Bus rides in the Mountain Province are enough to drive you to drinking... or atleast want a sedative.

Well this stupid computer keeps losing my entry on Banaue. So I will summarize:

Banaue = ZZZZzzzz
Rice terraces = pretty
Tricycle drivers = irritating
Philippino food = boring... WHERE IS THE CHILI!?

Moving on...

I left Banaue in the morning. The jeepney (a Philippino invention that took left over US Army trucks and converted them into woefully uncomfortable and extremely flamboyent mid-distance taxis) ride was painful, but the scenery and company (a Chicagoan and an Irishman) were nice. In Bontoc we got to stretch a few minutes before the Irishman, Niall, and myself boarded another jeepney bound for Sagada.

We finally arrived and plopped ourselves in the first guesthouse we saw.. The Sagada Guesthouse. I'd have been content to sit around all day and recover and then think about exploring the next day, but Niall was headed out to Baguio in the morning and wanted to see the cave today. So we had lunch at Alfredo's where they were exceedingly stingy w/ the ham and cheese parts of a ham and cheese sandwhich and then hired a guide at the tourist information center.

Mac led us 15 minutes to Sumaging cave. I think we were inside for atleast 2.5 hours. I cant tell time anymore, b/c my 10 ringgit watch died on me... my 4th watch to do so in 4 months. I dont think we actually covered much territory, it was just that it was seriously slow going for me and Niall. Even in flipflops Mac seemed to have no problems on the mud-covered rocks, but I was perilously close to cracking my head open several times. Deep in the cave we were rewarded w/ a swim in some frigid water. The water was so cold that when I got out of the water you could see the steam coming off me.

Back at the guesthouse I ordered a bucket of hot water... Sagada has internet now, but still no showers. They weren't joking around either, b/c it was scalding and I had to mix it w/ a bit of cold water for my bucket shower. I kicked around, resting and reading my guidebook yet again for a little while. Niall had been raving about snorkelling w/ the whalesharks down in Donsol and so now I was trying to figure out a way to get all the way down to the southern tip of Luzon and still get back to Manila for my flight. I eventually solved this by cancelling the Manila to Cebu part of my flight while keeping the return leg. it was nonrefundable but the whole ticket only cost $50 to begin with, so it was an ok sacrifice for the whale sharks. Don't worry, Mom, whale sharks only eat plankton!

Friday morning, I got up and headed to the Yoghurt House for a breakfast of banana pancakes and surprise, a bowl of yogurt. During breakfast I met Popoy and Sophie who wanted to know if I had seen any hanging coffins. No not really, so then I ended up hiking all over the hills with them, through the gorgeous mountain scenery to find a few. The local animists bury their dead by putting their coffins in caves or hanging them from the sides of mountains.

Before heading out to the Bokong waterfall and swimming hole, Popoy and I found a moment to school a couple of Sagadans in 2 on 2. Then we wound our way along the rice terraces to take a dip in another freezing cold pool. I jumped in, and got back out after a few minutes to dry out in the sun while watching some guy jump off the top of the falls and then proceed to wash his jeans while they were still on. Then we trekked back... I half fell into the rice fields... my left shoe is now brown w/ mud since I sunk in up to my knee.

After more Yogurt house food I tried to get a "scientific massage" from a tiny old blind woman.. but she was busy. So I ended up just resting, while Popoy and Sophie were supposed to do some more hiking. When I met them again at the basketball court, it turned out they had been too tired. I don't wonder... our first hike was no joke... but maybe thats also b/c I tend to eschew hiking in favor of hammocks. I got into 2 games of pickup w/ a whole bunch of short Philippinos. Some wore flip flops, one guy even played barefoot and everyone played zone! My team went 1-1. Not bad considering only 4 of our players were sober.. while the 5th, Mac my guide, had been working on Red Horse since early in the morning.

Finally when we couldnt see anymore we had to quit. I got invited to play again the next day, but sadly I was heading out to Baguio on the morning bus.

Sagada turned out to be the first place I have really liked in the Philippines. It had everything you could want... gorgeous mountain scenery, hiking and speleunking, cold/refreshing natural swimming pools, cool weather, a good smell and a basketball court. I didnt really want to leave, but I have to get headed south to see the whale sharks. So on Saturday morning, I got on the 8am-ish bus to Baguio... since thats the only place the busses go to. I thought it was only going to be a 5-6 hour ride.. but it was more like 8-9 painful hours of winding through the mountains on mostly unpaved roads w/ only one ambigious lane... sometimes no more than 3 feet between you and the mountain face on one side and 3 feet between you and the perilous peril on the other!

Eventually I did get to Baguio and found a place to stay. So far all I know about Baguio is that it is way bigger than Sagada... and you can get one-day-old chickens on a stick... hmmmm