Friday, November 11, 2011

Viaje Sagada | The "Topload" Way to Sagada

My road trip to Sagada last Halloween still haunts me every night, it seems that I left my soul in Sagada. My fingers were really itching to put this series up on my blog. And so, after 4 nights of rough sleep due to post-travel syndrome, finally, here comes my Sagada series (at nagbukas ang telon).
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Months turned weeks, weeks turned days, and days turned hours. For the past 4 months (yup, this trip was cooked 4 months ago), I've been drooling for this ultimate Sagada experience while doing my countdown in my FB status.

My Facebook statuses since August

Day 1 - October 29, 2011

The day finally came, I'm all set for a week long vacation. We (a group of 10 lakwatseros and lakwatseras) left Victory Liner's Pasay Terminal at 3:20 am, our destination - the City of Pines . Robbie of thetravelingdork.com did all the bus reservation as well as the accommodation in Sagada, no hassle, no worries.
| There are three routes that leads to Sagada, Option A) Manila-Baguio-Sagada, Option B) Manila-Banaue-Sagada, Option C) Manila-Bontoc-Sagada. All details are posted here. As per our trip, we did the Manila-Baguio-Sagada Route.
By 10:30 pm, we reached Baguio City. It was a 7 hours long butt-numbing road trip to Baguio. Two more lakwatseros joined us upon reaching the City of Pines. We hurriedly went to Dangwa Bus Terminal to catch the last trip to Sagada but I guess we're out of luck.

The Bad News: There were no more buses going to Sagada, the next trip will be on the next day.  

The Good News: Heiz of journeyingpinay.com, who happens to have an Ilocona tongue, managed to get us a rented vehicle, the price is doubled but who cares, all we want is to reach Sagada by that same day.
| Buses to Sagada at Dangwa Terminal cost P220 one way. But in times of peak and high seasons, getting a bus to Sagada could cause you a headache. Your next option if you're with a group and you're in Baguio is to rent a vehicle, price range from P4000 to 5000. 
on the road to Sagada
At around 12:30 pm, we were already on our way to Sagada. Everyone was happy and excited. Minutes have passed and we all got bored inside the van. After passing the toll gate to Halsema Highway we did the things that crazy men do. Topload our way to Sagada!

oh yeah!
The best views while on the road in the Cordilleras can only be seen if you're on topload. I would not dare to miss this chance, so I did the "Topload Way to Sagada" despite the coldness and fear of curves in the long winding road.

the clouds covering our way
Vwallla. the mountains of Cordillera
It was my 4th time doing the topload and certainly, the road to Sagada is the best (yet). From time to time, the road was covered by thick low-lying clouds literally giving me chills down to my spine. But the views that would surprise us everytime the clouds subside, agghhrr, that causes me more goosebumps. Terraces after terraces, cliffs after cliffs, the views never fail to amaze me.

Terraces

The time was around 2:20 pm, we had a stop-over upon reaching the "Highest Point" marker. The views from that spot are still amazing.

Photo by Josh. Team Sagada at the "Highest Point" marker
view from the highest point
Our driver did not allow us to do toploading beyond the Highest Point Marker. He said that there are some checkpoints ahead of us. So from then on I enjoyed the view from my window.

Fastfoward>>> After 2 more hours, at 5:30 pm, we reached Sagada. The quaint town of Sagada was silent at dusk. I was so excited even more, our Sagada extreme adventure will start first thing on the next day.

welcome to Sagada
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Viaje Sagada-Baguio Series, Sagada-Baguio Trip for 7D6N (Oct 29-Nov 4, 2011)
Viaje Sagada | The "Topload" Way to Sagada - Part 1
Viaje Sagada | No Sun at Kiltepan - Part 2
Viaje Sagada | I Survived Cave Connection - Part 3
Viaje Sagada | Lost in Echo Valley - Part 4
Viaje Sagada | Pongas Falls and the Death-defying Trek - Part 5
Viaje Sagada | Witnessing the Begnas Ritual - Part 6  
Viaje Sagada | The Might of Bomod-ok Falls - Part 7
Viaje Sagada | Blazing Rituals of Panag-apoy - Part 8
Viaje Sagada | Indigenous Flavors of Sagada - Part 9
Viaje Sagada | Soloing the Hanging Coffins of Echo Valley - Part 10
Viaje Sagada | Foodtrip in Sagada - Part 11

Itinerary | Sagada 

 
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13 comments:

  1. WANDER SHUGAHNovember 11, 2011 at 12:44 PM

    wow! How i wish i can visit sagada anytime soon! I've read a lot of good things about sagada!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RobbieNovember 11, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    At nag-umpisa na rin ang pinananabikan mong Sagada series!

    Grabe buti ka pa no worries and no hassle sa bus tickets and accommodations ha! Nanay mo nga ako at ako ang nag-ayos nun para sayo! Hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lavNovember 11, 2011 at 8:31 PM

    excited for the part 2 of this post! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. NortehanonNovember 11, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    Hi there, fellow itchyfeet hehehe.

    I hope you'll also find time to visit the rock formations of Biri in my home province, Northern Samar. They are aaammmaazzing! :) You can google it. Or puwede ka rin naman dumalaw sa blog ko ang click Biri sa categories ;) Wala lang, na-inspire lang akong i-invite ka hahaha.

    ReplyDelete
  5. John Marx VelascoNovember 12, 2011 at 1:37 AM

    Wow mauunahan mo pa ata ako... Mawawala ako ng limang araw at di ako makakapagblog! Haiz... Busy! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownNovember 12, 2011 at 8:59 AM

    eto na yung Sagada series hehe. Topload - everyone should experience it. Yun lng dont text and topload at the same time

    ReplyDelete
  7. ivanlakwatseroNovember 12, 2011 at 8:20 PM

    @Fashionista, go na, don't think twice... hndi ka magsisisi sa Sagada.

    @Robbie, thanks sa pag-aayos ng trip na ito..

    @Lav, meron nang part 2 :)

    @Nortehanon, hmm.. sana nga mabisita ko na rin ang eastern visayas.. salamat sa pag-imbayt

    @Marx, aba at san ka naman gagala??

    @Marky, topload is the right thing to do :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. KuraNovember 12, 2011 at 9:26 PM

    yikes! never ko pa natry mag top load. Baka mabangasan ako. hahah! Tatalbog ako ng bongga. Anyway, it seems worth it talaga ang buwis-buhay stunt na yan. Ganda nga mga kuha mo. Iba talaga ang charm ni Sagada.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Journeying PinayNovember 12, 2011 at 9:49 PM

    ikaw na ang nagtopload. Batch 2. parang nagtampo ka pa nga, kasi Batch 2 ka. :D I remember I told Kuya Paul-- o magtatOp-load po si Ivan :D Thanks for the mention. when you go to Ilocandia, bring my trying hard, ilocana tounge! More journeys!

    ReplyDelete
  10. thepinaysolobackpackerNovember 14, 2011 at 9:52 PM

    favorite ko na daanana ang Halsema, ganda kas eng view. ayan na nainggit na ako sa mga post nyo! haha

    ReplyDelete
  11. D'QXTCNovember 16, 2011 at 9:24 PM

    hey Ivan. I remember you invited me. thanks anyway. I was busy hiking in the mountains of Tarak nung araw na yan.

    ReplyDelete
  12. cesarJanuary 4, 2012 at 9:52 PM

    hey bro, gusto ko sana malaman if in case i travel alone kung saan at paano ako makakakuha ng sasakyan to do the topload en route to sagada. salamat.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ivanlakwatseroJanuary 4, 2012 at 10:24 PM

    @maricar, true, topload will give you the best views en route to sagada..

    @Hayz, salamt ulit hehe

    @ate Gael, oks lang yan. hehe.. sama ka sa next bagets trip

    @Dermin, sayang pero gusto ko rin mpuntahan yang tarak ridge..

    @Cesar, possible lang po mag topload sa mga public jeep papunta sa sagada (bontoc-sagada) sabihin nyo lang po sa driver na magtatopload ka. Yung Baguio-Sagada route po kasi ay bus ang bumabyahe, hndi po pwede ang topload dun.. goodluck to your solo trip to sagada.

    ReplyDelete