Taroko Gorge, Hualien City, Taiwan

All pictures are here.

Richard Foster of Barking Deer is here.

The original plan was to visit Mount Yushan in Taiwan and do a couple of kick ass hikes there. Unfortunately though, our last minute planning meant that we weren’t able to secure permits on time. So, Richard Foster of http://barking-deer.com/ aka “the barking deer guy”, who was helping us with the Yushan permits, told us that we could instead visit Taroko Gorge near Hualien. We were initially disappointed to learn that our dream hike in Yushan ended up being reduced to something sounding like “Tomato Gorge” near Hualien but a quick Google on the name lifted our spirits. The images of Taroko Gorge on Google were stunning! Apparently, the place was occupied by the Japanese several years back, hence the Japanese sounding name.

Apr 28th 2011

Armed with a US visa and a sense of adventure, Romain and I set off to Kaohsiung in Taiwan. Well, actually, I was the one who was armed with the US visa, which apparently is a good enough substitute for a Taiwan visa but Romain, who is a French national, didn’t need a visa to visit Taiwan. Anyway, the plan was to land in Kaohsiung, then take the subway to Kaohsiung Main Station in order to find the train time table to Hualien for the next day. We were then supposed to find a place to stay the night in Kaohsiung.

However, China Airlines didn’t quite appreciate the subway timings in Kaohsiung and we ended up arriving 1 hour late at the airport at around 12am. So, we had to instead take a cab to Kaohsiung Main Station. But then again, the Main Station was also shut! Some cabbies outside the station were flocking around, waiting eagerly to drive us to some hotel. Unfortunately though, there was a big barrier between us and the cabbies. Not a physical barrier but a big LANGUAGE barrier! My Putonghua was sadly limited to “Bu Ji Tao Putonghua” (can’t speak Mandarin) which worked great but unfortunately wasn’t a problem-solver by any means. So, the cabbie then called some Taiwan Tourist Translation hotline (can you believe that?!) and bingo! We were communicating! I asked the translator to ask the cabbie when the morning train to Hualien would depart. 0712 came the answer! With that, we decided to go to a hostel to catch some ZZs for a few hours. We ended up choosing the same hostel where Romain stayed the first time he was in Kaohsiung.

This hostel was called Cozy Planet. I called the owner, a guy called Sam who speaks flawless English and he volunteered to pick us up from the station and drive us to his hostel. He even upgraded us to some special room which included a TV, a computer and … a lady who’d make just ANY man do the dishes.

Ok, fine.. a POSTER of the lady.. but it certainly had the same affect!

After sleeping for a mere 4 hours, we were up nice and early the next day, all set to board the 0712 train to Hualien. We took a morning walk to the station at 6am and bought tickets to Hualien City station which cost about 1400 bucks for two.

Apr 29th 2011

Riyang or Jeff?

After a 5-hour long journey, we were all set to meet with The Barking Deer guy’s contact in Hualien station. A guy named Riyang Su who lives in Taroko.
We got off the train and soon saw Riyang waiting in his white van and waving towards us. He seemed like a very friendly guy, more like a long lost friend than just a tour guide. He drove us to his house in Taroko in about 20 minutes.

The house was nice and big! We had two bathrooms and the first floor all to ourselves. I saw Riyang’s name cards everywhere. However, one version of it read “Riyang Su” (the guy we knew) and the other read “Jeff”. We suspected that there could be a fellow guide living in the same house or maybe it was Riyang’s son who was called Jeff. We were inquisitive enough to ask Riyang who Jeff was. “In Taiwan, this guy, that guy, every guy is Jeff” came the response! Ok, so it was a fake English name and quite a popular one in Taiwan! Well, Riyang aka Jeff speaks passable English but you’ve got to speak slowly, very slowly! Otherwise conversations will last longer than you originally intended!

Jeff’s house!

Romain and Jeff

We weren’t really sure what kind of adventure was awaiting us in the next couple of days but we soon realized that Riyang had everything set for us! He drove us to the Taroko Information Center on the same afternoon for our first glimpse of the gorge. It was beautiful! Truly, a geographical wonder!

Taroko has many, many beautiful trails. Hard ones and easy ones. At the tourist center, you can get a map of the place with the common trails on it. However, the timings on the trails are written more for grandmas and grandpas. If it says you need 4 hours to complete a trail, simply divide that by two! We did our first little walk/trail run that afternoon. A trail called the Shakadang trail.

Shakadang Trail

Shakadang Trail – along the gorge. Water is in a beautiful green color

We did a little something extra as well. We went up from about 100m to 850m hoping to find something special but only found a bunch of red flags before we ran out of time and had to return.

Gimme a minute – I am off to the Pacific Ocean

Once we were back at Jeff’s house, he gave us some surprising news. “My house only 5 minutes from Pacific Ocean”, he said. That gave us an idea. We knew he had some great bikes, so we rented two of them and off we went riding to the Pacific Ocean!

Gimme 5 minutes – will ride to the Pacific Ocean and back!

Swimming there was not an option though, as the ocean is over 100m deep, even in the parts closest to shore! But, riding a bicycle on a pavement right next to the ocean was an option and we did exactly that! It was truly an awesome feeling!

After riding for a while, we returned to Jeff’s home for a nutritious and sumptuous dinner in the evening, topped with Taiwan Beer. We were looking forward to more adventure in the following day.

Apr 30th 2011

Biking ain’t easy

We weren’t really sure what we were going to do until the very last minute. Not because there wasn’t sufficient planning but because we didn’t quite understand what Jeff was telling us! But, things became crystal clear when he got our bikes out in the morning, took a picture of us and said ‘bye bye’. Our adventure for the day began shortly thereafter! We had two awesome bikes, a map of Toroko Gorge with the names of several trails on it and plenty of energy and a sense of adventure!

Taroko Gorge stretches a long, long way. From Taroko station, the altitude gradually rises from 100m to 3000m (Wu Ling). At the 23km mark from Taroko station, there is a place called Tiansiang which is at about 450m in elevation. Many beautiful tunnels adorn the road to Tiansiang from Taroko town. Biking on this road is a surreal experience! And, I realized soon, that it can also be a very difficult experience!

Getting ready for a 50Km bike ride!

Biking along the road that hugs the coast of the gorge

Not sure how the Tour De France guys do it but my little elevation gain from 100m to 400m was far from easy! Romain was up ahead speeding away and I was struggling a good 100m behind! Also, my use of the bicycle gears weren’t exactly right. I learnt on the trip that the gear controls on the left side of the handle bar are different from the controls on the right!

Riding in the dark tunnels was especially a thrilling experience! Some of the tunnels were dimly lit and we felt like we were riding bicycles in some caves! There was also a section called Swallow Grotto where they were lending free helmets to everyone crossing that area as it was prone to falling rocks! Not sure how a helmet would really help when a boulder makes a hard landing on your head!

After a thrilling experience (and a lot of pain for me), we reached Tiansiang some two hours later after some hardcore pedaling for 23kms. From there the trail running began! Armed with a map, we attacked as many trails as possible in about half the time it said it would take on the map!

Baiyang Trail – we took an extended path to get there

Baiyang Trail – Picture Perfect! On the way to the waterfalls

Chilling on a suspension bridge

By 4pm, we had biked 50km, hiked/ran close to 20km and were still going strong! We returned to Jeff’s place after that for our next mini adventure. This was a van trip to the Pacific Ocean again. It was actually a viewpoint from where we could see a steep cliff precariously dropping straight into the Pacific Ocean.

Steep Cliff descending straight into the ocean

50Km of biking, 20km of hiking/running and now enjoying the Pacific Ocean!

When we were at the Pacific Ocean, we were watching a crane dumping a speedboat onto the water. This speedboat was then driven to a trawler for bringing back the catch of fish for the day.

Crane picking up the boat and placing it near the ocean

Boat bringing back the catch of fish for the day

This fish called Ma Yiu (or something similar) weighed over 50Kgs

The day ended with another great dinner and left us tired but longing for more adventure!

May 1st 2011

Time for the high altitude stuff!

We had covered a lot of the relatively low altitude terrain (<900m) and so it was time to climb! Jeff drove us to a place called Wu Ling in the morning. Wu Ling is over 80km away from Taroko town and about 3000m in height. It took us 3 hours to reach the place. The temperature plummeted from 27 degrees to 6 degrees in a span of two hours. It was also drizzling which made it feel even colder.

Our plan for the day was to summit Hehuan Shan (3158m) and after that to climb Cilan North Peak (3600m). There was one big catch though - we didn't have the required permits to climb either mountain! But then, as they say, "where there's a will, there's a way!"

“Korea First, Hong Kong Next”

Jeff’s plan was to have us sneak behind a group that had the permits! This was a group from Korea and Jeff warned us to maintain radio silence and follow the Koreans. “Korea first, Hong Kong next”, he emphasized. So, if the permit guys were to check the Korean group, we were to pretend to be a part of that group. This group was 100% Korean. Romain and I were clearly the odd ones out! Unless we had a face mask on, there was no real point in maintaining any radio silence!! The Korean guys were dressed in multiple layers of clothing heavy enough to cause a crater in the ground. Contrastingly, Romain and I were wearing shorts!

As we started making our way to Hehuan Shan, we discovered that “Korea first, Hong Kong next” meant we wouldn’t reach the peak for several hours! And this was a climb from 3000m (Wu Ling) to the summit (3158m!) What would have taken Romain and I a mere 45 minutes looked like it would end up taking a couple of hours! So, we decided to shed our temporary Korean looks and return to trail running! In 40 minutes, we were at the summit!

Wu Ling – 3000m

The path to Hehuan Shan – 3158m

The heavily dressed and super slow Korean bunch

On the peak of Hehuan Shan

Luckily, we didn’t have any permit issues. Our plan then was to descend to the start of the trail (near Wu Ling) and take another trail to Cilan North Peak (3600m). On the way back down, we saw the Korean bunch still struggling to climb up to Hehuan Shan. We wished them luck and started heading towards the second trail for Cilan North Peak!

Our initial impression was that it would be an easy climb as we were to start at 3000m and climb up to 3600m (only a 600m difference) but this was far from reality!! What we didn’t know was that we were heading for a mammoth knee-and-calf-busting hike covering close to 1500m in total elevation through all kinds of slippery slopes!

The trail from Wu Ling to Cilan North Peak passed through three cabins (these were tents for temporary stops). The first cabin was at 2500m! So, the trail went down from Wu Ling (3000m) to 2500m (the first cabin). The descent was gradual and easy. This didn’t take us much time to cover.

The trail was also immensely beautiful. The colors on either side of the trail were spectacular and the vegetation and feel were typical of high altitude places. Tall trees, unpredictable weather, mist rising from the clouds and that fragrance of fresh mountain air! I felt couple of years younger by just taking a deep breath and admiring the landscape!

On the way to Cilan North Peak, from Wu Ling to the first cabin

After reaching the first cabin at 2500m, there was a 300m climb to the next cabin which was at 2800m. This was no ordinary climb, there were ropes, ladders and some big boulders in places that we had to negotiate.

At the 2800m cabin, they checked for entry permits that were needed to climb to Cilan North Peak. We didn’t have them! After some innocent pleading and reassurance that we were experienced mountain climbers, they let us continue. We took photos with the permit guys – a family that lived in this cabin. The guy there spoke great English.

Second cabin, these guys live here and check for permits!

Then came a climb that I won’t forget for a long, long time! This was by far the hardest climb I have done in quite some time. The altitude went up from 2800 to 3530 and it was one hell of a steep climb. 90 degree climbs using ropes while battling fatigue generated by a combination of hard exercise and breathlessness caused by the relatively higher altitude. Because of recent rains, the slope at several parts were so wet and slippery that it felt like the legs weren’t moving at all, despite all the effort pumped into making them move. We eventually reached another rocky slope amidst inclement weather and bad visibility. We had to take a break to refuel.

Taking a much needed break at 3500m

We could not see much beyond a certain point and it seemed like we had missed some turn at the 3530m mark which was to lead to the summit of Cilan North Peak. We were supposed to reach 3600m but instead we ended up seeing a huge drop ahead. It looked like we had missed the turn to the summit. Realizing that visibility was low and that we were running out of time (Jeff was waiting for us in Wu Ling), we had to turn back.

The peak to the left is at 3600m, that’s Cilan North Peak

We reached Wu Ling at about 4.30pm. Jeff was worried. The Korean bunch made it down from Hehuan Shan in a couple of hours and told him that we had taken off without them! They asked him to call the police! He breathed a sigh of relief after seeing us and congratulated us on summiting two difficult peaks within a span of a couple of hours!

Returning after summiting Cilan Peak (well, almost!)

In hindsight, we did feel a little bad because, in truth, we were 70m short of the summit! But, we decided that this would count nonetheless!

Wu Ling

After taking more pictures, we headed back to Taroko town. I was freezing as it was raining and my tee shirt was wet from a combination of both sweat and rain. My socks were also wet and the body had taken quite a beating from all that climbing.

The descent to Taroko town took us to a spot at 1500m where we quite literally were just above the clouds!

Above the clouds! Is this Cloud 9?

We returned to Jeff’s place late at night for some much needed rest!

May 2nd 2011

This awesome adventure looked liked it would soon come to an end as it was time to head back to the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong.

However, before that, we had one more 3-hour trail run left in the morning! This one was from a point called Swallow Grotto (before Tiansiang) to almost the start of Taroko Gorge. The beauty of this trail was that it rested precariously at about 700m above the gorge and followed the path of the gorge for the most part. One slip and we would have fallen all the way down to the gorge (and would have broken a couple of bones in the process). This is probably why this trail also required a special permit.

Hi Hamish, Hi Corby

Jeff didn’t know our official names. So, he decided to use some random names for the permits. So, today, I was called Corby Ganesh and Romain was called Hamish Black!

Hamish Black and Corby Ganesh!

Start of the trail

Trail runs at an elevation of about 700m above the gorge

You slip and you faaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!

View of the gorge from the trail

The trail finished at a suspension bridge which connected the mountain to the road.

Suspension bridge

As we were taking photos on this bridge, we saw dozens of tourists walking out of big Volvo buses. It looked like their biggest exercise for the day was to negotiate the steep stairs on their way down from the bus! Romain and I were wishing that we would never end up like them!

Well, all good things eventually come to an end and so did that trail and the trip to Taiwan! We returned to Jeff’s place after this for a shower before boarding the 5-hour train back to Kaohsiung.

In the night, we flew back to Hong Kong.

Summary

This was an A+ trip! 50km of biking, 60km of hiking/running and an altitude climb at 3560m! Couldn’t have asked for more! Riyang Su aka Jeff was a fantastic guide and it felt like we were visiting some friend who knew exactly what we liked and was facilitating that.

Taroko is a place to revisit! We have plans of doing a longish trek from Wu Ling (3000m) to all the way to Toroko Gorge (300m) next time around! Maybe preceded by a nice and long bike ride from Taroko town to Wu Ling (100m to 3000m).

Nature is beautiful!

Tags: Kaohsiung, Shakadang Trail, Taiwan, Taroko Gorge, Wu Ling

Travelogue: 2200+km motorcycle road trip in Northeastern India.
August 2010

All photos are here (feel free to use them as you please). GPS plots and GPX files are also available. If you need them please drop me a line.

The plan

After having done the Manali – Leh trip (North India) two times, we thought it was time to give the Northeastern part of India and Bhutan a visit on a motorbike. I had read so many travel blogs about the beauty of Sikkim, Darjeeling and India’s neighboring country, Bhutan.

So, the plan was this. I would fly into Calcutta in West Bengal, India from Hong Kong and my friend Prashant would bring his own motorbike from Mumbai to Calutta by train. I would be renting a motorbike in Calcutta and we would start driving from there.

The execution:

Booking a plane ticket to Calcutta was simple enough. I used www.makemytrip.com which I would highly recommend. Very easy to use website for good deals. I got a ticket from HK – Bang Kok – Calcutta for HKD 3800.

The motorbike rental turned out to be a much greater challenge though. Having scoured the internet and having called many, many shops, we realized 2-3 days before the trip that getting a rental motorbike in Calcutta would be extremely difficult. The backup plan was to buy a second hand bike for 10 days and sell it back to the same shop we would buy it from for a discounted price. We weren’t sure if we could pull this off.

And this is what really happened:

(more…)

Tags: Bhutan, Calcutta, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Vacation

The idea is to start in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, get a motorbike there and then drive to Bhutan and back.

The drive is intended to last well over 1500Kms [Calcutta -> Darjeeling -> Sikkim -> Bhutan and back]

Steps in the process:

a) Ticket from Hong Kong to Calcutta (cheapest one I could find was a HKD 3800 ticket. HK -> Bangkok (Thai Airways) -> Calcutta (Kingfisher Airlines)

b) Get a motorbike in Calcutta

Now, the status is that I don’t think getting a bike in Calcutta is going to be easy. Internet searches have turned up dry and the plan is to hit a few mechanic shops in Calcutta and try our luck there.

There is a saying: where is is money, there is a way. Idea is to find the way while spending as little money as possible!

Itinerary and details to follow.

Tags: Bhutan, Kolkatta, Vacation

The Philippines Adventure (Pulag, Sagada, Banaue)

Photos are here.

So, in order to take a break from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, we decided to take a short, relatively cheap and scenic-beauty filled trip to the Philippines. The plan was to cover, in a span of 6 days, Mount Pulag (2922m), Sagada, Banaue and visit a friend’s place in Laguna (3hrs from Manila).

This being the New Year break in 2009, several would-be participants canceled, leaving only leader Liz and I to enjoy the natural beauty Philippines that has to offer.

I decided to check out the flight fares for a late night flight on 29th December 2009 and an early return on 5th Jan 2010. Several options showed on Zuji.com and I instinctively picked the cheapest one that read “Direct Air” aka “Hong Kong Express”. Ticket cost HKD 1920 per person. I bought them. Then it was time to apply for a Philippines visa which cost a whopping HKD 320 (almost 20% of the flight fare!)

29th December 2009
I wasn’t quite sure about this budget carrier and wasn’t expecting a great deal of service.

A rather angry looking check-in counter lady, ominously named “Sinny” processed our tickets. Surprisingly, there was no hitch. We soon got our boarding passes and went to board HK Express which was to depart at 2130 HKT. We soon discovered that Sinny had actually done us a favor by putting us near the emergency exit seats which have about 30% more legroom than standard coach! What’s even cooler about these seats is that the guys in the row immediately in front are forbidden from reclining their seats, otherwise the emergency exits could be blocked! That means even more legroom and no disturbance from any snob in front. The flight was clean, seats were great and the flight attendants even managed to fix me something vegetarian without any prior special request. I was impressed.

We reached Nino Acquino at 2330 HKT. We then took a cab to Pasai City Victory Liner bus terminus (about 300 pesos) and bought seats on the next available bus to Baguio city (30th December 2009 0330 HKT). We had a couple of hours to kill and that was spent listening to FM radio being played on a loud speaker in the bus terminus. (Philippines has some excellent FM stations that play contemporary music unlike Hong Kong).

Me in Manila

30th December 2009
At 0330 HKT we left for Baguio city and tried to sleep on the bus wherever possible! Bus was full because a lot of were returning home to spend New Year’s in their native places.

We reached Baguio city at about 0930 hrs. Baguio city is a pretty congested, polluted city with many, many people. It’s the equivalent of a town in southern Guangdong in China.

The plan for the day was to go to Mount Pulag (2922m, second highest in the Philippines). In order to get there, one has to go to Kabayan (3 hrs from Baguio city) and register at the Visitor’s center. From there, there’s a further 2 hours’ drive to the Ranger station where the hike to Pulag would begin. The best way is to charter a Jeepney (Philippines’ elongated, gaudy, bright mode of transportation). In order to reduce cost, one would need to find other backpackers and pretty much split the cost.

Liz then contacted Roger (+63 92080 68656 – if you are going to call him, let him know you were referred by Liza in Hong Kong and no, we don’t get a commission). Roger has Jeepneys available for chartering. We tried calling a couple of times and he eventually answered his phone and told us that he had an immediately available Jeepney called “Lost In Love” and he would let us charter it at a special cost of 6000 pesos. We accepted. Not sure about the “In-Love” part but the driver of the Lost-In-Love Jeepney was surely lost! He didn’t show up until about an hour had gone by. But, finally we did see his bright colored Lost-In-Love Jeepney and were on our way to the Visitor’s centre. Emily (I think that’s her name) at the Visitor’s centre greeted us and made us watch a 15-minute presentation on Mt. Pulag. I was actually impressed by the presentation. Some old, professorial looking guy talks about the varied vegetation on Pulag and what it means to the environment, etc, etc. Even after a sleepless night the previous day, I actually found this presentation rather exciting! The video ends with instructions on what not to do on Pulag (create a fire, create noise and pretty much anything you would avoid doing on the MTR!)

Lost-In-Love Jeepney

Emily and the presentation

Emily charged me USD 15 (foreigner fee) but promised that the extra discriminatory fee (it’s 100 pesos for locals) would be used towards the conservation of Pulag! We paid an additional 150 pesos camping fee, 50 pesos entrance fee and were to pay a registered guide 500 pesos for the hike to the summit).

From the visitor’s centre, we had a 2-hour bumpy ride to the Ranger station. And when I say “bumpy”, I SO, SO MUCH mean it! Imagine riding a wild horse on an uneven, rocky terrain. This is much worse! Sleeping on the Jeepney is out of the question as you are bound to be rocked from one end to another! I was scared on several occasions and felt like the Jeepney could topple over, but my fears were allayed when each time I looked at the front towards the dashboard, I saw a skull that had blinking lights for eyes and the words “No Fear” written on it in bold! It all made sense.

The ‘No Fear’ skull on the dashboard

The Ranger Station

We were at the Ranger station at about 1500 hrs and our guide Ramon was all set for the hike. We left our heavier backpacks there and carried lighter backpacks with some winter clothing, a tent and some power bars. The trek to the camping spot was to take 3 hours. The scenery soon started to look absolutely stunning. Rice terraces, valleys, grasslands started to fill our horizons and we started to climb from about 2000m (Ranger station) to 2600m (camping spot). We trekked on a trail that boasted verdant vegetation and was filled with several special species of trees that gave the air a rich, natural, soothing fragrance. Carpets of moss, several inches thick, covered the trees giving it a soft greenish, carpet-like texture. Trees rose tall, vying for sunlight. Different species of ferns, unique to this region filled the canopy.

Vegetation

We came across two spots where natural stream water flowed freely and we helped ourselves to a tasting. At about 1700 hrs, we were at the camp site. Ramon helped us with the tent and the temperature started to dip. We both were tired from all the travel and lack of sleep and were looking forward to getting a good night’s rest in nature’s backyard.

Ramon and Liza setting up the tent

After consuming our dinner (several power bars), we tried to sleep at about 1800 hrs. I noticed my legs starting to shiver from the cold 30 minutes later. 10 more minutes and my whole body was shivering! I got up and put on my shoes! Then slept again. Woke up after an hour. Put on two blankets (I took the one from Hong Kong express upon Liza’s advice which came in handy). Slept again. Woke up after an hour. Put on another jumper (my last spare item of clothing) and slept again. It was ICE cold. I continued to get up as each hour passed by and had to do some Yoga to keep warm. My fingers went numb and I had to rub them against my jacket to revive them! Liza’s experience was also similarly icy cold! The tent had a cold layer of frost on it!

The cold tent

Full moon

31st December 2009
Although we were not very inclined to, we dared to step out of the tent at 0430 hrs to make the trek to the summit (1.5 hrs). Having covered myself up like a man in Siberia, I ventured out and got Ramon to wake up.

Dressed up but still cold!

The cold notwithstanding, it was majestically serene and beautiful outside. The mountain ranges and peaks rose mightily in the background and a clear moonlit sky combined with the elevation made all the stars look close by. The setting was majestic.

Sunrise on Pulag

Ramon was up and we reluctantly made the effort to climb to the peak (2922m) to catch the sunrise. With each passing step, the thrill and adrenaline took the place of a tired mind (and cold body) and the breathtaking scenery started to emerge as dawn broke. At 0600 HKT we were at the summit, rising above the clouds, surrounded by undulating and pristine mountains. What a beauty that was! We also had company on the summit from local tourists.

Mount Pulag summit

The trek back down was equally amazing. The ridges of the mountain were well above the clouds giving the whole place a heavenly beauty. This is why Pulag has the nickname stairways to heaven!

We trekked back down and reached the Ranger station at about 1200 hrs and made our way back to the polluted Baguio city on our waiting Lost-In-Love Jeepney.

We reached Baguio city at about 1500 hrs on New Year’s Eve. Our next stop was Sagada. We discovered much to our horror that all buses would be suspended until Jan 2nd. That gave us no choice but to hire a taxi to Sagada. We offered a waiting guy at the bus-stop a free lift which he gracefully accepted. The cab cost us 4000 pesos.

The cab

It so happened that the gentleman we offered the lift to was from Sagada and had connections there! He returned the favor by exchanging a flurry of SMSes with his connections in Sagada and got us a bed-and-breakfast place for 300 pesos per night, per head. In addition to that, he also made arrangements for a guide to take us around Sagada on Jan 1st which would normally be a non-working day.

We caught our first glimpse of Sagada in the dark at about 2000 hrs – it was such a welcome relief from the congested Baguio city! The air was fresh and rice farms filled with water for plantation filled either side of the road.

Fireworks and crackers lit the air above as we set foot in Sagada territory. It struck us then that we would be celebrating the New Year with the Taoli family (our host at the bed-and-breakfast place and our travel companion’s cousin).

Fireworks at the Taolis

1st January 2010

Happy New Year!

So, after a much needed dump and shower, we were celebrating the arrival of 2010 with Cherry and Francis Taoli and their 3 young children. Cherry is a wonderful host and their house is clean, cozy and comfortable. She taught me a lot about Sagada.

The Taolis

Sagada is a small place and the primary occupation for inhabitants there is farming. Sagada was not occupied by the Spanish but has a lot of American missionaries’ influence and is predominantly Anglican. Schools teach in English which is why pretty much everyone there speaks flawless English. Crime rate is more or less zero. Temperature varies from 6 degrees in winter to about 20-something degrees in summer. Although a lot of people there grow vegetables, menus are mostly dominated by meat since the culture calls for eating meat, especially during important occasions.

Cherry and her husband also gave me a “Ingot” (Philippino) name. Given my handsome and charming looks, they decided to name me after one of their smart family members “Tinacba”. So, if you are planning to stay at Cherry’s place (which I highly recommend), let her know that Tinacba from Sagada recommended her to you! Cherry’s number is +63 9202439680.

The New Year custom in the Philippines is that whatever you do on the 1st will be amplified for the rest of the year. For instance, if you have good food on the 1st, you will have good food for the rest of the year. So, at 0000 hrs, we had our hot cup of chocolate drink, salad and the rest of the folks had pork and dog meat! I hope to have lots of chocolate drink the rest of this year!

We woke up at 0700 hrs and at about 0800 hrs, our guide Randy called for us. Randy Diligen was introduced to us by Cherry and he’s a well built, athletic ex cop who speaks flawless English. No one here works on New Year’s day but Randy made an exception for us. I would highly recommend him if you want to get the best out of your trip to Sagada. His number is +63 9106346855 and let him know that you were referred by Tinacba from Sagada.

We went on a trek around Sagada in the morning. Sagada soon proved itself to be the highlight of our trip. The scenic beauty doesn’t cease to amaze. Lush green rice fields, vegetable gardens and beautiful species of vegetation fill the trails. Randy educated us on the different attractions in Sagada. He took us to the Ambacaon viewpoint from where we could see the Northern most tip of the Philippines. Then we were on our way to Bomodok waterfalls. The trail from Ambacaon is amazingly beautiful. Raspberries, blueberries and blackberries grow here in abundance. We were like little kids in a candy store as we plucked these fresh and sweet raspberries from the trees and devoured them!

Sagada

Ambacaon viewpoint

Eating raspberries

Also, we saw a carnivorous plant called the Pitcher plant. It has flowers that look like pitchers and contain water in them. As insects innocently land upon it mistaking it for nectar, the plant seals the flowers and traps and drowns the poor insects which are then eaten. Talk about cunning deceit!

Pitcher plant

This trail is full of beauty and we were mesmerized by it. We saw several picnic spots as well where many in this closely knit community were celebrating New Years. One spot was situated next to a strange river which was yellow in color. Apparently, it also turns bright blue and green during other months of the year. We were told that the reason for this is some kind of special soil that carries unique sediments from the streams.

Yellow river

We then saw what looked like a mine and some stone crushing machines in operation. Randy confirmed that it was a gold mine. Soon as I heard that, I couldn’t but help looking for gold (literally) and went on a stone searching spree. I decided to take a gold-filled stone by hook or crook but alas, it was too heavy to carry!

Gold mine

Hunting for gold

Too heavy to carry!

After several futile attempts at discovering gold, we finally gave up and continued walking. The sun rays were reflected beautifully from the water-filled rice plantations, giving the farmlands a golden, glittering beauty (or maybe I had too much of that gold on my mind!)

The sound of gushing streams of water soon echoed in the air and fine particles of cooler moisture gently hit our faces, intensifying in strength as we got closer. The beautiful Bomodok waterfalls was soon in sight. The particles of water that did hit me were enough to convince me of the chillness of the water and deterred me from taking a dip in it! But, I still had a gala time taking scenic photos of this beauty.

Bomodok waterfalls

The day ended at about 1800 hrs after yet another scenic walk to Cherry’s place. This was definitely one of the most picturesque treks I have had!

2nd January 2010

Unesco regards Sagada’s caves as the 8th natural wonder of the world. So, it was the job of an expert (i.e. me) to verify this.

At about 0800 hrs, Randy led us to Sagada’s caves. We were told that we could get wet and that we would be exploring two different caves for about 4-5 hours. I have been to caves in China before and thought I knew what to expect.

We entered the caves and Randy brought with him a kerosene lamp so we could see more clearly. Flashlights do not provide enough lighting to appreciate the internal beauty.

The entrance

Navigating through the maze that lay underneath the ground was just simply mind-boggling. These caves are not for the faint of heart! One has to use ropes to negotiate arduous and slippery climbs. The boulders are massive and slippery. There are several swimming pools inside. Some over 6 feet deep! There are secret tunnels. We had to wade through water 4-feet deep (and cold) to get from one end to another. The ripples of water, natural springs, stalactites, stalagmites, rock formations will all leave you with amazement and will renew your respect for nature. I was enthralled to say the least and captivated by the beauty of these caves. On one occasion, Randy had to help me with a climb that I failed two times on. Several pathways were so narrow that I had to try some special yoga posture to try and sneak through.

These caves also tell a story and a pornographic story at that! (No, I am not making this up). Ok, I am going to try my best to “reproduce” this story but much of what I am going to tell you will require wild imagination! But before you go way too naughty in your thoughts, I have to regretfully say that I will be toning down much of the story so that this tip report gets a “Universal” rating!

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there once lived a king and a queen in a palace.

The palace

The king and queen had a pet horse and a pet frog and a pet elephant.

I am riding on the frog

The queen, her majesty

The horse

The elephant

They also had a pet turtle but a bad dinosaur stepped on the turtle and smashed it into two.

Turtle smashed into two

Dinosaur leg

During one romantic night, the king and queen were in their palace and the mood was perfect. Romance beckoned. The king then poured his queen a cup of soothing tea from his gigantic teapot as they had a candle light dinner. They had chocolate cake soon afterward.

Candle light dinner

The giant teapot

Chocolate cake

The king and queen were then listening to Bon Jovi’s Bed of Roses. King then decided that it was time for some action.

9 months later, the gigantic queen then gave birth.

Queen giving birth

And then they lived happily ever after!

(There’s also the formation which is supposed to look like kingly genitals but out of respect for the king and manhood in general, I refused to take a photograph of that!)

So, that’s the story! The rock formations were just incredible!

In the afternoon, we absorbed some of Sagada’s culture by visiting a school, a church and valley called Echo Valley. This valley has rocks that rise to the heights of a 300m hill and coffins are hung from it. Some Sagada tribes believe in life after death and instead of burying coffins, they believe that the coffins need fresh air and sunlight and are therefore hung from cliffs. This place thus has the name Hanging Coffins.

Church

Hanging Coffins

We visited a mini waterfalls in the evening before returning to Cherry’s place for packing! We were going to be off the next day, destination being Banaue before returning to Manila.

Mini waterfalls trek

Finishing the day with red horse beer

3rd January 2010

We woke up at 0500 hrs and said our goodbyes to the Taolis with a heavy heart. Sagada had been the highlight of our trip.

Next destination was Banaue and we rode a Jeepney “top” class to first get to Bontoc. We then continued our “high” class ride from Bontoc to Banaue on a big bus. Of course, when I say “top” and “high”, I mean them literally, i.e. on top of the Jeepney and on top of the bus! Our travel companions in this special class included a drunkard, several school girls and some gung ho, macho men who jumped around from one “seat” to another like monkeys in a zoo.

We reached Banaue at about 1100 hrs and soon discovered that all buses to Manila that evening were full. We then decided to go to San Jose (no, not in the US of A but there’s one in the Philippines). San Jose is on the way to Manila, so our plan was to take a 1800 hrs bus to San Jose and make our way to Manila from there.

In the meantime, we visited several viewpoints in Banaue to see the world famous rice terraces. My impression was that Banaue, although pretty in some ways, is nothing compared to Sagada. Sagada set the benchmark quite high. Anyway, the pictures of rice terraces were quite good and Liza later led a hike to Puitan village which was described to contain “a magnificent line of Ifugao huts on mountain slopes surrounded with stonewalls” by the tourist board. Well, I can tell you, there’s quite some exaggeration there! Ifugao is a Northern province and this place is nothing more than a small village with some pyramid-like huts. I did enjoy playing with the children though and the air was much better than Banaue town which is crowded with tourists. One can however see a different kind of natural beauty there and I mean girls from various parts of the world who are there for backpacking! Speaking of which, the Poitan girls also seem to have somewhat of an obsession with their hair! They appear to go the extra mile to keep it dark, silky and smooth. Each time a village girl passed me by on the trail, I could smell a whole lot of shampoo!

Rice Terraces

Puitan Village

Before leaving Banaue, we had a great dinner at some western cafe. I tried the Philippines version of Lat Chiu Cheung (chilli) which is HOT!

Me trying the chilli

Yup I am buying a pig (no, I am not the pig you smart ass!)

In my secret life, this is my second job – a tricycle driver!

The rest of the day was spent traveling to Jojo’s house (our friend) who lives in Laguna which is 100km from Manilla.

4th January 2010
We reached Jojo’s house at about 0600 hrs to a warm welcome! Laguna is full of greenery and has a calming effect which you discover as soon as you enter.

Jojo is an avid hiker and adventurer who has traveled to several countries for trekking and backpacking. His backyard in Laguna is full of beautiful mountains, yet it is only 2 hrs away from the crowded Manila.

At Jojo’s house

Laguna

After a sumptuous breakfast at his place with his wife Deb, Jojo took us on a cultural tour of Laguna where we saw a 19th century church. Somehow, the conversation shifted to coconuts and I expressed my desire for a drink of coconut juice. Couple of minutes later, I found myself in Jojo’s aunt’s village house. Her backyard is a nature trip on its own! Several fruits and vegetables were growing along with many tall coconut trees! Jojo summoned some dude who sported a small pony tail and showed up with a long knife almost the size of a machete.

This dude climbed up the coconut tree without any kind of assistance and at an effortless pace that made it seem like he was waking on flat land! 3 thuds were soon heard and I enjoyed my first natural coconut drink in the Philippines!

Jojo’s aunt’s house

Jojo’s aunt – she is 91 and speaks excellent English

Jojo’s aunt’s backyard

All about the coconut

Anything a pony tail dude can do, I can do better

… but I can only get this far!

Hmmm… Refreshing!

We then went to climb one of Jojo’s backyard mountains called Tayak. It was a nice and easy 1.5 hr climb (about 800m) which gave us some glorious views of Laguna and the lakes and mountains that surrounded it.

Tayak – route and summit photos

In the evening, we drove motorcycles along a scenic route to Jojo’s farms by the lake. I loved driving on this route. It was amazing. The sunset at the lake was equally spectacular and we also did some rafting.

Jojo’s lakeside plantation

The trip and day ended with me proving my stunning vocals at a “Videoke” (Philippines version of Karaoke but has a video, not only audio). Needless to say, everyone there was quite impressed with my performance. Watch out Jon Bonjovi!

Late at 0030 hrs, we said goodbye to our lovely hosts and made our way to the airport.

5th January 2010
We got our beloved HK Express flight back to Hong Kong at 0800 hrs to pick up the hustle and bustle of the city from where we left of!

This Philippines adventure has been fantastic. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone interested in exploring some of the key natural wonders of the many that Philippines has to offer. Special thanks to Liz for organizing and leading this trip. Also, big thank you to Jojo and Deb for putting up with us and the excellent day out.

Corrections:
1) Unesco regards Banaue’s rice terraces as the 8th wonder of the world, not the Sagada caves. I guess they haven’t seen the caves yet because boy, are they wrong! Banaue is nothing compared to Sagada

Tags: Laguna, Mountain Province, Philippines, Pulag, Sagada

All pictures here.

June 25th 2009:

Took a cheap Air India flight (HKD 4,100) to Delhi. They were playing some movie from like 50 years back but luckily I had my Bloomberg magazine for in-flight entertainment. The flight attendants were pretty much old ladies and guys on the fringe of retiring.

Reached New Delhi at 10PM and transferred to the domestic terminal at 1AM.

June 26th 2009:
The flight we were supposed to take to Kulu was called MDLR Airlines. Completely unheard of! I was preparing myself for the strong possibility that the flight may never take off! But, much to my surprise, it took off at 7.10AM (more or less on time) and the economy seats were fantastic! The flight attendants looked as pretty as some Bollywood actresses and they even served a quick in-flight snack! The snack was tasty. At the end, they handed out some leaflet promoting MDLR’s new casino in Goa and a free admission to it! (not for me, I don’t like contributing to casino revenues).

We reached Kulu airport at 10AM and decided to avoid a INR1000 bucker taxi ride to Manali, instead choosing what we thought would be a quick 30-minute bus ride to Manali. The weather was hot (30 degrees) and the bus-stop turned out to be more than 10 minutes away. We eventually boarded a bus that started out empty but soon passengers were packed inside like sardines. I could smell sweaty armpits and a frequent and generous fart every now and then from a passenger with apparent bowel problems. Two grueling hours later, we reached Manali.

Lunch was at Swamiji South Indian restaurant and our bike hunting mission began soon after. Hardev motors, Anu Autoworks and the other bike shops did not have any bikes. Disappointed, we decided to come up with a Plan B and headed over to a juice bar. As we casually asked the “bartender” if he knew a bike shop, he immediately directed us to a buddy and our mission caught traction. We were soon acquainted with a dude called Dev who owned Bajaj Autoworks 50/50 with the mechanic called Ashok. The deal was this:

2 Pulsars @ INR 700 a day
2 Yamahas @ INR 500 a day (1 for a mechanic who was to accompany us all the way. The bike shop guy highly advised this in case we ended up with mechanical faults on the way. Roads are said to be in a very, very bad shape with some snowfall somewhere along the way).
700 a day salary for the mechanic.

(more…)

Tags: Kargil, Ladhakh, Leh, Manali, Nubra, Pang, Pangong Tso, Sarchu, Vacation