✧ Series Note – Banaue–Sagada–Benguet 2015 ✧
Some journeys change your map; others change your soul.
This three-day passage through the highlands left footprints not just on trails, but on memory.
📅 Travel Dates: May 01-03, 2015

Sagada had been whispering to me for years—through stories of hanging coffins, pine-scented air, and caves that dared you to crawl through darkness. In 2015, I finally answered that call. As a Pinoy backpacker, I’ve always chased adrenaline and authenticity. This trip gave me both—and more.

🗺️ The Journey Begins

We left Manila at 11 PM on April 30, bound for Sagada via the Manila–Banaue–Bontoc–Sagada route. Caught in a midnight traffic jam, we reached Banaue around 7 AM.

We arrived in Banaue around 7 AM for a quick breakfast, restroom breaks, and a bit of souvenir shopping. For more details on this leg of the journey, check out my Banaue: Where the Mountains Remember

Breakfast at Garden Snack House—overlooking the emerald folds of the Banaue Rice Terraces—was a comforting pause. Red rice, longganisa, and a ₱20 cup of coffee never tasted so grounding. Banaue, the gateway to the terraces etched into our ₱20 bill, felt like home. But Sagada was still calling.

🌲 Arrival in Sagada

By 11 AM, we arrived in Sagada. It felt foreign yet familiar—like stepping into a postcard from a colder, quieter world. The pine trees towered like sentinels, and the houses beneath them looked like alpine cabins from a dream. Elizabeth Guesthouse became our base, tucked just a few meters from the town’s heartbeat.

🕯️Cave Connection: Lumiang to Sumaguing

That afternoon, we braved the famed Cave Connection: Lumiang to Sumaguing. It was my first spelunking experience, and I won’t lie—my inner claustrophobe was screaming. But I made it. We all did.

Lumiang greeted us with ancient coffins stacked solemnly at its mouth—a burial tradition that felt sacred and surreal. Inside, we squeezed through rock crevices, guided only by gas lamps and the calm voices of our local guides (whose names I regret not asking).

Sumaguing, the Big Cave, was a cathedral of stone. Formations like the Queen, the King’s Curtain, and the Dinosaur’s Feet loomed in the shadows. We emerged hours later, scraped, tired, and triumphant.

We emerged from Sumaguing Cave after sunset, tired but triumphant. It was a new kind of adventure for me—one that tested my limits and reminded me what I was capable of. I won’t deny the claustrophobia that crept in, but I made it. We all did. No one backed out. And that, in itself, was a quiet victory.

That night, dinner was a blur. Sleep came easy. Our bodies were sore, but our spirits were lit. Sagada had tested us—and gifted us stories we’d carry for years.

✍️ Final Note

Adventure has always called to me as a backpacker. Sagada, with its caves, pine forests, and quiet mystique, was a long-standing dream—and in 2015, I answered it. I didn’t just tick off a bucket list item. I faced something that scared me. There’s a claustrophobic in me, but that day—I made it.