BEAUTIFUL SAGADA, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE

My good friend and officemate, Abel Diaz was kind enough to give me pictures of his trek with his friends in Sagada which is a 5th class municipality in the province of Mountain Province, Philippines. It is located 275 kilometers north of Manila,the capital of the Philippines and is 140 kilometers from Baguio which is the Philippines’s summer capital.

Sagada is famous for its Sumaguing and Lumiang Caves, Bomod-ok and Bokong Falls, Rice terraces, Echo Valley, Kiltepan Tower, Underground River, Lake Danum, Hanging Coffins.

Sagada is first became known for its beautiful rice terraces. But catching up and increasing in popularity as its primary destination for both local and foreign tourists is the Sagada Hanging Coffins.

Because of the ancestral belief of the Sagada natives’ forefathers about reincarnation and the importance of keeping a departed loved-ones’ body sacred, for he/she will need it once they have crossed-over to the afterlife, they have chosen to keep their departed loved-ones’ bodies in coffins hanging on the mountain’s edges to keep it untouched and safe.

This is a picture of the directions the tourist guides made to direct the location of tourist spots in the area. Like any place we travel and explore, we should always maintain the proper behavior as a sign of respect to the place and the people who inhabit on it.

Here is another perspective of the Sagada Hanging Coffins from a more elevated location. It is really amazing to imaging how creative the Sagada natives are. As shown here, most of the coffins are on the edges of the mountain and elevated from the ground.

So the next time you are considering to travel and explore a new place, you might want to consider Sagada, Mountain Province.