4th time in SAGADA: Healing wounds from my silent battles

 My Home away from home. That has always been Sagada for me. I never got tired of going back over and over again. It has always been a refuge to my exhausted whole being. And before the year ends, it cradled me once again. I was diagnosed by a serious sickness last year that stops almost my whole world. I need to focus on quick medication and operation, stop all strenuous activities like traveling and hiking. Everyday seems like a misery. It was June of this year that I also had to undergo radiotherapy and after that, Doctors will allow me to slowly go back to outgoing adventures. Then, the time has come. September of this year, I was allowed to go for travel and some light exercises. No other thing enters my mind, but Sagada. the go-to destination of broken hearted and lost souls people these days. Asking 2 of my friends to accompany me in this travel and we give it a go.

It was a DIY travel since I am not into my super hiking pacing yet. We grab a ticket from Coda lines and next thing we know, we were chillin' in Sagada with the main goal of relaxing our body with the cold weather, sip freshly brewed sagada coffee and witness sea of clouds to cover all our anxieties behind. We had our first day with with food hunt in the market, look for a place to stay, then sleep, food hunt again, then ended the day dropping by pitik wines and get some shots. 

On our 2nd day, we started by exploring a not so crowded viewpoint for sunrise and sea of clouds. We originally plan to go the usual marlboro country without traversing to blue soil hill. Our guide, suggests to go pog-o viewpoint instead. It is a new campsite near the famous but now closed to tourist Kiltepan peak. It shared the same ridge as kiltepan. No hike needed if you ride a 4x4 vehicle that can park right in the campsite. If not, Vehicles can park before a short steep uphill trail. If you've been to sagada way back when kiltepan peak used to be the go-to destination for sunrise, I highly suggest to go Pog-o Viewpoint, It is the same with the later, with limestones you can use for elevated photo op. After that, food hunt and coffee time again, rest for a while, head to abandoned bus, pine tree bathing, lunch/snacks (aesthetic time) at Gaia Cafe, do some orange picking since it's in season. Then, attended mass on sunday afternoon at Mt. carmel church in time for the solemnity of Christ the King. Food hunt again for our last night in sagada, do some chill walking at night in town proper and grab some ice cream in the middle of icy cold weather then call it a night.

For our last day, we started by heading to isang wow cafe (inverted house restau) to wait for sunrise, watch sea of clouds while having our breakfast. See? you don't need full hiking expectations just to experience those magical sunrise with sea of clouds. Sagada is indeed friendly for everyone. Before people flood, we secured a table and a good spot. After that, we go back to our accommodation to get some sleep again then get ready for checking out. Since we booked codalines again for going back, we have to wait until afternoon for our reservation. After checking out, we try to kill time by looking for pasalubong, lunch hunt, last coffee time and eventually stay in the serene and picturesque vicinity of Episcoal church until our bus arrive. 

For this trip, I must say that sagada had some changes to its vibe since it also need to adopt to flocked of tourist, but one thing remains. For some reasons, Sagada will always take all those heavy baggage you have once you're there. They also made some budget friendly transportation that will be a big help for DIY(ers) like the TriCab. No need for hiring a multi cab/ jeep and break a wallet if you're not able to find some one to share expenses. You can also get the mobile numbers of those tricab owners/drivers and text them to pick you up once activity is done. For food hunting, Restaurants still a little pricey but you can find some eatery in the market that also serves sagada specialties.

Sagada will always have a good spot in my heart. Every time I feel like my whole being has been exhausted, I always think of this place. Like I can always regain strength from the simplicity of its life, drawing energy from being too close to nature, bathing in the pine trees seems like venting out everything you had in mind. And most importantly, hoping for good days ahead after getting some time-off. Felt empty before going there, didn't even know if I can still go back to normal routines or maybe until when will I have a limited things to do? Until now, there's no answer to that. But having some time to rest in this mountainous side of the world, seems like already an answer. Where you only have wait patiently, until the sun comes out. I can't describe how everything becomes light after this trip. true enough, the magic of sagada hasn't fade.