A series of 9 B/W as well as one colored photos (okay, I really can’t resist the colors but might as well post it other than the doutone version) taken during my travel to Sagada last February. Except for the opening photo, as above, these are not your typical Sagada shots of caves, waterfalls and coffins as what one goes there to see and read in websites and guidebooks.
Fungitox. Smash. Clear Out Plus. Noblite. Bida.
Melody Duo. Trineb. Rover. Flash. Siga.
Supremo. Bugbuster. Vondozeb. Lorsban. Attack.
Bazooka. Magnum. Acrobat. Shotgun. Giant.
Rimon. Cartap. Parafungus.
Traveling on the back of the Cordilleras along Halsema Highway and you can’t help but notice several stickers and banners posted along the way that tells one that this is the salad bowl of the country but sustained by a host of toxic cocktails.
But nothing beats the dried squid smell of chicken dung used as fertilizers that hits your face while enjoying the scenery.
The highest point of the Philippine highway system is located at a bend at Cattubo, Atok, Benguet along the Halsema Highway between Sagada and Baguio. With just a cement marker and a viewdeck as the landmark and if your not attentive or falls asleep during the trip, you can easily miss this one and wonder where in the world is Highest Point.
A breathtaking view spread out for you at the viewdeck. I was just speechless admiring this scenery.
(This is a montage of several photos that I took)
“A photographer with remarkable foresight, Masferre understood that change is inevitable. So, with his camera, his eye and his heart, he kept the Cordillera’s proud, ancient soul visible and timeless amidst the changes.”
- Felice Sta. Maria, from Eduardo Masferre’s Timeless Images of Cordillera Life Ways as printed at the back of the book.
This book showcases photographs that Eduardo Masferre took from 1936 – 1954 in different parts of the Cordillera, in effect, recording the different facets of his mother’s people’s lives, ways, culture and rituals. The 50 photos are grouped into 5 sections: agriculture, village life, rituals and portraits and shows a very rare image that now is very much seldom seen, or might have forever changed with the encroachment of modern technology and outside influence.
Available at the Masferre Country Inn and Restaurant for P1,500 in Sagada. Pricey but definitely worth it as the 1988 coffee table book is out of print.
Echo Valley, just below the town’s cemetery is a fascinating place to go. Not only are there caves, but the major drawer there are the hanging coffins suspended a few feet from the ground as well as burial caves.
A portion of the famous hanging coffins showing the “death chair.” In previous times, the tribespeople usually place their dead in these chairs for a few weeks before being transferred to the coffins. With the influence of Christianity, these practices dwindled but is still being observed in some remote villages.
A few meters before reaching the hanging coffins, one can observe this cave a hundred feet from the ground stacked with coffins.
Just above the big cave a little further past the hanging coffins, this burial cave can easily be missed if one is not observant enough. Its a feat to bring these caskets into this cave considering that it was located very high from the ground.
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