When you say seriously cold temperature, getting higher than the clouds, hanging coffins. adventures to the limit this is where Sagada steals the scene! One of our dream places in Luzon was achieved this 2012, “Kaja,let’s go” to Sagada!
We rushed to the van afterwards to get our jackets haha
It’s the “Ber-months” again, and we found ourselves looking for some place to go. With this season and weather, it’s the perfect time to visit this place. We joined a public group tour, and again with a budget challenge of P5k to cover overall travel. Here’s our strict itineraries:
November 29 Thursday –
- 9:00 pm Van on bound directly to Sagada, we had 3 stopovers. Supposedly 2 only, but the other groups decided to have a quick pull at Pampanga, second stopover was at La Union, third was at the Highest Point at Catubo, Atoc, Benguet, on which I should explain why there’s no posted photo. Honestly, we decided not to leave our van on this stopover and instead head on sleeping coz it’s dark outside, too dangerous to wander around plus the super cold temperature will really push you inside the van hahaha.
November 30 Friday –
- 8:00 am Arrival at Mountain Province, driving our way on the “IRT Deadliest Roads” look alike to Sagada Town Proper.
Hello Clouds…
All amazed to see..and still not sinking in to ourselves that we are indeed..HIGHER than the clouds already! This amazing scene greeted us on our way to Sagada.
Truly amazing!
- 8:30 am BIG Breakfast at the Sagada’s Lemon Pie House..head’s up..food serving in Sagada is plenty that we later realize we can just share on one meal. If you’re looking for affordable places to eat, go to the town proper and try the cafeterias. Some vendors in the morning market also serve breakfast w/c is cheaper than those served in the guesthouses.
Sagada Lemon Pie House
Me and tour-mates, waiting for our food.
Don’t miss this lemon pie, Php 30/slice only.
- 9:00 am Check in at Sagada Guest House
- 9:30 am Start of the Day 1 Tour – Echo Valley.. Hanging Coffins.. Sumaguing Cave..we came back to the guest house around 9:00 pm, which we thought was the worst we can get..but we’re wrong haha.
All vans met in front of the episcopal parish, w/c was closed at that time, so we weren’t able to see the church’s interiors 😦
Trivia: Municipality of Sagada has become the only Philippine town that is predominantly Protestant.
St. Mary the Virgin
Our 1st stop was Echo Valley, but before reaching that place we walked through a 10-15 minutes trail and passed by a cemetery who looks different compared to the usual cemeteries we have. Tour guide made an intro about Echo Valley, literally shout and you will hear your voice echoing through the woods. He told some stories, but we didn’t paid much attention coz we’re busy taking photos hehe.
Looks like Palawan but I’m all covered up..haha
A cliif on the Echo Valley
Trivia: Burial is the most expensive ceremony in Sagada.
Hiked and climbed the rocky terrains of this valley, awaits us are the historical coffins each hanged w/ different stories behind every death. The trek down to Hanging Coffins was hard but still enjoying, I mean it’s our 1st time haha nervous..excited..scared..happy! After visiting the coffins, another challenge was to head back up, well that’s how they do it in Sagada, all by foot.
We were sent back to town proper to take our lunch and short rest, our driver let us off at Sagada Weaving, we sneaked inside, you have to buy something so you’ll be allowed to take photos. Since we knew that souvenirs there are costly than in centro, we just left the place and waited in the van hahaha.
For our lunch, we chose to eat again at Sagada Lemon Pie House, there we also had rest since we were warned that the next stop is a level up of the trek we had at the valley..wooo!
Main highlight of 1st day’s tour for me is this… Spelunking Sumaguing Cave! Yeah, another 1st experience for us, again mixed emotions were present :p Cave connection to Lumiang Cave is Php 500.00, since we’re newbies we skipped it and we just added it to our list for our future Sagada visit. For 1st timers, Sumaguing Cave is recommended and skip Lumiang first. I’ll tell you this Sumaguing is moderate-hard mode already and it’s enough to drain all your energy haha but what more if you had extended to Lumiang, good luck!
entrance
way down and way up..haha
3 hours underground and swam the hypothermia giving cave water (my fave part of this caving adventure!) Forgive us, we don’t have any photos on that part, we won’t risk our camera to get wet and we’re all screaming at that time coz of the cold water and fear that we might drown 😉 haha.
no human ladder since he’s strong enough hehe
There are many formations w/c they give names, I can only recall a few of them and I won’t upload our photos w/ these formations anymore to make this post shorter. I also like the part that we have to go down using a human ladder (tour guide’s body) and the what I call “Lara Croft portion” where you climb a rock by pulling yourself w/ a support of a rope. (which I loss balanced and swayed side by side)
easy for kuya, but for me, i have to use the rope and do lara croft’s move haha
Seems like an unending channel of caves, despite the dangerous and physically-taxing maneuvers required for spelunking in Sagada, we’re lucky to came out covered with mud and no injuries.
December 1 Saturday –
- 6:00 am Breakfast at the morning market nearby. Head’s up, aside from cheaper breakfast, you can also buy cheaper pasalubongs here.
I asked this kid to pick the oranges for me hehe
- 7:00 am Day 2 Tour – Aguid Rice Terraces..Bomod-Ok Falls..Ganduyan Museum..Free time/Souvenir Shopping. Finished the tour at 4:00 pm and wandered the town proper from 5:00-8:00pm.
Photo op on a random rice terraces
Upper and lower body’s were sore, every move is ouch! Yet we prepared ourselves for the 2nd day tour’s main highlights : Aguid Rice Terraces and Bomod-ok Falls. Thanks to the spelunking, that day, we already expected that again this is another challenge overload, bring it on!
We got lost here at Aguid..hahaha
sun is up yet wind is chilly..i love this place!
Trekking this place is no joke,it’s a test of your endurance, the reward is the Big Falls tempting you to swim in it’s hypothermia giving water. Oh by the way, the kiddos in Bomod-ok falls offers body massage for Php 20.00 hehe but no guaranteed time period. Just another experience if you want to, and it’s like a small help for them as well.
the part where we got lost on our way back..
Getting lost?!It’s more fun in Aguid Rice Terraces!Now I believe that sometimes nature really does tricks on you for some reason. I clearly remember all the trails we passed by, I’m pretty sure the photo above taken on our way down to the falls is the part where we got lost on our way back to the jump off point. If you have time then read my story but if not, skip to the next paragraph! Well here’s our story: Damn tired & thirsty, our trek-mates took some pit stop on a waiting shed, few minutes the 2 of us decided to climb upstairs since we want to finish this fast. We’re confident that our colleagues are just a few steps away and they will soon continue to climb following us. Then comes the nature call, he had to pee on the side, but due to tiredness I think he forgot to say “Tabi-tabi po” you know how we Filipinos believe in some of this traditions so need not explain anymore. After that, we took some steps again we can still hear our mates’ voices though but another steps then boom..it’s just the 2 of us left on the trail! We’re sure that it’s just the same trail we had, we know we are lost, instead of panicking we continued to ascend, followed the trail up. The stairs were gone and we can see a road but another boom, we’re lost for the 2nd time! Upon ascend, we were on a different place and we had no idea where we are. On the road to nowhere, we walked for 30-45 minutes looking for houses and natives we can ask directions, there was a guy on a motorcycle who told us Aguid is far from our location and he helped us hitch a ride. Luckily, the quiet road had a jeepney and we told the drive we are lost and kindly drop us off at the nearest tourist center/town. It’s a 30 minutes ride I guess he let us off like a covered court but it’s not Aguid yet, we felt safer now coz there are many tourist vans parked and their passengers just came from the falls just like us. Again, we hitched a ride from one of the vans and we arrived at jump off point in Aguid, our driver’s worried waiting for 1 hour. Can you just imagine that experience…whew thank God!
To me, this is the hardest part of our Sagada itinerary,plus the fact that we got lost on our way back to the jump off point,truly this is the most unforgettable travel experience we had so far!
Freshen up at Bomod-Ok Falls
Around 4pm fresh from the lost encounter hehe we roamed around the centro to kill our free time. Ganduyan Museum is like a side trip to the 2nd day itinerary, it’s optional. Since it’s just near Sagada Guest House we dropped by as well, entrance fee of Php 20.00 each if I remember it correctly 😉 No picture taking and slippers allowed, you just have to appreciate the historical items inside and listen to the lady’s stories in a fluent and nice accented English.
don’t miss out too…
Aside from lemon pie, yogurt in Sagada are famous too, this particular resto is always crowded w/ tourists. Again, we added this item to our list for future Sagada trip since we weren’t able to sample their yogurt yet, they often ran out of yogurt so fast.
Enjoying the Korean like-night time weather..ulzzang style ^_^v
December 2 Sunday –
- 3:30 am Day 3 Tour – Kiltepan Viewpoint..Bontoc Rice Terraces..Banaue Rice Terraces, Mt. Polis breakfast, Nueva Vizcaya lunch then en route to Manila. We arrived in Manila around 7:30pm, quite early compared to our previous travels.
wow
Day 3’s call time was too early, we woke up at 2:00 am, did we managed to take a bath?! Haha I don’t think so! The water’s chilled and it’s damn cold at that time so just a quick fix and we went to Kiltepan Peak to witness the epic sun rise of our lives and it’s also time to say goodbye to Sagada 😦
Sunrise at Kiltepan
After a breakfast stop over at Mt. Polis, we went to these 2 rice terraces w/c were the last installments for our travel hype. And what a nice way to end is by seeing these man-made wonders and being able to walk on it or should I say maintaining your balance while on it haha especially on Banaue Rice Terraces.
Bontoc Rice Terraces behind me.
Location:
Mountain Province is situated centrally in the Cordilleras, bounded on the north by Kalinga, on the south by Ifugao, southwest by Benguet and on the west by Abra and Ilocos Sur. It is accessible from Ifugao through the Banaue-Bontoc Road (our route returning to Manila), Ilocos Sur through the Tagudin-Cervantes-Tadian Road, Kalinga through the Lubuagan-Bontoc Road and Baguio through the scenic Halsema Highway (this is where you can find the Highest Point and this was our route going to Sagada).
Sagada is a 5th class municipality in Mountain Province, this place is almost the size of Las Pinas land area. It is located 275 km. north of Manila, 140 km. from Baguio, and it is adjacent to Bontoc, the provincial capital. It has a population of 10,930 people in 2,158 households. (and I’m currently thinking of moving in to this place..hahaha)
Getting there:
This is one of the places wherein commuting’s not so recommended especially if you’re a solo, or couple travelers only. It’s best to go here in groups, and if you have your own car much better. But if you insist to commute, below are the 2 options, you can do further research since these are not so detailed yet:
– Victory Liner bus bound to Baguio, take a cav to Dangwa Bus Station, in the terminal take a Lizardo Transit bus bound to Sagada, I know their bus scheds are limited only.
-There’s this one bus line called Ohayami Transit, you can find their terminal near Florida Bus Lines in Sampaloc. Their usual routes are Manila-Banaue, Manila-Lagawe. From there, you can simply take a jeepney ride to Sagada, but it’s still far though.
If you want to avoid these hassles in going to Sagada, we suggest you to just join a public group tour from travel agencies especially those that are connected w/ SAGGAS. Like us, we joined Tripinas and we must say, that we truly are satisfied w/ this group. Don’t worry we’ll be putting some websites and other links so you can locate these helpful people in making your Sagada dream possible!
Accommodations:
If you’re looking for fancy hotels in Sagada, my friend these are nowhere to be found, you’re here for the adventure & inconvenience but in a nice way remember?! This place is filled w/ guesthouses & inns w/c gives you all the comfort that you need after a tiring day. Tripinas assigned us to stay at Sagada Guest House on w/c at first, we thought is not a good place to stay but later on did we realize it’s not so bad. Located centrally at the Town Proper, meaning accessible to souvenir shops..dining places..morning market & tiangges. This place is WiFi zoned already, they have water heaters, no blackouts, they also serve food just be sure to order in advance. Their rooms are so-so, not what we expected but hey at least we can have a decent sleep and freshen up.
The Tour:
Tripinas offers Banaue & Sagada Tour Package at Php 3,890 per head, believe me this is way affordable and so worth it to try. I will not get tired of reiterating this haha, but in Sagada, it’s best to go on groups and avail tour packages, convenient..less hassle..it’s like a hop-on hop-off tour. All you need to worry is the thick clothes to pack, food to bring, pocket money and how you will return to Manila w/ all the souvenirs and pasalubongs you bought hahaha.
Budget/Expenses :
Sorry if I didn’t provide a detailed list just like in our previous posts, but overall, we managed to shell out P 5k-6k all in expenses for 2 pax. Budget friendly tips to share, buy souvenirs at the centro/town proper. If you can eat at cafeterias, small time restos, do so.. besides Sagada serves fresh and clean food compared to Metro Manila hahaha I guess. Do visit the morning markets too coz they sell cheaper and you can haggle.
Contact Info:
Tripinas Sagada-Banaue Package Tour – http://sagadatour.blogspot.com/
Sagada Guest House – http://sagadaguesthouse.blogspot.com/
Sagada know hows – https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingSagada1?fref=ts
So far, our Sagada trip is what we may say the most extreme, adventure-filled travel we had. We had many firsts experiences here and this place also tested our physical, emotional, mental aspects too. Do we consider going back here? Of course! I know there are still awesome places in Sagada that we have to explore like Pongas Falls, Lumiang Cave, etc. Plus, there are still things left w/c we need to try, buy and experience. The climate is also one of the factors that invites me to return here, it’s like I’m in Korea during their spring time days hahaha, I can wear my ulzzang outfits w/o hesitation and no questions asked! ^_^v
We’re looking forward to our future Sagada trip, see you soon!
Special thanks to Surviving Sagada for our “Serbebers” certificates by the way!
Please rate and thanks for reading!
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Kaja let's go! 