Fresh mountain air

Trip Start Nov 25, 2006

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Philippines Sagada, Philippines
Wednesday, November 29, 2006

After a day or two in Manila, I felt the need to get to a place where I can breathe. The smog in Manila is really unbearable (even for someone that spent a year living in Seoul). So, after one nine hour overnight bus ride to Banue, and two subsequent jeepney rides winding along dirt roads on the top of mountains totalling about 5 hours, I arrived at my destination in Sagada. This place is starting to get popular with tourists, although because it's still a little difficult to get here, some of the less hearty travellers are discouraged from making the trek. It is well worth it however. This sleepy little town still has some of the traditional tribal culture left in it. There are plenty of hikes in this area, and they set among some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable - rice paddies, farms and animals abound... fantastic.

After the better part of a day of travelling to get here, i felt the need to get some real exercise

caves

. I had heard Sagada had some nice caves, so I decided to try my hand at caving. A guide for this was a little expensive considering i went by myself (15$ US I believe), but i enjoyed being able to talk to one of the natives from the village. The experience lasted about 5 hours, but I spent at least an hour or so taking pictures (made significantly more difficult and interesting considering i had only a lantern for lighting). There are two options for caving out here, an easy one and a difficult one - i highly recommend the difficult one if you aren't fat and lazy.

The interesting thing about this village is that all the guides sell (about 1$ a gram) or simply give away hash to the tourists. They really just enjoy life, and are chilled out about pretty much everything and not just because of the THC - life out here just goes a bit slower.

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