
I decided to ditch Manila one night and make the 12 hr journey north to Sagada. Known as an artist haven, Sagada also attracts tourists looking to hike among anciet burial grounds and explore its many caves, like myself. I asked for a tour guide at the Information Office, something as a traveler, I try to avoid. But, I never took "caving" in gym class, so I figured it was the safe thing to do. Along the tour, my guide kept pointing to different rock formations, trying to explain something to me. He kept insinuating and gesturing, looking for me to catch on, but I wasn't getting it. He finally gave up narrating the journey and focused instead on making sure I didn't fall into a dark crevice. That night when I got back to my pension house, I saw this postcard tacked behind the reception desk, and I realized what he had been so awkwardly trying to communicate. Like those black and white flashcards psychologists always show their patients in movies and ask, "what do you see?", rock formations are open to interpretation. However, genitals certainly was not the 1st or 60th term that came to my mind. My guide would be terrible at charades.