Sore necks and butts were forgotten the moment we realized that we were actually well within the town proper. It can't be denied though that we were looking forward to taking a hot shower and sleeping in a comfortable bed.
So glad Jo-ann insisted we stay at Rock Inn. They've been there before and she liked the place. Me? I've quite fallen in love with it at first sight.
I've been told that most lodgings in Sagada were found in the middle of town, fronting the market and everything else. Accessible as it is, I was not drawn to the potential clamor of those places. Rock Inn is found in Batalao, a couple of kilometers away from the center. You'd find it right before you hit St. Joseph's Dormitory coming from Bontoc. The hotel is 200 meters away from the main road, so you'd have no problem with noisy jeepneys and trucks. Yes, it helps to have a vehicle going to the place, but I wouldn't mind walking to get there.
A rough road will lead you down to the lodging inn. The first thing you'll see would be the orchards surrounding the area. Then you'd see the Inn, the walls of which are painted with local symbols of lizards, and well, that's either a carabao or a deer. Sorry. My symbology IQ isn't exceptionally sharp. :)
The trees in the orchard are heavily laden with citrus, pears and persimmons. (O diba? I have no idea there were persimmons in the Philippines!)
The Inn was locked with all its lights off when we got there, and for a minute I was scared they were actually closed. I had to remind myself that I was just talking to the proprietor though and that assured me I wasn't hallucinating that I've actually made reservations. Amazing then, when we were greeted by three dogs: a white Japanese Spitz, a huge golden-retriever-looking dog and a Spot-the-Dog lookalike (Later, I learned their names were Fluffy, Ham Lin and Persimmon). It was dusk and it was really becoming colder. Our few minutes wait led us to explore the grounds where we found this camp fire set-up.
A few minutes later, a caretaker showed up and lit the fire (it was my first time to see it done since I'm no girl scout). Ah, warmth!
Not very long afterwards, Bang (the proprietor's son) showed up and welcomed us. We were shown our rooms and we were amazed to find that we would not be roughing it through our stay there. There were comfortable beds, hot and cold shower, good ol' thick blankets and an over-all cozy feeling. After a while, we got hungry and went down to the Inn Cafe (they call it Bodega Cafe) and had our fill of dinner. Their dishes are simple but great. And man, Sagada's red rice is the best! The vegetable dishes were exceptionally good too; but seeing how every leafy green living thing thrives well around the area, it did not surprise us at all.
Before dinner, the boys started watching Kris Aquino in Deal or No Deal ( a shared TV is found in the cafe). But after the meal, the girls took over the remote (specifically, Joann and Rose) to watch the last episode of that Piolo Pascual telenovela. Bang sat down with us the first few minutes, which we found very welcoming. After a while, I had to leave though because:
a. I am generally not overfond of the soap opera; and
b. I am so dead tired.
The next day we met Ms. Fely (Bang's Mom) and we found her to be just as nice as her son. She's soft spoken where Bang is witty. It helped that we were the only guests during our stay there; they got to spend a little time with us.
Every spare minute we had after the School Inaugurationwas spent exploring. (
We were there because we were inaugurating Sagada National High School's Computer Lab. Smart Communiations provided the internet connection, and the project was implemented by PBSP. Naturally, I had to coordinate the event.)
Not exactly hiker material, but we loved taking those walks.
Rose Bueno in a pseudo-contemplative mode. Pang-friendster daw.
The bulol idol found in front of the Inn.
The dude's so likeable, Rose and JL got quite close with him.
We weren't actually picking those... promise. (Aherm.)
Everyone was in an MTV-mode, and did full emoting amongst the rocks near the cliff.
I'm sure there were loads of other places to explore. But we had limited time and we did have work to do. Just more reasons to come back then, and I'll make sure we stay at Rock Inn again. No. Other. Place. Will. Do.
Contact Rock Inn and Cafe:
rockfarm_sagada@yahoo.com
