My First Trip to Sagada

It was in 2007 when I first went to Sagada, I can no longer remember why and how I knew about Sagada, but I can still remember the excitement I felt when I was planning the trip, I guess my love and interest in nature that grew because of many hiking trips with friends led me in finding the heart of the Mountain Province called Sagada.

Me hugging the Bell, no fence around the Bell back then.

---

I tried recalling the Bus Liner that I used in going to Sagada for the first time, it was a White and Blue Bus , that has a terminal in Espana that is now being used by the Ohayami Bus Line.[an hour later-no luck] Anyways the schedule is still the same with Ohayami Bus line. Me and my partner arrived in Banaue at around 7:00AM, we looked for the terminal of the jeeps going to Bontoc and found out that the trip to Bontoc leaves every hour, we decided to take a later trip so we can stroll around the town of Banaue, we hired a tricycle to take us to the Banaue Viewpoint then back to town in time for the 9:00AM, there are no direct jeep going to Sagada back then, and it took almost 3-4 hours before we arrive in Bontoc, it was mostly rough road at the time. Now it's only about 2 hours ride from Banaue to Bontoc.

View on our way to Sagada

We had our late lunch in an eatery near the police station, while eating I asked the owner [I think], if there is a touristy near the area, she immediately direct us to a Museum just a few minutes walk from the eatery. After finishing lunch we went our way to the Museum, the entrance is Php50 per person, the museum is definitely a must se in Bontoc, it will show the history of the whole mountain province and see different tribes and weapons they used, they have numerous photos of the tribe some are graphic for head hunting was really practiced by some of the tribes, the inner part of the museum will show you weapons, kitchen utensils, clothes and photos of different tribes,  the outdoor part of the museum will show you the house they lived in and tools they used for farming. 

Things to see inside Bontoc Museum. Me and Sheila trying to fit our faces thru the small hut or a photo.

Me and the huts I mentioned

We were surprised when we saw a foreigner inside one of the huts in the museum, he just woke up, I guess because of our picture taking session while strolling around, he said that his friend is in the other hut sleeping, I asked him if he is paying any fee for their stay and said, that it was very minimal and it's their second night, and they just wanted to experience it, they have been in the Mountain Province for almost a month and started talking about Sagada and how  beautiful the  place is and  how they wish 

they could stay forever, that made me more excited, so we went our way and ride another jeep going to Sagada, it took us almost 2 hours of rough road before we finally arrive in Sagada.

We stayed at George Guest House, at the time it was the most popular accommodation in Sagada and well known in the internet. I reserved in advance by phone. ita was Php250 per person per night its has not change much since then, but nowadays it is a bit hard to make reservation because their always full. They aslo serve breakfast and have TV in their rooms. 

The next day we decided to go caving, My first of many Sumaguing Cave experience. We walked from the Municipal hall where we got our guide to Sumaguing Cave, it was a long walk but did not notice it because we were admiring the trees and scenic views along the way and our gide was very informative and funny at the same time. The spelunking/caving experience lasted for 2 hours, after caving we went back to the town proper walking. [Walk took about 30 mins/way] We went to the cemetery, calvary hill, echo valley and church on our own. 

We then decided to go to Bomod-Ok Falls also known as the Big Falls, we asked one of the locals and was told that its about an hour walk from town, there is also a jeep that will leave at 2:00PM, not wanting to wait for more than an hour for the jeep we decided to walk, after walking for more than an hour, we still have not reach our destination as we were told so we continued walking, about 15 minutes away from 2 hours of walking, the jeep that we could not wait for arrived so we rode the jeep and no less than 5 minutes we arrive at the jump off point to Bomod-Ok Falls. I was about to pay the driver but he did not want our payment, I did not insist. Haist...

We started to ask for directions and was pointed where to go, there were no registration at that time and no official guides, you can hire anyone who knows the way, we hired a group of young boys as our guide. We also met two local tourist and we both decided to go to the falls together. it was about 45 minutes walk, we pass thru the small town and the Fedelisan Rice Terraces and then the Majestic Falls. we stayed there for about two hours then decide to go back, it was almost dark when we reach the jump-off point, only then we found out that there is no re public jeep going to back to the town proper. Luckily one of the house nearby will go back to deliver some goods to one of the store near the town, we rode the jam packed FX type vehicle back to town, then straight to our lodge.

The following day we took the first bus going to Baguio, stroll around Baguio for a while then rode the bus going back to Manila.

at Minesview Park

at Botanical garden

at Diplomat Hotel

This was my first Sagada Experience, a full packed three days and two nights Banaue-Bontoc-Sagada-Baguio Experience.