Wanderlust: SAGADA MOUNTAIN PROVINCE ⛺ Day 1 [HANGING COFFINS]

Let's travel to the beautiful province of Sagada Mountain Province, Philippines! Sagada is a town in the Cordillera Mountains within the Mountain Province in the Philippines. Bontoc is the provincial capital with a population of 11,127 people as of 2015. Sagada is famous for its hanging coffins wherein it is a traditional way of burying people but not everyone is to be buried this way. More of the hanging coffins later. :)

the blue church door of Saint Mary the Virgin

We travel from Manila to Sagada for about 8-9 hours but I think we made it for just 7 hours because our tourist guide driver drives so fast. Well, the ride is a bit bumpy I guess, especially when we are in the mountain province proper already. Expect the zig-zag roads ahead for about 3 hours of a roller coaster ride. Others including Sam did not make it without barfing. It was a horrible experience for all of us riding inside the van. Imagine. LOL.

with the group, planning before leaving Manila

meeting de avance :P

As we ascend, our ears start to pop, we close the air conditioning system of the van and we open our windows and can feel the fresh and cool air coming in. We left Manila 12 midnight and we arrived early in the morning. In Manila, the temperature was 30°C then suddenly in Bontoc it was 11°C which is a big difference for our body to adjust. So better be ready when you are traveling to Sagada, it is chilly. Get ready with your thick jacket, thick leggings or pants, and bonnet.

We settled on the Mayor's Inn which they said it was the Mayor's property. There are spacious rooms inside, no air conditioning system because you won't need it obviously because of the cold climate in the mountains. There was a hot breakfast for us to eat.

tired and sleepy from our travel :P

Good Morning Sagada!
Photo was taken with iPhone 6

all bundled up, enjoying the view from our Inn's balcony

ready to visit our first stop?

Our first stop, GANDUYAN MUSEUM

Right after our hot and satisfying breakfast, we went to our first stop. The Ganduyan Museum. Cameras are not allowed so we weren't able to capture anything inside. In the door, you must take off your slippers upon entering the house called a museum way up to the second floor. When we're inside, it feels very homey, it's like you enter a house of a "katutubo" natives of mountain province way back then. The wood floor is squeaky clean and glossy (reminds me of my Tita's (aunt) house, the wood flooring is all waxed and shiny), there are many wooden materials, utensils around the house which depicts their ancestor's things that they use when they started to settle in the mountains of Sagada. The speaker inside and the one who manages the place was the great great great (I don't know how many anymore lol) grandson of the first settlers in the province. He manage to keep all of the important pieces and all of that craftsmanship of the indigenous people in Sagada. It was a very interesting museum and he shared some of the stories that passed from his ancestors to another. If you visit Sagada, don't forget to swing by in this museum, you can learn many things with regards to how is the way of living and surviving in the early days.

the first church in Sagada.

on our way to the hanging coffins

Up and down trek to reach the famous hanging coffins. We first entered a cemetery uphill and then to go to the area where the hanging coffins are located we must descend and trek downhill. Challenge accepted.

downhill, people are in line because the way is very steep

the tourism government of Sagada is starting to improve the passage way of the people going to the hanging coffins for safety. kudos!

our group just having fun

you can take pictures of the coffins but of course, we need to pay respect to the natives and their culture.

Very historical and amazing how the natives keep their loved ones here with their own embalming system way back then and preserving the bodies. We really had a day full of information and background of Sagada People. Their culture is very rich and amazing. I'm glad that I learned something new and relate to the people living in the mountains.

I will stop here for now. I will continue to post these coming days! Time to hit the sack!

preview picture on my next blogpost! BOMOD-OK FALLS
Phone camera used: Samsung S4

<3 Tsokoletmint