Baguio-Sagada-Banaue Trip 2013

Around 10pm of the 12^th of November, me and three of my officemates were bound to Manila for another adventure. We landed at Manila around 11:30pm and our office mate, Arthur was at the airport waiting for us. I personally experienced the scariest flight ever because we were riding on a propeller plane and the weather that time was not so good. We could feel and see the thunderstorms outside the plane. However, we still reached Manila safely. Upon reaching the airport, we decided to fill our stomachs at Jollibee since we were bound for a long trip. We rode a taxi cab for 100 pesos from NAIA to Victory Liner in Pasay. The bus left Manila around 2am and we had a 6-7 hour land trip to Baguio. The fare from Manila to Baguio is 460 pesos per head. We reached Baguio around 9am. We first headed to Baguio Information Center which is just a walking distance away from Victory Liner Station. We were able to get a van for 2500pesos. Since we were five, we were only able to pay 500 pesos per head. That was inclusive of whole day town trip to Baguio. Our driver was really very kind! We dropped by the inn we stayed before the town tour. We stayed at La Brea Inn which is located at 24 Session Road. It was a good place to stay and has a very reasonable price of 350 per head.

These were the places we visited.

• ·         Baguio Chinese Temple
• ·         Easter Weaving
• ·         Lourdes Grotto 
• ·         Diplomat Hotel
• ·         Kennon Road Viewing Deck
• ·         Philippine Military Academy
• ·         Good Shepherd Convent
• ·         Mines View Park
• ·         The Mansion
• ·         Wright Park Baguio
• ·         Botanical Garden
• ·         Burnham Park

at Lourdes Grotto

 

at the Diplomat Hotel - the creepiest hotel in Baguio City

at Kennon Road Viewing Deck

at the Philippine Military Academy

at Camp John Hay

It was already around 7pm when we reached Burnham Park. Since we already wanted to have our dinner, we asked our driver to drop us off at SM Baguio. We had our dinner at Sizzling Plate. The food was okay at reasonable prices. We decided not to go back to the inn yet after dinner. Instead, we strolled for a while and found this milk tea shop named SIP Milk Tea. It was good just like the other ordinary shops. After heading back to the inn we stayed, we decided to go shopping at Night Market. The stuffs there are really very cheap and I was able to buy gloves for only 100 pesos. It was totally worth it!

The next day, we travelled to Sagada. Before heading to Sagada, we had our breakfast at Good Taste Cafe and Restaurant. The food was okay but the service is one of the worst. The fare from Baguio to Sagada is 220 pesos and the travel time is six hours. We reached Sagada around 2pm already. We did not do anything special this day since we arrived at the town late. Upon reaching the town, we went to the Sagada Information Center to inquire about their daily tours. We had an early dinner at Bana’s Restaurant. Food there was good and prices ranged from 150-300 pesos. We had our dessert at Lemon Pie House. We had our stay at Residential Lodge during our 3 day, 2 night trip at Sagada. The place was very clean and cheap. The room was only 250 pesos per night. I would personally recommend this lodge to people who are travelling on a tight budget.

The next day, we went to Kiltepan Sunrise at 4am where we were supposed to have a view of the sunrise on the mountains.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to see the sunrise because of the thick fogs that covered the mountains. After, we headed to Rock Inn Orange Orchard where we had our breakfast and picked some oranges. The food there was quite expensive. One serving of a breakfast meal ranged from 150-300 pesos. Their blueberry pancake is a must try delicacy! One would need to pay 50 pesos to pick unlimited oranges, however, if you bring home the oranges, they will weigh it for 50 pesos/kilogram. After breakfast, we went to St. Mary’s Church. From the church, we hiked our way to Echo Valley and the Hanging Coffins. We were really amazed with the stories about the place. J After the very tiring but fulfilling walk, we went to Ganduyan Museum. We were stunned of the stories on how the owner collected the antiques. After, we hiked for an hour to reach Bomod-oc Falls. We were really chilling since the water was as cold as ice. When we hiked back to the station, we were very tired already. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the view going back anyway. We had our lunch at Salt and Pepper around 4pm already. We had to be brave going up the restaurant because they had a very big bull dog named Tinkerbell. Ironically, the dog has a cute name. Lol. After the meal, we went to the entrance of the 4hr cave which I forgot the name. On the entrance were coffins piled up. Our last stop was the Sumaguing Cave. Spelunking there was very fun! It was a wet cave under with lots of amazing rock formations. It was a one hour hike back and forth the cave. We really had so much fun. The whole day tour at Sagada costed us at around 800 pesos each. It was really worth it. We had our dinner at Kusina Ysagada where servings were big and delicious. The prices ranged from 150-300 pesos per dish.

at Rock Inn Orange Orchard

at Echo Valley - The tour guide will explain why this place is called "Echo Valley" :)

at the Hanging Coffins - cool place! :)

Bomod-oc Falls - the water is as cold as ice! Brrrr!

Notice the coffins at our back. Creeeepy!

The next day, we headed to Banaue to see the ever famous Banaue Rice Terraces. We had to wake up early to catch the first jeepney to Bontoc which is only costs 45 pesos. The jeep left on time – 7am. It was only a 30 minute drive to Bontoc. Upon reaching Bontoc, we looked for a restaurant/canteen to eat. We had a hard time finding for a good place to eat since Bontoc is not a tourist spot. We were able to leave Bontoc aroung 10am already since the driver waited for other passengers that were also bound for Banaue. Fare from Bontoc to Banaue is only 150 pesos for a 2-3 hour land trip. Banaue RiceTerraces is really breath taking! J Since our goal that time was to only have a picture of the rice terraces, we waited for our trip to Manila until 7pm. Fare from Banaue to Manila is 450 pesos. While waiting, we just stayed and chilled at Uyami’s Green View Lodge and Restaurant.

at the Eighth Wonder of the World - Banaue Rice Terraces! :)

7pm came and we just slept during the whole trip to Manila. We arrived at Manila at 4:30am. We went to Arthur’s house to leave our things and had our breakfast at Burger King at Timog. After breakfast, me, Jodie and Alnessa went to mass at the church near SM North Edsa. While waiting for Trinoma to open, we stayed at Starbucks at Trinoma until 10am. People went crazy on the sale that day. We went back to Arthur’s house at noon since we had our lunch there. After lunch, we went to Cebu Pacific office at Galleria to avail of our baggage. After, we went to Greenhills to play Laser Maxx. It was really fun playing with complete strangers. Hahahaha. Then, we had our dinner at Wendy’s. Arthur  dropped us at the airport around 7pm and we waited for our 11pm flight to Cebu.