Sagada Rice Terraces

"They rise up to the heavens... giant steps leading to the sky..."

Legend has it that the Igorot god, Kabunyan/Lumaig used these steps to visit his people on earth. Indeed, the rice terraces carved out of the mountains by Igorot ancestors early in this millennium are simply awesome to behold. Dubbed as the eighth wonder of the world, these rice terraces were built with advance engineering skills and are scientifically, a way of maximizing farm space in the mountainous Cordillera region and environmentally preventing erosion.

Scattered all over the Cordilleras, the most famous of these terraces are found in neighboring Banaue, Ifugao. Sagada has its own terraces - lesser known but equally as spectacular! Whereas the walls of Banaue's terraces are of compacted earth, Sagada's walls are small rocks laboriously piled one on top of the other. One sees the same though... giant steps carved by hand out of whole mountainsides provide for terrific viewing!

SAGADA RICE TERRACES PICTURES:

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Sagada Hanging Coffins

On the way to Ambasing, one of Sagada's 19 barangays, limestone karts cliffs dotted with pine trees dominate the landscape as seen in the this photograph. On these cliffs, perched precariously on a wedge, four or five coffins are arranged in a pile. The oldest one is more than a century old; the latest addition was put into place decades ago. It belonged to a lady from Demang (another Sagada barangay) who happens to be a great-aunt of this webmaster.

In similar places around Sagada including the Echo Valley, one may find these "hanging" coffins. They are usually in groups, some neatly piled, others randomly stacked. All found in places seemingly impossible to reach. Places that can be touched only by mother nature.

These hanging coffins will be there for as long as the elements would allow them. They're precious tokens from a fabled past... adding mystic to an already mystifying place.

SAGADA HANGING COFFINS PICTURES:



Hanging Coffins at Sagada's Echo Valley

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Sagada Limestone Caves

Underneath Sagada is a network of limestone caves and subterranean streams. These caves were created by water eroding whole limestone mountains over a period spanning thousands of years. Some caves are dry, as if the underground rivers that have created them disappeared. However, these caves are dry simply because the water has found another channel by seeping through the mountain and emptying through numerous small watery caves.

SUMAGING, aptly nicknamed as the Big Cave, was created by water erosion. Guides equipped with lanterns and ropes are necessary companions for exploring this cave as well as other big caves found in Southern Sagada. Visitors never fail to be awed by Sumaging's sheer size, fascinating chambers and rock formations, some of which are dubbed as the "King's Curtain", "Rice Granary", "Cauliflower", "Dancing Hall", etc...; all for their larger than life resemblances of the real things. A part of Sumaging known as "The Tunnel" consists of a series of tiny passages requiring limbo-like movements (read as c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g) to pass through.

During pre-Christian Sagada, these caves served as burial grounds for the locals. With the dead poised in the fetal position encased in a coffin carved out of enormous pine tree trunks, Sagada Igorots of yore may have though these caves to provide the final touch in resembling the environment of a mother's womb... a suitable final resting place.

SAGADA CAVE PICTURES:



A frog formation inside Sumaging cave.



This formation is called the "pregnant woman" for obvious reasons.



Beautiful shapes and colors deep inside Sumaging cave.

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Sagada Waterfalls

There are two prominent waterfalls in Sagada; the smaller but older BOKONG situated in the outskirts of the central barangay of Patay, and the more majestic but younger BOMOD-OK, located in the northern barangay of Bangaan.

Reaching Bomod-ok (locally known as the Big Falls) takes a relatively taxing four-hour effort from town for the hiker but, the scenery is more than worth the effort. At the foot of the Big Falls is a pool of crystal clear water, where a swim is enough to refresh a weary hiker. Intrepid enough visitors may trace where the water comes from starting at the top of the waterfalls and they would be lead by the stream trail to a nice picnic grove.

Equally as exciting is Bokong whose pool at the foot of the waterfalls is deeper though smaller than Bomod-ok's. The pool basin as well as the precipice is carved out of solid rock, the result of the continuous beating by the water for centuries as it persistently pushed its way downstream. Bokong's beauty is complimented by the splendor of the rice terraces looming along the footpath to the waterfalls - a perfect harmony of natural and man-made wonders.

Sagada Waterfalls Pictures:



At the smaller Bokong waterfalls. There's a 20-foot deep circular pool at the bottom of the falls.



Spray at the bottom of the Sagada Bomod-ok waterfall.



A view of the Bomod-ok waterfall from a distance.

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Sagada Can't Miss Sites - Part 2

This is the second post that continues my list of 9 can’t-miss sites for any Sagada visitor. This list is in just one webpage in the sagada-igorot.com website, but I’m splitting it into 2 blog posts. This second post describes 5 places – a couple of waterfalls, a burial cave, the tallest mountain in Sagada, a lake, and a souvenir shop.

BOKONG & BOMOD-OK Waterfalls



Follow the underground river (in picture) in Latang upstream leading to Bokong waterfall. There are three natural diving spots - the highest of which require for the diver to run and jump far enough over some bushes to be able to reach the pool below. The photo on the left is the underground river going to Bokong. Photo Credit – Tiff, Marge, Happy and Cindy.
Other Can't Miss Waterfalls: Bomod-ok (the Big Falls)

Burial Cave



Centuries old coffins stacked against each other and filling the cave up to its ceiling. Some coffins are as short as 3 feet, since pre-Christian Sagada Igorots were curled up into a fetal position before being placed in their coffins. Photo Credit – Mr. Kent Sinkey.

Mount AMPAKAW



The tallest mountain in Sagada; this is an ideal picnic place during the months of April and May when the summer sun is pleasant and the blackberries are ripe for picking. Photo Credit – Tiff, Marge, Happy and Cindy.

LAKE DANUM



On the outskirts of Sagada, on the road going to the neighboring town of Besao, you can take a glimpse of this dying lake. (Danum in Kankana-ey means "water"). Further down the road, a daughter lake is springing up with fresher and clearer waters (in picture). Photo Credit – Kent Sinkey.

SAGADA WEAVING



Sagada Weaving (in picture) definitely has the best handwoven souvenirs in town! It is one of Sagada's biggest employers and one can visit the weaving looms to view how intricate the weavers go about in producing the handwoven raw materials.

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