From Manila to the Mountains

Arriving in the remote mountain village of Sagada

The overnight bus from Manila to Bontoc is not just packed with people. Oh no. God forbid there should be a single cubic centimeter of unfilled space for, say, your legs. It is also jam-packed with bags, boxes and packages. The concept of an “aisle” becomes meaningless. Everyone please sit down and now let’s see how many UPS packages we can fit in here.

The bus takes thirteen hours to reach the mountain town of Bontoc. Which in dog years translates to about two and a half weeks, and I’m going to have to wait for my butt cheeks to reincarnate to see what their take was. Another really cool feature is that you board the bus at sea level sweating up a storm, and exit in the mountains huddled inside your wool sweater and fleece—I’m sure this is a terrific progression for both health and personal hygiene.

On the map, the road to Bontoc looks like a highway. It even has a respectable highway number: 4. Using this clever numbering system, I’m going to assign a small, worn-down gravel road in Iowa the number 2.

Muddy dirt roads, switchbacks, rough going and massive drop-offs. Plus wonderfully inspiring signs helpfully written in English, such as: “One lane ahead due to road erosion.” Let me translate that for you in case a horrific visual didn’t immediately pop into your mind: that means that half the road already fell down the mountain, probably under the weight of a bus just like this one, so please drive on the other half while it’s still here and good luck.

Have I mentioned that at one point we had to wait for a couple guys to clear the road of a fallen tree with chainsaws?

On the plus side, the steep mountains and issues with erosion are also the reason for the spectacular rice field terraces of Banaue, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. We didn’t stop for pictures, but driving through some of this scenery certainly was awe-inspiring.

Which all eventually brought me to the remote mountain town of Sagada, home of the hanging coffins.