Finally, we made it to Sagada! The same group that was stranded in Baguio last year due to a typhoon has decided to give another shot for the mountain paradise, but this time with additions to the gang. Fortunately, the odds were at our favor this time, blessing us with a fair weather, enough for a whole weekend of muscle-stretching and gastronomic activities.
Our group left for Sagada on Friday night via Cable Tours bus. Initially, the plan was to get a trip to Bontoc and then get a ride from there to Sagada, but the bus offered a deal to take its passengers directly to Sagada with an additional payment of course. The fare was P750 for a 12-hour trip via Ifugao. We left Quezon City at around 10pm (scheduled at 8pm but the bus waited for something).
It was my first time to go to Sagada via this route and I was more than excited to see the Garden/Rice Terraces of Ifugao. I know the good ones were located in the inner parts of the province, but still, I hoped for a good view as I’ve never been to Ifugao before.
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| Nueva Vizcaya-Ifugao-Mt. Province Road |
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| May traysikel sa kataas-taasang parte ng Ifugao |
We arrived at Bontoc at around 10am. We transferred to another bus that will take us to Sagada. I tried to take a nap but the ride was too bumpy.
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| Bontoc has a Baguio feels. |
Upon arriving in Sagada, we immediately looked for a place to stay. We didn’t book in advance because I was so confident we’d have a place to stay no matter what. It was my first time to encounter that big of a crowd in Sagada. The streets and restaurants were all filled with tourists. I wanted to take them to Olahbinan where Karen and I stayed last time but their P250/person/night rooms were full and we found the other rooms expensive. We found a homestay-type inn at Chad's Cabin for the same price, which is quite perfect since it has more perks. After settling down, we went to have lunch at Salt & Pepper Diner. There were lots of new restaurants in town to accommodate the growing number of tourists coming in. I was just here a couple of years back, and Sagada has already changed a lot.
After lunch, we couldn’t start with any activity yet because some of us had to take a rest, but the others (including me) chose to roam around Poblacion. A little later, some kids approached us and asked if we want to go to Echo Valley, and they'll take us there for P50 each, that is P50 for each kid, and there’s three of them. My companions found it cheap so we went for it. Is it child labor? It's not no? It’s not haha! (defensive) Echo Valley is basically these children's yard, so going there is just like playing for them. And they were persistent! :p We could have declined since it's easy to find the way to Echo Valley, but I figured they might need pangmerienda or pangbaon sa school, so we let them lead the way.
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| Our guides |
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| Sagada's Christian cemetery |
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| I wonder where this restobar is |
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| Afternoon walk |
After the Echo Valley tour, we went back to Poblacion, had snacks and then went to check out Ganduyan Museum, which is just across the Municipal Hall. I've been to Sagada several times already but I’ve never been to this place. The museum is maintained by Christina Aben whose collection of Cordillera artifacts are at display in the museum. She discussed the displays while we went around. Cordillera culture never fails to amuse me. Too bad taking photos inside the museum is not isn’t allowed. There’s no entrance fee to the museum, but they accept donations from visitors for the maintenance of the collections.
For dinner, we went to Yoghurt House, where we had to wait for at least 30 minutes for a vacant table for all 10 of us. Yoghurt House is still very popular, obviously. There were lots of people outside, waiting for their turn to grab a spoonful of the restaurant’s specialty. Personally, it’s one of my favorite places to dine in Sagada, too. Real yogurt is still different from the commercial ones.
After dinner, we went back to Chad's, and just stayed in. The Korean visitors at the inn were having a party outside, while we chose to just sleep in.
