Our Ride Back Down the Saddle
After one an a half hour of gruelling walk back to the Saddle from the village of Batad, I finally made it back with time to spare. The jeepney was there as promised along with a host of other people, locals and foreigners on their way to Banaue. The jeepney won’t be leaving just yet so we were relaxing at the only place we can relax here at the Saddle. There was a lone store at the Saddle selling drinks to tired travellers. Naturally, they are quite expensive, but of course if you are in need of water, you would probably pony up for it. Talk about monopoly.
Some of the foreigners decided to ride on top of the jeepney. I would probably agree that it would be a nice experience, but this was probably not the place to do it. The sun was already bearing down on us and that metal roof will definitely get very hot as the day progresses. However, most importantly, the road down the Saddle isn’t really a real road, it just was a dirt road. The rains the previous day might have loosened the soil here and I don’t really trust the jeepney would be able to handle it. Sitting on top might not be the best place to be if something happened. Oh, did I mention that the road was only good enough for one vehicle?
The View from the Saddle
Apparently, the jeepney drive was confident that no one will be climbing up was running quite fast, when another vehicle suddenly popped up. The sudden brake of the jeepney sent us sliding down the slope a couple of feet. Fortunately, no one fell or was hurt. We got back to Banaue in one piece and by the time afternoon came it was raining. I was intending to visit some of the other terraces in the area which I haven’t visited, but forgot all about it because of the weather. At least it wasn’t hot.
After lunch, with nothing to do but just hang around, I just got a room at People’s Inn and spent the rest of the afternoon there. The bus back to Manila will only leave at 6:30. The room wasn’t really that interesting, but at least it was clean. There was also the sound of the nearby stream providing some ambience. I got back to Manila in no time, the typhoon veered away from the area and was no threat at all. Anyway, for the short time that I spent there, I was still glad I got away from it all.
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