Daily Archives: 7 April, 1998

Arrival in Sagada (Mountain Province)

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Sagada

We arrived at Sagada by 4 PM. Upon our arrival at the bus terminal near the municipal hall, Jandy and I checked in at one of the 5 double rooms with common bath at the second floor of nearby Ganduyan Inn, managed by Hanzel and Marina Biag. The inn was strategically located as it was just across the bus terminal and the municipal hall.  Rate was a very cheap PhP75 per person per day. The inn also had a restaurant.  According to Marina, her husband, as well as a significant portion of Sagada’s population, are descendants of Biag, a folk hero of the Igorots  and the most important figure in Sagada’s history.  Biag introduced new rites, prayers and customs.

Ganduyan Inn

As it was late in the afternoon, we decided to just visit the nearby Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin.  Along the winding, pine needle-paved cement lane, to the  right of the basketball court, is this massive, gray stone Anglican church,  originally built under the direction of Reverend John Staunton and consecrated on December 8, 1921.  It was  badly damaged (especially the belfry) by U.S. bombing raids during World War II and later repaired.  The oldest church in the Cordilleras outside of Baguio City, its foreign architectural design is fused with indigenous motifs.  Further down is the 30-hectare St. Mary’s High School.  Founded in 1912, it was destroyed in World War II, rebuilt in 1950, destroyed by fire in 1975 and reopened in 1983.

Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin

After this short tour we returned to the inn for supper at its coffee shop.   Food in Sagada is really cheap and the servings humongous.  Noteworthy is its tasty native red rice (kintuman), mountain tea and its aromatic and strong Arabian coffee, locally-grown, grounded and roasted.

Sagada Municipal Hall

The Road to Sagada (Mountain Province)

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From Baguio City, we left for Sagada around 9:30 AM, Tuesday, April 7, on board an ordinary Lizardo Transit bus from the Dangwa Tranco terminal, off  Magsaysay Ave..  Once outside Baguio City, my mobile phone became useless.   The 151-km. trip from Baguio City to Sagada passes through the spectacular 146-km. Halsema (named  after Engr. Eusebius Julius Halsema, American civil engineer and mayor of Baguio City, 1920-36) Mountain Highway. It was originally a foot trail used by mountain folk and was improved and widened by the Americans. The highest highway system in the country, it was formerly called the “Mountain Trail” and it links La Trinidad and Baguio City with Bontoc.  It took more than 15 years to build and was finished in 1936.

View of dried up rice terraces

The trip took all of 7 hrs. (including stops for lunch and snacks) as we cut through mountain peaks, gorges and  steep cliffs, cross deep ravines and skirted dangerous slopes.  It could have been shorter but more than half of the drive was over rough, dusty and unpaved roads.  Jandy had a case of biyahilo (travel dizziness) and threw up.  Some sections were so narrow that only one vehicle could pass at a time. A narrow section over one treacherous gorge was simply breathtaking (but I was afraid to look out the window).   It was the peak of the El Nino phenomena and a number of the terraces were dry.  Smoke from some small forest fires could also be seen in the distance. Still the drive was scenic all the way as we passed through some of the most spectacular mountain vistas found anywhere. We also passed the highest point of all Philippine highways  – at Km. 50 near Bayangan,  2,225 m. above sea level.  Here, where the road crosses 2,450-m. high Mt. Paoay, we had good views  of Mt. Pulog, Kabayan, Atok and the Agno Valley.  Too bad we didn’t  stop.