Last Christmas, we went up to the mountains to experience the cold weather in Sagada. Usually, we'd be in Baguio before 6 am whether to catch the first Lizardo bus leaving for the mountain province or not. That time though, for some reason, we were late. After we had parked the car at Camp John Hay, we proceeded to the Bus station only to be told that the first bus had left, the 2nd bus was full and the 3rd was leaving at 10 am. Naturally, we didn't like leaving at 10 am. So, I suggested we take the GL trip to Bontoc. I had read about some people taking the detour without any problems because it only took 1 jeepney ride to Sagada anyway. My family, having had no other choice, hesitantly agreed.
It was our first time at Bontoc. We reached the place around 2 pm and asked some people a place where we could have lunch. There wasn't any decent place to take lunch at during the whole 6 hour trip from Baguio. The old guys we inquired from directed us to this resto located by the market which name eludes me as of the moment. Tired and hungry, we trotted to the place which we thought was the nearest recommendable dining spot. However, much to our disappointment, the resto was not just beside the market, the food was not good at all - the chicken smelled and tasted like it had been dead hours before it was frozen, the pork didn't smell fresh and the fish smelled of moss. The vegetables though, just as is probably traditional of the Mountain Province, was at good.
Of course I knew there were a few spots we should have checked at Bontoc such as their museum. But, we were too exhausted to even give it a shot.So, after our not-so-horrendous meal, we were off to the jeepney station and boarded the first available vehicle to Sagada.
At Sagada, we were met by an old smiling and familiar face - Tita Mary. My husband didn't want to go and try out another lodge. To him and the rest of us, Tita Mary and her staff were like family. This time, we were given a room at the basement and by this I do mean the lowest part of the building. If you must know, The Residential Lodge has two basements - an upper and a lower one. Although we still love the hospitality, we didn't quite like the place assigned to us.
There were just 2 rooms at the lower basement - ours and the one beside it. The thing is that the area had 2 breakers which were both inside our room. One of it tripped the whole time we were there. It was irritating to be awakened in the middle of a restful sleep because there was no electricity and they had to switch it back on. this happened on the first night we were there. What was more disgusting was that it happened again. This time I told the caretakers I didn't want to be bothered any longer because when they went to switch the thing back on, that was the fifth time anyone had to do so. The other 4 we had done ourselves. I guess they had noticed my disgruntled tone such that they apologized for the trouble. Not that we expected much. After all, paying 250 pesos a night was not bad. But, having been at the Residential Lodge before, it would have been better. It's just one of those times when there are too many people and too little time to have things fixed. We would still be back at Tita Mary's. Like I said, they're not nearly perfect but they have a good place nonetheless.
It was chilly in Sagada that time. So much that I even dreaded the thought of bathing daily but did so despite it. The funny thing was that we sort of had to push each one to go first unlike in Manila where I usually opted to go first.
To be continued...
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