Sagada Hanging Coffins & Cave Burial Tour

Tucked into the pine-clad mountains of the Cordillera, Sagada is home to one of the most striking burial traditions on earth. For more than 2,000 years the Igorot people have laid their dead to rest in coffins nailed and stacked high on limestone cliff faces, believing that raising the body closer to the sky brings the departed nearer to their ancestral spirits. This half-day tour walks you through Echo Valley to view the famous hanging coffins, past the historic St. Mary's Anglican Church and the town cemetery, with a guide who explains the beliefs and rituals that keep this practice alive.

The trek itself is short and moderately easy, weaving through scenic viewpoints where you can shout into the canyon and hear your voice echo back, before reaching the cliffside where the coffins, some over a century old, cling to the rock. Many of the coffins are unusually small because the dead are buried in the foetal position, in the belief that a person should leave the world the same way they entered it. For those wanting more, the tour can extend into the cool, cathedral-like chambers of nearby Lumiang and Sumaguing caves, where ancient stacked coffins and dramatic rock formations await.