Sagada travel Guide: getting There, sample schedule as well as budget plan

A much more updated version of this short article can be discovered here: Sagada travel Guide
“Let’s go to Sagada.”

More than five years ago, just before our college graduation, my good friend Tonet invited me to go to Sagada. “I don’t believe that’s possible provided that we’re as well hectic working on our theses. possibly after graduation?” I suggested.

After graduating, while we were walking in Makati searching for a job, she brought it up again. “I believe we ought to discover a task first. as well as then let’s plan a Sagada getaway,” I dodged. She agreed.

When we lastly landed a job, the wish to travel to Sagada was still there. however neither tried to bring it up since we understood there was no method we might capture a 3-day trip into our completely toxic schedules. It wasn’t up until our company-sponsored trip in 2009 when I lastly set foot on Sagada.

When Tonet discovered out that I had been there already, she made me guarantee that I ought to take her with me the next time. Fortunately, Sagada is one of those locations anybody would like returning to. A year later, I chose to go back to Sagada. The ideal time glimmered in between Christmas as well as new Year. I provided Tonet a call.

“You asked me to phone call you the moment I chose to go to Sagada. The moment has come. You still up for it?”

Tonet’s reaction was a loud as well as pleased “Of course.”

After 5 years of wanting, it lastly happened.

When our good friends discovered out about this trip to Sagada, they chose to join. After all, since the trip was arranged on December 27-29, they already had filed a leave of absence from office. before we understood it, we ended up being a group of 10, composed of college good friends as well as some colleagues.

Planning a trip to Sagada

Since my good friends as well as I wished to see Sagada during the Christmas break, between Christmas as well as new Year, we understood we would be in for a challenging planning stage. December is thought about a top season in Sagada so discovering accommodations can be a great deal less simple within this period. Why did we select to go in December? since we wished to feel the chilly as well as we wished to join the annual Bonfire Fest, which occurs typically on December 27 or 28. right here are the things we had to work out prior to our trip:

1. Transportation. You can reach Sagada on public transportation through any type of of the complying with routes.

Via Baguio City

Via Banaue

Via Bontoc

Since we were a group 0f 10, we chose it would be much more practical as well as comfortable to just lease a van as well as split the cost. This way, we might make the most of our time as we would travel in the evening as well as reach Sagada in the morning rather than spend a full day on the road if we take the bus. (There are no evening trips to Sagada from Baguio.) The expense of van rental for 3 days as well as 2 nights inclusive of whatever (from driver’s charge to gas to toll fees) was PhP 17,000, which implied each of us would shell out P1,700 for transportation. Not bad.

2. Accommodation. We started planning this trip a bit as well late, which we realized when all the hotels we called were all fully-booked. fortunately for us, blog writer good friend Benj of VisitSagada.com, who was already in Sagada that time, assisted us discover a guesthouse which might fit us. We ended up occupying a space at Ligaya’s guest home as well as Cottages. checked out my evaluation here.

3. Itinerary. producing a Sagada schedule wasn’t that challenging for us since I, having been there before, was able to quote exactly how much time it took to total each trip we wished to take. Here’s our preliminary itinerary:

Day 0: DEPARTURE
07:00 pm – satisfy up (Manila)

Day 1: ARRIVAL, LUMIANG BURIAL CAVE, SUMAGUING CAVE
07:00 am – Arrival in Sagada
07:20 am – breakfast at Salt as well as Pepper
08:30 am – inspect in at Ligaya’s guest House
09:30 am – Lumiang Burial Cave
10:15 am – Sumaguing Cave
01:30 pm – Lunch
03:00 pm – Echo Valley, Sagada Weaving, objective Compound
06:00 pm – Dinner
07:00 pm – Rest

Day 2: BOMOD-OK FALLS, rock INN, BONFIRE
06:00 am – get up call
07:00 am – Bomod-Ok Falls
12:00 pm – rock Inn as well as Cafe, Orange picking
03:00 pm – modification clothes, rest
05:00 pm – Prepare for Bonfire
12:00 am – return to Hostel

Day 3: DEPARTURE, KILTEPAN SUNRISE
04:30 am – get up call
05: 10 am – view sunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint
06:30 am – ETD Sagada,
08:00 pm – ETA Manila

Of course, we were not able to comply with it strictly however what really occurred was quite close!

Top Inns as well as Guesthouses in Sagada

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Day 0 – Meet-up as well as Departure

A couple of days before the trip, four of our good friends flaked out, leaving only six people. While it sucked that they backed out just like that, the six of us chose to still push with with the trip in spite of understanding that the expense of transportation would boost dramatically.

The group satisfied at Trinoma in Quezon City, where the van was waiting on us. At 7pm, we hit the road. Our very first stopover was at a gasoline station at NLEX, where we grabbed quick dinner as well as some toiletries. Our chauffeur made a few stops after that however I was asleep the whole time. When I woke up, the sun was already shining as well as we were already in Sagada.

Day 1 – Arrival in Sagada, Sumaguing Cave Spelunking Tour

Had we shown up while it was still dark, we could’ve prioritized catching the well-known Kiltepan Sunrise on our very first morning in Sagada. Unfortunately, we were a few minutes as well late. We chose to just stay with our original itinerary. We had breakfast at Salt as well as Pepper Diner (which we loved), booked trip guides at the SaGGAs office (Sagada authentic Guides Association) as well as then inspected in at Ligaya’s Guesthouse as well as Cottages.

After an hour of rest, we went back to the town appropriate as well as started the Sumaguing Cave Tour, with a quick sight-seeing stop at Lumiang Burial Cave. (We really had a short discussion about whether doing the Cave connection trip instead.) After three as well as a half difficult hours of spelunking inside the cave, we had lunch at Masferre country Inn as well as restaurant as well as went back to the hotel to freshen up. Unfortunately, our beds were magnetizing us that we chose to not get out of it up until dinner.

Sumaguing Cave
Here are the comprehensive accounts of what occurred on our very first day! inspect out these posts:

Salt as well as Pepper Diner

Ligaya’s guest home as well as Cottages

Lumiang Cave

Sumaguing Cave

Yoghurt House

Day 2 – Bomod-ok Falls, Orange Picking, as well as Echo Valley

We started our second day at the Lemon Pie House, where I had the very first lemon pie that I really liked as well as loved. After that, we promptly drove to the gain access to point to Bomod-ok Falls. We climbed up as well as down the terraced hills of what seemed like permanently up until we reached the mighty Bomod-ok as well as get drenched in all its cold, chilly glory. Haha. It was a excellent experience albeit exhausting.

We then headed to rock Inn as well as cafe for lunch as well as for a quick see to their orange orchard for some choosing session. I always delighted in orange-picking possibly since it’s not everyday that I get to see orange trees. When we were done, we were delighted to see our lunch served, which we completed in no time because we were all quite starved.

Bomod-ok Falls
We then went our method back to the town proper. On the method there we made a stop at Sagada Weaving as well as at a little pottery shop near Mapiya-aw Pensione. We were then dropped off at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, from which we would begin walking to the Echo Valley. We passed with the much more contemporary objective Compound Cemetery, where we spent a number of minutes taking a look at tombstones as well as reflecting. We then traversed a cliff to the Echo Valley (which was a short, quite simple walk) however we didn’t stay that long. later in the evening, we joined many of the tourists in Sagada at the Bonfire Fest!

Here are the much more comprehensive chronicles of our Day 2 experiences:

The Lemon Pie House

Bomod-Ok Falls

Orange choosing at rock Farm

Sagada Weaving

Mission Compound Cemetery

Echo Valley as well as the Hanging Coffins

Bonfire Fest

Day 3 – Kiltepan Sunrise as well as Sidetrip to Banaue Rice Terraces

The sun had yet to increase when we started our third day. As early as 5am, we were already in the van on our method to Kiltepan perspective to catch the well-known Sagada sunrise. It was still dark when we shown up as well as we had to walk with a thick blanket of fog covering red soft muddy ground. We climbed up the hill as well as waited at the perspective for the heavenly spectacle! The sunrise was beyond breathtaking!

After that, we went back to the town appropriate for breakfast as well as then to our guesthouse to fetch our belongings. Our chauffeur provided that we take the Bontoc-Banaue path on our method back so we might see the rice terraces in Banaue as well as Bay-yo. We agreed, even though we understood it would take much more time. It was a great decision. We were able to admire these two sites (although from afar) as well as it was worth the travel time.

After a number of much more stopovers (including late lunch in Nueva Vizcaya), we lastly shown up in Manila at around midnight!

Check out these messages as I narrated right here in detail what occurredto us per stop.

Kiltepan Sunrise

Bay-yo Rice Terraces, Bontoc, mountain Province

Banaue Rice Terraces, Ifugao

Expenses

Even before the trip started, we understood the most significant chunk of our budget plan would go to transportation expenses. Again, we were expected to be a group of 10 renting a personal van for P17,000 (3days, 2nights inclusive of driver’s fee, gas, as well as toll fees) however then a few of us started dropping like flies up until we were trimmed down to a group of 6. What was expected to be P1,700 per head ended up being P2,834 per person.

Anyway, here’s the breakdown of our costs in Sagada.

P2,834 – Van Rental per person

P1,400 – overall Food

P500 – Ligaya’s guest House, 2 nights

P133 – Sumaguing Cave trip (P800/6 pax)

P33 – Echo Valley trip (P200/6 pax)

P100 – Bomod-ok Falls trip (P600/6 pax)

P250 – Bonfire Fest ticket (inclusive of transportation, buffet dinner, as well as drinks)

P50 – rock farm Orange choosing entrance Fee

P150 – Oranges (P50/kilo)

P20 – shower charge (Sumaguing Cave)

P200 – Incidentals (bottled water, junk food, etc)

P5,670 – TOTAL

Hmmm. quite expensive, huh? Please note that this was because of our friends’ backing out at the last minute, which required us to cover their transportation charge as well. had they gone with us as they committed, there would have been much more people dividing the cost. had we understood that we would only be a group of 6, we would have taken public transportation instead, too! Hay, I dislike flakers!

Anyway, flakers or no flakers, Sagada will always be one of the most unforgettable destinations for me. I’m just in like with the highlands, the weather, the food, as well as the locations to see in Sagada!

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