I was rambling thorugh my gallery and saw these photos. Reminded me of my adventure exploring the Mountain Province , Sagada, in the Philippines.We went cave spelunking , hiking, and swimming after discovering perfectly hidden waterfalls, but none of these brought a nostalgic memory than this sight.

Hanging coffins–what a weird sight.

It´s my first time to see such things. Everything about the dead and burial practices are no interest for me, but I practically was curious why such practice is being done here.Of all places, they hanged all the coffins high up above, and even labeled them. The local guide says that we can´t go near to this place so I just zoomed my photos to have better capture. Although I must say that the forest surrouning this valley is really beautiful.

I have never met the local tribe, tried mingling thorugh the market but I guess I can´t distinguish enough who are the locals since I don´t understand their dialect. Me & my friend started our early hike and upon reaching the “Echo Valley”, our guide asks us to try yelling, shout loud to test the Echo thing. We did as we say and it was really working.

Too many strange things, and very old cherished practices.

As we gazed through the other direction, the view of the coffins really surprised us. We´ll of course we´ve heard about it but seeing them for real just gave me goosebumps. Such a beautiful place with so much virgin nature .

I have heard that the local tribe has many rich stories about all of these graves-or coffins. They have chosen this higher place, high up in this cliff, to be able to be close to eternal heavens. The dead chose this place to reast for eternity. The guide mentioned that there are far many more hidden coffins among the cliff tops of the valley, all sacred and undisturbed.

I tought about how they have brought it all up there…

Before the Spaniards came to Philippines, there was no Christianity. No one is Catholic. The old generation worshipped nature and spirits called locally as “Anito”.The locals believed that the spirit of the departed ones can still be reachable even when they are already deceased. That they can asks them for guidance by conducting spiritual “rituals” and prayer.

And nature is their best hiding place…

In the remote areas of Sagada, people are still practicing this burial practice but nowadays since most of the population in the Philippines are Catholic, this kind of culture is discontinued.

Another short story about cultural Heritage, what do you think of the Hanging Coffins?