man, I had to backtrack a few times since some of them led to a dead end – excuse the pun. After a few tries, I managed to get up close to the hanging coffins. Some of the coffins even have names of the deceased and others even came with a cross. Which was strange since this practice is an animist way of burying the dead. I noticed that there is another cave entrance here but I wasn’t sure where it ends. I was told that this cave can be quite dangerous since it is prone to flash flooding.
Having taking all the photos I can take, I started to make my way back to town. I took pains to make sure I remember where I came from since the path wasn’t clearly marked, it would have been extremely easy to get lost. And to get lost here, would not be a good idea. There is no electricity here in the middle of the valley and there is no cell phone signal since it is blocked by the tall mountains. It was getting late in the afternoon and I would not want to let the night overtake me.
After several tries, I managed to find my way back to the trail I came down from. Since, going up is far more difficult than going down, I have to take my time going back up the mountain. I wasn’t that pressured anymore since the path here is pretty straightforward. At the same time, I was also admiring the scenery of the valley. You will not know that there was a path there if you viewed it if from above. I wonder if people have actually gotten lost from exploring this area. I think some proper signage is in order. But then it would no longer be Sagada.
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