We were dreading the hike back to 'saddle point'. Our muscles haven't recovered from yesterday's abuse and the massage last night did little to relieve the ache. See where I'm pointing at? We hiked all the way up to ride the jeep going to Banaue-Sagada.
Along the way, we found stops that sold "I Survived Batad" t-shirts and felt the need to express ourselves with those shirts. In a way, we survived Batad in different and numerous aspects. Aside from the hiking and climbing, we also survived the cold 'tabo' showers, the lack of cell site and charging outlets for our gadgets and the limited amenities that was available to us during our stay. For us urbanites, that itself was a challenge.
We finally arrived at 'saddle point' after an hour and a half. It took us another 4 hours of rough roads and zigzags before we finally reached Sagada. When we got to St Joseph's, the first thing I checked was the toilet. It takes deprivation to really appreciate something that we have. Thanks to the cold shower in Batad, I now have a new found appreciation for heated baths. lol
We all found St. Joseph's to be really nice. Aside from this, its location is also very accessible to the municipal hall and other restaurants in the area. The resthouse's restaurant was under renovation so we had to go somewhere else for our late lunch.
Since it was late, we decided to go to Lake Danum to catch the sunset. Many have hailed this place a must see, but we were quite disappointed. Firstly, there was no sunset because it was drizzling. Second, the brown and muddy water looked more like a pond than a lake. There wasn't much too see so we were back at St. Joseph's in less than an hour.
We then visited St. Mary's Church which was right across St. Joseph's. The church garden was abundant with flowers and the pine tress surrounding the area gave the place a rustic feel.
While the boys went back to St. Joseph's, the girls went to the "Log Cabin" to make dinner reservations for the night. There was no one at the place when we got there. The doors leading to the kitchen were open so I had to announce, "Tao po. Tao po." By the door we found a sign that said, "Attention. This kitchen will be closed today on account of illness. I'm sick of cooking." :-) We thought we won't be able to make reservations as the place was often fully booked. Luckily, someone came when we were about to leave so we were able to make a down payment for our reservations.
Normally, the Log Cabin only serve dinner buffets every Saturday night when the chef gets fresh produce at the Saturday morning market. So, it was more of an exception that we were having buffet on a Friday night. The place was full and we even saw some walk-in customers who were turned away because they were not accommodating anyone anymore. The food lived up to our expectations and more. For P290 per person, there were soup, salad, main dish, desserts and coffee/tea. I especially liked the wild mushroom soup and even had 2 servings of it. The ambiance at the log cabin is country and very cozy. It feels just like having dinner at a friend's home. I highly recommend it to anyone who's visiting Sagada - you don't want to miss this. Just make sure to make reservations in advance. It was definitely a nice ending to hectic day. :-)
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