For all her natural beauty and mass media appeal, the one thing that you can never take away from Sagada – and her neighboring towns, if I might add, if only you’d care to venture out of its borders – is tradition. To this day, despite modernization easing its way in none too gracefully, the place is enveloped with it that you can practically smell it in the air when you step out of your ride. You breathe in, and just know, you are somewhere steeped in tradition.
And nothing screams “tradition” in Sagada than the well-known “Hanging Coffins”, the most notable of which are the ones at the Echo Valley. The entrance of Echo Valley is just a stone’s throw away from the St. Mary’s Church, so you can hit both places at one go.
So, let’s go!
An Organized Hike
A visit to the Echo Valley is already covered by the registration you made at the Tourism Office, but note that what you paid for was only for the environmental fee. A guide is required to explore the Echo Valley, and it’s up to you how much you want to give the guide afterwards. Looking for a guide? There are accredited guides at the entrance and one will be assigned to you when you enter.
I remember when we first visited here 10 years ago. It was not yet as organized as it is. We just alit from our vehicle, followed a path – there weren’t even paved trails back then – and found ourselves looking out over the valley.
Of course, it’s been 10 years, and tourism found its way here, so everything had to be regulated, which is for the better, in my opinion, seeing as the place was not overrun with lost and wandering tourists.
If you know next to nothing about the Igorot culture, particularly of the Mountain Provinces, having a guide is sure to be a huge help. Their knowledge as locals will give you an understanding about the culture and traditions of this place.
There’s a bit of a walk on a dirt road, paved in some parts, under the canopy of tall trees, mostly pine. Then you’d arrive at a crossroads where you’d go up a hill that happens to be a packed cemetery.
This is the cemetery of the town, where the locals bury their dead. So yes, that answers the question whether or not they all hang the coffins of their dead. Some do that still, but others are practicing this more modern approach now.
One of the newer and more noticeable ones was this tomb of PO3 Noel Golocan, a son of Sagada, and one of the SAF 44 that perished during the ill-fated Mamasapano Siege.
You’d have to walk across the cemetery, trying to walk around several tombs on the ground with just markers as indications, to reach the side of the hill where the trek down to the hanging coffins is located.
Once you reach the stone path that is also supported with iron rails, you will be rewarded a view of the other side of the valley.
Personally, to call it a valley is a bit of a stretch for me, but maybe because I’m used to vast and wide valleys. This was slightly larger than a crevasse, at least.
But hey, it’s called a Valley, so let’s not refute that, okay?
And try shouting. Your voice will bounce back at you. Hence, the name Echo Valley.
As you walk down, try to peer out through the foliage to the wall of the mountain on the other side and you’d be sure to catch a glimpse of several hanging coffins.
Unlike my first foray in these parts, there are tourist-friendlier trails and pathways now, although most parts are still too steep for the elderly to navigate. But if you are up for some steep ascents and descents, then you’d best continue following the guide as he takes you around.
There are also hand rails now, which makes the walk safer than I remember.
Just when you thought the path has become easier when you reach the bottom of the trail, it then picks up to climb on to the opposite mountain. Sure, the stairs are largely concrete and stone, but the rise between each tread is soooo high, those with not-too-long legs are bound to have a difficult time walking up.
I know I did. I got winded too easily. The people that constructed the stairs must’ve been giants. With long legs. It is at this point where some of the other tourists turned back because it means that, going back means descending steep and very low steps. Ouch.
The last stop on this exploration are the Hanging Coffins, which is the main reason people go through the up-and-dip path prior.
Native coffins – nothing gilded or anything fancy like that – are nailed on to the rock face of this cliff, presumably by stone nails. But some, we noticed, were reinforced with steel/metal pipes, to secure them in place.
From afar, some of the coffins had the names of the people on them. Although not as widely practiced as before, this is still observed from time to time, which explains why some of the coffins were relatively new, or look like they’ve been there only for several years.
This spot is strategic, as well, because it is located where the coffins are, to a certain extent, protected from the harsh elements such as the rain or the scorching heat of the sun.
There was a bit of a hushed feeling in the air, and if I were overly superstitious, I’d say it’s because of the spirits of the dead linger here.
That’s not totally impossible, by the way.
But personally, I thought there was no trace of malice in the air, that even if the spirits were looking down at us, there was no malevolence or intent to do harm. But that’s just me and what my not-so-sharp senses tell me.
I did notice, though, that there weren’t as many of the hanging coffins as I’d thought, or as the many media features in the past made it out to be. Presumably, the families of the bereaved sometimes opted to take down the coffins and give their dead the conventional burial, which means the coffins don’t really stay there forever.
The trek back to where we came from, in front of St. Mary’s, was certainly more exhausting than when we went there, because it meant a continuous climb. Tourist traffic is quite heavy, so many times you’d have to stop and make way for people you meet on the narrow trail or, if you’re exhausted, slink a bit to the side to let the ones behind you go on ahead, lest you’d hold them up.
This was, after all, Saturday morning, already, which means the weekend warriors from the lowlands have come up to Sagada to explore her beauty. So if you want to have the place to yourself, or at least, to only a few of you, you should try coming here on a weekday.
Echo Valley is one of the must-see destinations in Sagada, and it makes sense to include it in your itinerary, since it is in the center of town, just several meters away from the Church and the Tourism Center.
But if you are one of those that have a weak stomach for anything concerning the dead, you’d probably opt to skip this. Still, the little bit of education on this side of the culture of the Igorots of Sagada is worth looking into, because it is a tradition that also permeates that of the other tribes in the Cordilleras, albeit with slight modifications.
Yes, educate thyself.
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