The Great North Luzon Adventure, part 4: Sagada Lite

Under cut: Things to do in Sagada if you only had a couple of days to spare and absolutely no desire to go caving.



Sagada was not in the original plan at all, but yeah, in the spirit of spontaneity and all, Andrea pitched the idea to me a few days before the trip itself, and we were like, O, nasa Baguio na rin lang tayo, might as well head to Sagada, y/y?

Being the true Capricorn that she is, the girlfriend planned this Sagada overnighter from start to finish, complete with printouts of recs culled from websites. (I love her. Isn't she just adorable?)

As instructed, we were at the Dangwa Station by 5:30 a.m., just in time for the first GL Lizardo bus to Sagada to arrive at around 5:45 a.m. Tickets cost P220/head one way. We mistakenly sat on the first row (reserved for persons with disability -- how we did not know this will always be a mystery, but yeah, NOW WE KNOW, thanks GL Lizardo!) The bus left around 6:30 a.m. Two kind Davaoeñas shared that the view was better at the right side of the bus so that's where we sat. They were correct hehe.

I wish I had more photos of the things I saw on the way to Sagada -- the view of the terraces off Halsema Highway in their varying shades of green is absolutely breathtaking. All along I couldn't help but think about how gorgeous and picturesque the Philippine countryside is -- how could I have missed this for the first 26 years of my life? Yeah, I had no idea too.

We arrived in Sagada just after lunch -- yes, it's a grueling six-hour ride if you're not a fan of bumpy bus rides, so you better get your Bonamine on before boarding. The Halsema Highway snaked through the mountains all the way -- and when I said 'snaked', I meant 'slithered' in the most bendy way possible. The bus stopped for bathrooms every two hours, and the final leg consisted of a really rough ride through mostly unpaved roads upward to Sagada.

We got a room in St. Joseph's Inn, located a few flights of stairs away from where we were dropped off by the bus right in the heart of the town. Our room cost P1,200/night, which was reasonable considering we just wanted to stay for a night and be as comfortable as we can afford. The room had a queen size bed with leopard print sheets (I lol'd IRL yeah) and a bath with hot water. The weather was not as cold as expected, but it did hail in the afternoon (complete with bits of ice bouncing off the road, no kidding!)

Also, we kept on bumping into French nationals, which excited Andrea haha. She tried to converse with them in French. I think they were charmed. (I mean, I was. Hehe. How could anyone not be charmed?)

We ate lunch at the nearby Cafe St Joe so we can function properly for the rest of the afternoon. Nothing life changing, but it helped. Anyway.

View from Cafe St Joe. Hello Sagada!

Our first stop was the Sagada Municipal Hall, where a kind kuya behind the counter informed us that we didn't have to go hardcore caving to get a view of the Hanging Coffins -- some of them were visible just off the road. YAY. We didn't want to go caving, so we didn't need a guide. And so we began walking down the road -- a completely ordinary-looking one, it may have been a road in Cavite! :)

We passed by restaurants with familiar names like Yoghurt House (which we decided to try later) and were attracted to the sight of a cat bathing itself in front of the yellow walls of the Lemon Pie House some fifteen minutes from the Municipal Hall. (Yes -- a fifteen minute downhill walk)

We entered and ordered some pies (eggpie and lemon pie for P25/slice!) and a cup of coffee (Sagada coffee for P30/cup!) and played with the pregnant cat named Vivian. Here be photos:

Lemon Pie House interiors

Two pies and a coffee. My favorite photo of this entire trip.

Sagada coffee

Vivian is awesome but she keeps bathing herself. It's like the cat has severe PMS or something

A very accommodating Ate Loida served us food and coffee and let us use the wifi. She told us we weren't that far away from that bend in the road where you can actually see the Lumiang Hanging Coffins (say, fifteen minutes) but then it started raining so we had to hang out a bit longer. Thank god for our good timing!

Ice from the skies!

When the rain stopped, we left Lemon Pie House -- but not without ordering their famous blueberry pie (seasonal -- available in the summer months only! We got too lucky this time!). Ate Loida said it would take a couple of hours to bake and asked us to return by then.

And so we kept walking until we finally saw the Hanging Coffins -- it was a glorious, if a bit creepy, sight. I mean, the jagged rocks looked like monks guarding the coffins, you see.

Hanging coffins

We tried walking further if only to see what else we can see down the road, but then about halfway through we got tired so we decided to hike back up and try something from the much hyped Yoghurthouse.

Andrea had pasta called Mushroom and Cheese

I ordered their yoghurt. It felt like mayonnaise but it was all right.

I was expecting something that would totally blow me away based on all the good stuff we've read about them on the Internet, but sadly, this meal did not do it for us :( We were told the much-talked about Hiker's Special was only available in the morning. Sadness.

We dropped by Ate Loida about fifteen minutes earlier than promised. Had another round of Sagada coffee while waiting and then Andrea spied the other cat and ran after him as well. Outside it was already well into the afternoon. Soon, we had to wrap up our brief Sagada visit. We got our blueberry pie as promised and bid Ate Loida goodbye.

The hike up was EXCRUCIATING, you guys. Haha. Also, dogs were everywhere and so were their poop. As in all over the street. It was very inconvenient, honestly.

(In one of our later trips to Mt Cloud Bookshop post-Sagada, we were told that they were chased by COWS while on their way home. Sayang we did not see these cows haha)

When we got back to the inn we were out of breath, hands braced upon our knees, panting like the totally under-exercised city brats that we were. Haha. Ate Belen, the nice lady behind the counter at St Joseph's, couldn't hold her grin back at the sight of us totally exhausted. Haha.

Needless to say we fell asleep immediately after taking our respective showers. When we woke it was already 6 in the morning -- just in time to catch the 8 a.m. bus to Baguio.

But first, breakfast:

Sagada coffee. I will miss you.

For the champs.

We managed to get seats in the 8 a.m. bus that stopped by the town square -- not as nice as the one we came in, but we figured, the earlier we got out of Sagada, the better.

It was so hard to take photos while on the bumpy bus but here's one.

We arrived in Baguio at around 2 p.m., right on schedule. We were starving but we had to walk from Dangwa Station to Session Road, where we wanted to check out Oh My Gulay -- which turned out to be well worth the trek up to the fifth floor of the La Azotea Building.

Light and dark

Anak ng Putanesca, Oh my Gulay Salad

Kung fu crepe + coffee - thanks for the bonus blueberries! :)

Were also treated to an impromptu magic show using cards courtesy of Oh My Gulay waiter Kuya Dustin.

Met her parents at SM Baguio's Starbucks later that night and had dinner at Max's.

In summary: I'm not really that well-traveled so I don't know if it would count for much when I say this, but I'll go ahead and say it anyway: The bus ride from Baguio to Sagada via Halsema Highway is something I'd never forget, and it isn't even because it was frightening (try being on the edge of ravines 85% of the time) but because the view was absolutely glorious. Breathtaking. I wish I took more photos while on the bus -- I'd never seen so much green in my entire city-bred life. So beautiful. That is all.

UP NEXT: VIGAN!

n.b. Andrea's Sagada entry, which contains marvelous photos taken on the bus on the way over and more, is here on her Livejournal. =)