100 Notes on the Batad-Sagada-Kabayan Trip Part 2

March 20
1. Woke up to rain. May have been raining for 2 hours already. Got on 5 am bus.
2. Halsema highway is totally enveloped in fog and clouds. The cold is biting. Slept the entire way.
3. Set down at Slaughterhouse Terminal just in time for the bus. Got last 2 seats. J and I thank our lucky stars. Photo finish style is beginning to be our pattern.
4. At Hour 3, got woken up by J. Landslide ahead. 2 backhoes try to clear the debris. People seem calm.
5. Mini landslide cracks windows of 1 Volvo. Operator is hit by a rock and is spirited away. People on bus give tentative shrieks of concern. None follow.
6. Rain continues. Another mini landslide happens. J and I hurriedly grab our packs and decide to hike and hitch back to Baguio. Assessment : unsafe, soil unstable, rocks may still fall, not enough tire traction due to slippery road, secondary road reduced to a fourth of its original size in one part due to the landslide.
7. J and I disembark and the people on the bus seem more surprised at what we were doing.
8. Walking on the road. Conditions : foggy, drizzling, threat of imminent landslide strong, 3 hours by transport from Baguio, 1 hour by transport to Ambuklao, nearest town. Emotinal state : fairly coherent and logical.
9. Hitched with transport service of company responsible for paving the road. Not in safe environs as : 1. blasting agents are right under our seats , 2. drum of petrol is swishing on the other end. 3. warning sticker of “May explode” by the door, not very comforting. Emotional state : J ; silent by logical , me : silent and having tremendous flights of thoughts.
10. Set down at Ambuklao. Rain is stronger. Met Teacher P. Brought to barangay hall to beg barangay captain to let us stay the night at the barangay hall. No transport back to Baguio except for the return bus from Kabayan, also blocked by the same landslide.
11. Drenched by rain, waiting for captain. Local official talks and seems to dismiss the landslide. Emotional state : J : logical but beginning to give way, plays pingpong to while away time . and me: calm but beginning to be disappointed.
12. Caught bus to Baguio. Landslide apparently cleared.
13. Bus halts. Truck bars the road, may have slipped due to the wet conditions. Stalled for an hour on site as they try to clear it away. Another bus attemps to pursue the very narrow opening, almost slips off the road. Frightened passengers jump off the bus and waited by the nearby gas station.
14. Strategized with J. May be another scenario where we have to get off bus and make the rest of the way back to Baguio by foot and hitching.
15. Road is cleared. Thick fog another challenge. Visibility is reduced to the next 5 meters.
16. Back at Baguio by nightfall. Grumpy mood. Walked to Session road to find accommodation, amidst people who hogged both left and right sides of the road, and those who kept their heads down texting while walking. Wanted to hit them on the head with J’s walking stick.
17. Devoured an entire roasted chicken between me and J. Drowned sorrows in a 1.5 liter of Royal. Decided we hated Baguio. Rationalized the wisdom of our decision to head back to Baguio instead of waiting out the landslide. Mental note : will not return to Baguio unless forced.

March 21
18. Packed and ready for trip back to Manila. J takes a 30-minute shower.
19. Slow breakfast. Will try to catch 10 am bus to Manila at the latest.
20. J ferrets the disappointment out of me. Official statement : “Not that I’m regretting given the terrifying and frightening conditions yesterday, but I do feel unaccomplished because of that one place we never got to.”
21. J declares : You know, we can make the 10 am Kabayan bus if we leave now.
22. My reply: Okay, but if miss that one, we are definitely returning to Manila today.
23. Ran out of Zola, ran into hotel, ran out of hotel, taxied to terminal, got on 10 am bus. Noticed J does not have the walking stick bought from Sagada.
24. Horrifying bus ride. Secondary road after paved portions scary. Marked spot of landslide, relieved when we passed it and saw the full extent of the damage. Bus went slowly at the site, as the road caved and was only a fraction of it original width.
25. Road proportions are horrendous. Can fit only one bus. A few inches away from the tires, nothing lies to stop momentum. Only a ravine waits.
26. Prompted to get off bus having read the sign Coop Lodge, our designated place to stay. Hurriedly chucked out of bus and disembarked. Total bus ride supposed to be 6 hours. We were at hour 5.
27. Checked into Coop Lodge. Found out Kabayan is not only the name of a town, it is also the name of a barangay within the town, 45 minutes away from Coop Lodge. Thanked lucky stars we were awake to start reading the signboards, or else……
28. Walked to Kabayan National Museum. Pretty and homey structure. Curator cannot be found. J follows a trail behind, hoping to know where the Tinongchol Burial Rock is. Warned against going on his own, as LP specifically says going to burial caves without an Ibaloi guide is a cultural taboo. J flashes a defiant and evil smile.
29. Left J as he was decided to follow the trail. Returned to museum and saw curator smoking. Thought he was J. Igloso, as per LP. Found out from him that J.I. had passed away.
30. Saw mummy in fetal position. Saw tattoos on her body, some teeth intact. Mummy is resting inside her original pine wood coffin. Browsed through items of the tribe.
31. J catches up. We both are amazed at the content of the pint-sized museum. Decided not to trek to the burial caves as a sign of respect…and well, lack of time.
March 22
32. Agenda : hike to Opdas burial cave at 7 am to be ready for 10 am bus back to Baguio. Bus will only pass by Coop Lodge, can’t miss.
33. Put on sunblock extensively in preparation for the hike.
34. Followed directions, found out we had to walk through some private backyard. Passed by a house and met by a feisty fluffly white dog.
35. House member meets us, hands us key to the cave.
36. Found out cave was right after some downhill steps. Not very far from Coop Lodge, barely 10 minutes.
37. Found hundreds of bones and skulls and some coffins. Birds flew in and out of the cave, as J and I spontaneously dock for cover every time. Carbon dating of the bones peg them to be around 500 years old.
38. On the walk back, J notices a suspended rock similar to Opdas. Upon approach, saw a coffin hidden under.
39. Waited for 10 am bus. Miscalcualted the day before, thinking that the terminal was in the same barangay as us. 10 am bus from Brgy. Kabayan should pass by around 10:45 -11:00 am. Waited by the store next door. No bus.
40. Former Kabayan Mayor Mr. Merino strikes up a conversation.
41. Conversation finds : he had the museum and municipal hall built ; founded and ran the successful cooperative that manages the lodge and other businesses ; directly related to the last person mummified in 1924 ; related to the person inside the coffin that J found earlier ; he had written a book on mummies ; has extensive knowledge on mummies and their locations.
42. Bus passes by at about 12 nn. Ride to Baguio uneventful, save for my “Strictly no liquids” rule as I could not bear to use the rudimentary bathrooms as the rest stops.
43. Back to Baguio. Decided to try hotel found through internet with a very nice picture.
44. Found the hotel. J checks the room. J calls for me in a stern voice. J states “It stinks” soon as I get in.
45. Ran out of hotel. Decided to go back to previous hotel we stayed in.
46. Am still not completely happy with the level of accommodations here. But all I needed is a bed to rest.

March 23
47. Walked to terminal slowly as tickets were bought night before. No photo finish this time.
48. Trip uneventful, except for when J got scared going through the tunnel, reminiscent of the tunnel Princess Di’s car crashed. Saw a crashed car being towed just as bus exits the tunnel.
49. Back in Manila. Mental notes : Return to Sagada for GOOD food, soon. Return to Batad for time off, soon. Return to Kabayan : undecided for now, must wait till fear of landslides disappear.
50. Assessment : Loved the trip. Met people, experienced some unusual things, confirmed traveling temperament. Refreshed anew. Perspectives widened. Loved the trip.