Market day in Sagada and the population suddenly increases threefold. Wend bought a pineapple and I took a shine to a pair of mini foldaway scissors - ideal for nasal hair husbandry, and a snip at 20p.
We then took a walk in nearby Echo Valley. An eerie, atmospheric place, not least because the caves high on it's limestone walls are piled high with coffins.
Morbid ramblers can climb up to sneak a closer look, and I was lucky (unlucky?) enough to see a couple of skeletons that had made a forlorn bid for a last bit of daylight. Heaven knows how old these chaps were, as many of the coffins are thought to be centuries old.
Elders of the local Applai tribe can still be entombed in the caves, but only if they can afford it, the going rate currently standing at 20 pigs and 60 chickens.
Sitting at the north end of the valley is Sagada's more conventional cemetery, and this too is a place not without its quirks, doubling as a grazing pasture for the town's cattle.
"Holy cow" my witty wife exclaimed, as she spotted one of the herd sunning itself beneath a large crucifix.
Our time in the Philippines is rapidly running out, so we decided a bit of forward planning was in order. One of the great things about travelling is all the free advice you receive from fellow backpackers. Guidebooks are useful, but first hand knowledge of where's good to visit is absolutely invaluable.
Fortunately we'd met quite a gang of intrepid explorers in recent days, so were able to pick the brains of Lars, a larger than life Dane who seems to have been to every country on earth. Marcel and Daniella, a Dutch couple who have reached Sagada via Russia, Nepal, China and Mongolia. And Reiner, the superfit German who goes everywhere on his mountain bike, and who we've now bumped into no fewer than three times on our trip.
Reiner and Lars insist we visit Burma as soon as is humanly possible. The last unspoilt corner of Southeast Asia they reckon. Food for thought we think...watch this space.
And talking of food. Great bit of scoff in the evening. There's a little restaurant in town run by this crazy French guy who cycled to the Philippines 20 years ago and never returned home. On Saturdays he lays on a stupendous buffet for 3 quid a head. C'est formidable!
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