#adisti

After a good rest the whole night, we continue our journey to explore about Sagada. This time, our destination is one of the caves in Sagada. According to the tour guide, the cave that we explored was the easiest amongst all of caves in Sagada. But underestimating could bring to a disaster, so every of us prepare thoroughly to make sure everything is fine when we caving. Before we head to the cave, of course breakfast is important, and we got another chance to have a breakfast in the restaurant same as yesterday. Then off we go to the cave!

For an amateur, what comes to our mind was like a humid cave with lots of moss inside and bats murmuring around while hanging to the ceiling of the cave and also tons and tons of water inside. Well it seems most of the guesses were right, the cave itself was divided into three part, the slippery part, the more slippery one and the area filled with water. If the guess was moss that makes the cave slippery, then we were wrong. It was actually bat poo, but don’t feel disgusted about that, since we have to hold into the stones to make sure safety of ours. Now into the second part, this is more slippery than the previous one if we use our shoes. The rock here is formed after the flow of water and in this area you can start sees small pools of water around. And here is the last part; the water level here is higher than any part of the cave, approximately around our waist. The entrance to enter this part was harder; we had to crawl to be able to pass through small space. But it was worth it, we saw fossils by the rock inside the cave. 

Tired because of caving, we decided to have our lunch near the cave. The place was simple and small, but it was decorated beautifully. Not only the decoration was beautiful, the scenery provided there was also mesmerizing. For our lunch we ordered veggie adobo, it was the best seller there. At the first sight, the appearance of the veggie adobo didn’t look like what a veggie meal should be. We thought that the waiter misunderstand about our order, but no! It was actually a veggie adobo. The appearance of the veggie adobo was similar to the beef one, but once you taste it you can tell the differences. The “meat” of veggie adobo is actually made of beans, but somehow with the magic touch of the chef the taste was really close to an actual meat. 

Done with our lunch, we went back to the restaurant near our inn to hear some information about coffee. The owner of the restaurant explained that there are three measurement which indicates whether a coffee is good or not, and they are aroma, fragrance and the last is flavor and coffee beans which processed by civet have all of these three measurements. But not all civet can produce good coffee beans; the best coffee beans can be obtained by the wild one, because they got their food directly from nature while the civets which were grown eat selected meal which might give different effect to digestion system of civet. We also got a chance to taste the civet coffee. For coffee enthusiasts, civet coffee might be one of many good coffees that can appeal you.

The moment we step out of the bus, the weather welcomed us by warming our body. Then we got a chance to have our breakfast in one of inns & restaurants there before our trip to Sagada, but before that, we got a chance to view the rice terrace from Banaue Viewpoints, it was mesmerizing! You can see how tall the rice terrace and how huge it was! Not only that, you might also see natives wearing their traditional attire and they were very friendly!

Done with the sightseeing at Banaue Viewpoints, we continued our journey to Sagada using jeepney. The trip took us about two to three hours, and choosing jeepney was not a bad choice! If you are bored with only sitting inside you can ask the driver to stop and go sit on top of the jeepney, but make sure to bring a jacket with you because the wind is quite strong and hold the handle tightly to make sure you’re safe, once you enter crowded area, you have to watch your head for the hanging cables. The trip on top of the jeepney is priceless! What else could beat the breeze of the wind while touring around the mountain? It’s like riding a horse with exception of different noise. After we arrived in the inn, we put pack some of necessities for trekking. The inn was very good and the view from the inn is beautiful, and also the inn provides warm shower. Then we set off to the restaurant for our lunch. The restaurant where we ate is famous for its coffee, especially the one which is processed by civet. After we satisfy our hunger with the delicious food, we began to trek.

We trekked the coffee trail there, where most of farmers pick up coffee beans. But it’s not only about coffee beans; you can also see the hanging coffin by the cliff. People believe that if the higher the coffin hanged, the closer the spirit of the dead to its creator. Then we continued our adventure of trekking the coffee beans trail, which involves going down the mountain. The soil is not as hard as the upper part of the mountain, it might be because it is more humid below since the sunlight is blocked by the trees and bushes. Trekking the coffee beans was not a big deal for us, since most of the path we took is not too steep and the weather was good also; well it really fits our expectation since Pat told us that the first trekking is going to be the easiest one. 

After trekking the coffee trail, some of us went to trek to the waterfall. It takes 30-40 minutes to reach the waterfall. The pathway we took was much more difficult than the coffee trail; the path was narrow and also much steeper. Although we can expect that the way to go back up is tiring, but seeing the waterfall was really worth it! The place around the waterfall is calm and beautiful, one of good place to relax with your friends and have a picnic. It was really an amazing place, you should not miss it.

After spending the whole afternoon trekking coffee trail and also went to the waterfalls, all were very tired and hungry. What could be better than a sweet treat? Not only it will boost your energy, but it will also boost your mood! For our dinner, we went to Sagada Lemon Pie House, with its specialty the lemon pie. The taste was really good, especially after doing a lot of trekking or any activities which drained your energy to the fullest, the sweet taste really replenish the energy and boosts our mood; the tired atmosphere became joyful while eating the lemon pie.

Beautiful isn’t it? Yes, this is a beach in Bataan, Philippines. We visited a turtle conservation where we could see the cute newborn turtles. And why were they in the conservation? It is because the turtles are being exploited. According to the narration of Kuya manolo (kuya means older brother calls) so, we have to preserve the turtles from extinction. Great! At night we did a night patrol, searching for turtle on the seaside. And in the morning, we released more babies into the sea. Hopefully, they can survive from the predators and able to return to the shore after nearly 20 years. Did you know, that no matter how far they go,  they will definitely come back again to the place of origin because of the magnet.

 In our spare time, peeping to the beautiful and clean beaches is amazing. We really feel at home and want to stay here. But unfortunately, few are aware of the importance of this place. Funds from the manager was obtained through volunteers, so there is still a perceived lack of facilities. But I think this is very interesting. You have to see and feel what we felt. Hopefully, the future of this place is good when I come back here and have more visitors who care about the environment.

The second day we visited Mt Samat Shrine. We imagined how the place looks like. After a long journey of almost 2 hours, we arrived in front of a building which contained a towering giant cross on the hill. We went in to visit the museum that shows all the current events of the second world war. Because bataan brings to mind the sound and the fury of battles of disorderly retreats of stubborn defenses, the bitternes of defeat, and the humiliation of Surender

 Final battle is on in 1945 after the war with Japan. Then we went into the building of the giant cross and use the elevator to reach the top. Wow, cool scenery. We could see the city, Manila, from above. I was very lucky to get here.

Las casas Filipinas de Acuzar

After visiting Mt Samat shrine, we drove to Las Casas de Acuzar Philipines. Previously, we thought we will visit historical places again. Yes, it is true because in Las casas de Acuzar philipine we can see the history through the buildings or traditional houses Philipines’ bahay na bato as I've seen in casa manila intramuros. But the difference is the houses here not only serve to witness the historical past, but also rented out to the public. Wow, very cool; various forms of home available. Although at a fantastic price, but reasonable. Imagine, we live in a traditional house like we are travelling back in time. Very interesting.

The last day in Bataan 

                  Kuya Manolo, is the head of Pawikan Conservation Center. He was once a poacher back in 1999, who then realized the importance of saving the baby turtles. As the breadwinner, he held a big responsibility to provide for his family, and poaching eggs of sea turtles was the only option for him. Poaching itself is actually quite profitable for people who lived by the beach, since the availability of the sea turtle eggs is seasonal; it becomes rare and the price rises as more demands came. Normally, one sea turtle egg is worth twice the price of chicken eggs. While at the same time, the sustaining support from the government was not enough for people to be able to survive these difficult circumstances. However, the government was able to give induction to the people about how important it is to stop the poaching of eggs, since it might endanger the population of sea turtles.

                  Many questions aroused after the government induction such as, “Why should we care about the sea turtles?”, “Why the life of sea turtles is more important compared to us?”, “Are there any other alternatives aside from being a poacher?” Even the government can’t provide the answers those questions, but one thing is for sure and that is for people to stop poaching the sea turtle eggs.  Amazingly, Kuya Manolo change the way he lived and he then started to conserve the endangered sea turtles and thus, Pawikan Conservation Center was established. Pawikan Conservation Center has no actual fixed income since it was only a voluntarily joint project of Kuya Manolo and the nearby citizens. Despite of this, Pawikan Conservation Center still tries its best to conserve sea turtles, and because of that spirit, Pawikan Conservation Center had released 6000 baby turtles to the open sea. After years of consistent hard work, Japan embassy agreed to fund the organization. Now the conservation center’s main income comes from its tourists.

I’ll be staying here for a month in various places like Manila, Pampanga, Bataan, Banaue, Palawan and Catanduanes. All thanks to cultureshockph and Route +63 for giving me the great opportunity to travel and see marvelous places I’ve never even imagined.

Our first destination is Manila, the capital city of the Philippines. Colonized for almost 300 years, Manila has been considered as one of the most historical places in the world! Manila itself comes from the word “may” which means “there is” or “here is” and “nila” which means a mangrove plant. According to the Tagalog locals – the major ethnic group in Philippines – they name their territories with anything that they saw, and at that time they chance on a “nila” or a mangrove plant along the banks of Pasig river­ – a river that surrounds Intramuros. 

We went to Intramuros, “Intra” happens to mean “inside”, while “Muros” means “walls” so Intramuros is a city inside walls. Manila was a port city back when the Spaniards colonized the Philippines. The walls were built to defend the city from possible outside threats. Inside Intramuros you can see a lot of historical places such as the Fort Santiago, Plaza Mayor or Plaza Roma, and the St. Agustin church. You can take the Kalesa for a tour around Intramuros. Kalesa is how you call a horse-carriage, which is the mode of transportation used in the Spanish Era.

Plaza Mayor, or Plaza Roma is the most political site during the time when Spain colonized the Philippines. Around Plaza Roma you can see the old Cathedral and the old governor building. One thing that definitely amazed me was the fact that the governor building was destroyed eight times (that’s a lot for sure). Then if you go right from Plaza Roma (facing the governor building), you will see the entrance to where one the Philippine hero, Jose Rizal, was imprisoned. Fort Santiago or Fuerte de Santiago in Spanish was built by the Spanish conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.  Inside the historical Fort Santiago, one can see where Jose Rizal held his final steps, to commemorate his act of valor before he was given the punishment of death by firing squad. Not only that, we can also see the clothes he wore and some historical things which was used during that era.

We also went to the old type of house in Manila called ‘Bahay na Bato’, which was purely made of rock.  It was the house of a rich merchant in back then and inside you can see a barong or a cloth which was made of pineapple leaf. When going there, make sure you check out the bedroom for it was really fascinating. The ceiling was alluringly painted and the walls were fully decorated. The kitchen was also brilliantly designed for cooking native staple foods, such as rice and coconut.

The oldest university in the Philippines was in Intramuros originally, but it was transferred and rebuilt to the other part of Manila. It was the University of Santo Tomas. University of Santo Tomas or UST for short is the oldest University in South East Asia. You should really try visiting their museum; they have various collections of arts, preserved animals, historical and catholic-related items.