The Road to Sagada
Text and Photos by Jeneen R. Garcia first published in Sun.Star Cebu on Aug. 12, 2004 Seven hours. The long and winding trip along dusty mountain cliffs is not for the impatient or the faint of heart. In the middle of Igorot country, Sagada is a land as fierce as its warriors. Sharp rocks jut out between the pine trees, narrow dirt roads twist and turn among boulders. Anyone taking that 7-hour bumpy ride to Sagada after traveling the 6 hours from Manila to Baguio must be crazy. But there we were, the seven of us who had made up our minds to go no matter what, sitting in the rickety 6 a.m. bus at the Dangwa terminal in Baguio. Because the journey is long and the roads are risky, the last trip out usually leaves by 11 a.m. Alternating between sleep and awed stares at the view along the way, we got down at St. Joseph’s, a pension house on top of a hill. We had a late lunch (budget meals from P50 to P70 for poor souls like us), then met up with our guide at the Municipal Hall, near the ma...