Visiting the Famous Hanging Coffins in the Philippines
Hello Steemians!
Yesterday I wrote about caving outside Sagada, Philippines and today I figured I would show you guys some of the other things we saw in Sagada, namely the famed hanging coffins.
The Hanging Coffins
The tradition of hanging coffins in the walls of the canyon dates back to before the arrival of the Spanish and can be traced back almost two thousand years. The tradition is one of the Igorot tribe of the mountain province and it still continues today, though quite less often and on a smaller scale. Also, not everyone is qualified to be buried this way, you must have been married and had grandchildren to have this honor. The coffins are nailed up and down the canyon walls near cliffs and some of them are very high off the ground, I always find the ingenuity behind things like this amazing. While we were here I decided not to take more than a couple pictures because it just seemed inappropriate, especially given the amount of people taking dozens of selfies with the coffins.
The Town of Sagada
Sagada is a small town with a population of about 12,000 people whose main industries are agriculture and tourism, the areas surrounding the town are filled with farmers growing a variety of different crops. Also, because of the location in the mountains, it is one of the few places in the Philippines that was not heavily influenced by Spanish culture and it has done a wonderful job of preserving the indigenous history. The town is mainly scattered along side the main road with colorful buildings and lots of buildings made of stone, it is really quite beautiful.
Lemon Pie!
One of the other things that Sagada is less known for is the lemon pie, there are quite a few shops that sell it but the original is at the bottom of the hill called Sagada Lemon Pie House. We actually went twice because it was so good, I am not usually a fan of lemon or Lime pie but this one is done just right. As a bonus, both times we went I made some new friends who were hanging around!
Sagada is a wonderful little town loaded with character, an interesting history, and plenty to see and do that you would be a fool to miss it if you ever find yourself in the Philippines. Seriously, try the pie!
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Hiya, just swinging by to let you know that this post made the Honorable mentions list in today's Travel Digest!
Thanks!
I have always wanted to see the hanging coffins! I have only ever seen one specimen in a local museum when I was 11 or something.
I sure want some of those lemony pies right about now!
Ya it was pretty awesome to see but also fascinating. Some of them were insanely high and our guide told us they had been up there 70+ years! I can only imagine what it was like to hammer them into the stone wall so high up with basic tools and next to no safety.
No harnesses even! Sheesh. Ancient people were definitely some tough ones. hahaha
Totally! They have been doing that for close to 200 years, can you imagine hanging off a wall face swinging a hammer with a rope tied around your waist in 500CE? It's absolute madness
Lemon Pie is sooooooo good, wish we could spent more time there. 😘😋😋
I do too, I want to go back and go into the other caves!
You mean hanging ones coffin on the mountain wall is an honor... This is incredible, tradition will always be tradition. Thanks for revealing this, I never heard thing like this before
Yes, it's a great honor to have your coffin on the wall, especially now as less and less people are being interred this way.
What an interesting place to be! Added to my travel wishlist, keep up the good work, dude
It really is! Sagada has so much unique history and so much of it was preserved from the conquistadors. It is an amazing place.
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