t was walking towards Sumaging when I realized how beautiful Sagada is. It might just be a little town but it is nestled in the mountains strategically that all the natural wonders are so accessible in all corners of the town. On the way to the cave you could see a beautiful landscape and terraces on the right side while walking on a pine tree filled road. After 45 minutes of walking, we finally reached the mouth of the cave. Ezra, Ferrari and his Son, equipped with powerful gas lamps were the ones to guide us inside the cave.
Me at Cave Mouth
Sumaging (also known as the Latipan, Marcos or Big Cave) is a huge cave with a large dome opening. The sound of fluttering bats can be heard above but can hardly be seen. From the entrance, there's a big drop that needed to be traversed carefully as the stones were quite slippery. There were other groups inside the cave at that time so once in a while we have to stay on the side and wait for them to pass as they were on their way out. There came a point where we have to remove our sandals or shoes and walk barefoot as it has much better traction on the slippery rocks. For 2 hours we explored this popular cave, there were really small crevices that require you to hug to the rocks in able to pass. There were a lot of amazing rock formations inside Sumaging, among is "the Curtain" and the "Pregnant Madonna", other stalactites and stalagmite formation fares well. Add to this are some challenging trails like. It's actually my first time to do a Spelunking activity. Though it is quite interesting, I still prefer the comfort of the mountain scenes and the open skies more than the unknown darkness and rock forms inside caves.
Stacked Coffins
We were still on our toes after our Sumaging exploration. So on our way back we still have the time to go down Lumiang cave and look at the stacked coffins. It was an interesting cave with an eerie atmosphere. There were a number of wooden coffins stacked up together on the side of the wall, you are even allowed to look at the bones inside but not to steal or take one. What was more intriguing was how they were able to stack those coffins on the very edge of the top wall and the ceiling.
Darkness already caught us on our way back. The Valdez couple and I went to the small public market to have a nice cheap dinner. After which, we retired to our rooms at the Greenhouse Inn and rest so we could have energy for a whole day exploration next day.
