Sea of Clouds

Upon enrolment, I headed back to Bontoc to meet-up with my friends since we planned to have an overnight. It had been a while since we last saw each other since our schedules always do not match up and some of us are staying in Bontoc while the others are in Baguio.

(This was on our way to Bontoc.)

That Friday afternoon, we headed to Bauko, Mountain Province in order to visit the Iyaman Farm. There were a lot of delays so we arrived at the town around 6 PM. Guess what? It was already night time when we got there so it only meant one thing... we were to hike up the mountain at night and it could take 30-45 minutes.

And heavens, it was a real challenge because it felt like we were walking up a stairway to heaven. Another challenge was the fact that the pathway was not cemented. But that did not stop us from going further. It was tiring but seeing the destination in front of us just took the fatigue away.

Upon arrival, we could see the small huts and tents of varying sizes where the guests could stay. There were pine trees all around us, giving the nature and relaxing vibes of the place. They also had a small swimming pool where you can overlook the nearest barangay and beyond that is the mountains over mountains view.

The first thing we did was to put our bags in our assigned hut and immediately headed to the kitchen. We prepared all the things we needed before heading to the cottage for karaoke. And guess what? It was even more fun because it was only us who got the place for the whole night. After karaoke, we head down to another cottage for the bonfire where we shared stories with the caretakers. They told us about the foreigners, vloggers, and youtubers who visited as well as the media who came to feature the place.

They also let us borrow their gongs (or gangsa in our dialect) to play with. They are the traditional percussion instruments of the place which is also part of the Cordillera culture. It is usually played during rain calling, weddings, and other several occasions like Am-Among(translates to gathering in English) and Lang-ay where different places perform dances which we call as kanyaw or sagni.

So back to the farm. They called it “Iyaman Farm” because it used to be just a farm but was recently turned into a place where visitors could spend their vacation. There is also one thing we did not get to try and that is bathing on the large pot while under it is a fire to warm up the water. It would look like you are being slowly cooked and it is one of the things that others find exciting.

Other than the nature, what we looked forward to was the sunrise. Thus, we stayed up all night and when it was 5 in the morning, it was starting to get bright. What we really anticipated to see was the sea of clouds and seeing it with our own eyes was just simply breathtaking. The barangay across the mountain was no longer visible and all we could see was the clouds until 6 AM. Seeing it just made us realize that the sweat and fatigue we acquired while hiking up was definitely worth it.

If you plan to go to this place, you can visit their facebook page, Iyaman Farm, and contact them for more information.