Most of us took some time to check out famous spots on the way up to our homestay. For eight of us, the adventure was climbing Mt. Pulag, a 2,922 m (9,587 ft) mountain in the Benguet Province. It was the toughest and most rewarding adventure I've had yet in my service! To begin our trip, we all met in Baguio City which is just South of the mountain. Baguio is a remarkable place, and quite different from most of our sites. Like Sagada, the air is cooler and this means the style of dress is very different. The language up in the northern Philippines is Ilocano, which sounds significantly different than other dialects. Locals state that this is due to the lack of Spanish colonization in the mountainous regions. What I thought was really beautiful was the way the city is laid out. There is a downtown/main street area in the valley, with suburbs sprawling out above the city in the hills and mountains.
A view of Baguio at night.
There were evergreens everywhere! Another thing that was way different from site. Anyway, we used Baguio City as our home base before we headed off for the mountain. The day of, we took a van up through long winding roads until we reached the registration office. From there we had a classic jeepney ride to the start of the trail.
The coolest thing about Mt. Pulag was its landscapes, of which it has three distinct ones. At the lower part of the mountain there are pine tress and open views of rice terraces and villages. Farther up in the hike there is dense brush that reminded me a bit of mountain laurel. The peak is covered in a kind of dwarf bamboo and rolling, misty clouds which is all really remarkable to see. Here are some pics of the climb:
Once we reached the top, we set up camp for the night. The plan was to wake up early and climb to the peak for sunrise. I don't know if any of us were prepared for how cold that night was going to be. It wasn't anywhere close to freezing, but the mist stuck to us and soaked through almost everything we had. Body heat helped a little, so we had to get pretty cozy that night. Seeing the sunrise was totally worth it, though. My camera died so I wasn't able to get any pictures, but our fearless leader Joe did. Thanks Joe!
The hike down turned out to be even more difficult than the hike up. The trail was incredibly steep with lots of loose rocks and pine needles. It was still a lot of fun though. If you had told me I was going to be swimming in an ice cold mountain river to try to beat the heat after feeling my toes go numb watching the sunrise at 5 am, I would have tried to slap the crazy out of you. But that's the kind of trip it was. After the hike, we all arrived in Sagada sunburned, limping and nursing various injuries.
Sagada was a perfect place to recover though! I met with people I hadn't seen in a while, as well as some familiar faces. The town was quiet and quaint, and the people were amazingly friendly. Here's a shot from our homestay:
The day after the holiday, volunteers explored the various sites around Sagada. I went with a group to see the hanging coffins. The hanging coffins are a traditional way to "bury" people after they die, making use of nearby cliffs. Many of the coffins and tombs have windows so the souls of those who are buried can fly out and explore as they wish.
The trip as a whole was a lot of fun, and definitely recommended as a continued tradition for the next batch. ;) More adventures to come, peace everyone.
