Day 731 - Hanging coffins

We woke up this morning to the sunlight shining through our windows, and after brekky set off for a day exploring this awesome mountain area. Sagada is set amongst the Cordeillera Mountain Range and is famous for many things, including the limestone caves and the coffins that hang from their cliffs. The area's notorious for intercepting pathways that often send tourists in the wrong direct and it's recommended to take a guide. But Adam was adamant we didn't need one, so the 3 of us set off with Adam as our trusty guide!

After a stroll past St Marys Church and the cemetery behind, we arrived at a lookout that gave us views out over the stunning valleys that house the many villages in the region. From here we scrambled down limestone formations and slipped along the paths littered with pine needles, to the valley floor. Here we were privileged enough to be able to see the hanging coffins of Echo Valley, and while Liv and Rita enjoyed them from a distance, Adam went up to the base of the cliff. At the bottom a group of men were preparing the cliff for a new coffin, and were more than happy to chat away with Adam and tell him more about the coffins and the area. At first Adam thought some of the small coffins were for children, but the men informed him that elderly people left the world in the fetal position - much the same as how you arrive from the womb. They also pointed us in the direction of the cliff where the oldest coffins in the regions are. In the photo below on the left hand side is where the coffins you see above are located - just to put into perspective their position in this world and the next.
After this we continued along the valley floor following a path that meandered next to the river, only to come to a huge landslide which meant we had to retrace our steps or else brave the raging waters inside the Latang Cave.

We stopped of at Sagada Weaving to watch the women making beautiful crafts in the local designs of the regions - we even did some shopping for ourselves.

From here we found the path leading through the golden rice terraces and getting us up, close and personal with the workers harvesting the rice. No machines in sight - just back breaking hard labour. This path ended up taking us to the river, so while Adam balanced skilfully on the slippery rocks, Liv and Rita just jumped in to wade their way across the waist-deep water. Soon we were at Bokong Waterfall where we found lots of local kids and teenagers enjoying the deep water. Adam ran across to the other side for photos with the guys!!Some of the bravest boys even dived from the top of the falls into the pool at the bottom - and of course Adam couldn't resist a jump either!! We took a different route back into town, that led us up a steep cliff and then back along a quiet backroad, full of kids and dogs playing.

Just before the rain came we had a hot shower and ate some food on our balcony overlooking the misty mountains in the distance.

Adlibing it with Guide Adam.