It was my first time to visit Sagada in June 2023. I was with my former high school classmates some of whom I haven’t seen for years, so it was sort of a reunion as much as it was a nature adventure and culture trip. Cel, Claire & Bryan, and Irma flew from Albay; Joy and Joan came from Batangas; while Me Ann, Sally & Rey (and their daughter), and I came from Manila.

We assembled at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay around 7pm Friday. Our two companions who came from Batangas came after two (2) hours because of the long trip. No one was offended though. In fact, we had fun creating a hilarious video mentioning Joy’s name, while role playing an impatient and heartbroken girl who was yearning for him to arrive. 😀

All 11 of us rode in a van and along the way, we told stories of the past, bringing up little anecdotes from our childhood, elementary days and high school days. Interestingly, we learned new things about our colleagues, such as Claire’s penchant for friend-organized “exclusive” beauty contests, where only a select few could attend and view. We relived the thrill of the love story of this and that person, high school crushes, the quirkiness of some our teachers, our life’s experiences and others.

Day 1

Before 5am, we were so thrilled to reach Sagada after almost eight (8) hours of riding the van. We stretched our limbs thankfully and breathed the fresh air. We took pictures of and near the arch and beside the souvenir shop.

After a few minutes, we went back to the van and had our next stopover, where we could see the view of the rice terraces. It was also in this area that we had our Pinoy breakfast.

Then we went to our accommodation, a cozy apartment, were we occupied three (3) rooms– 1 for all girls and for the two couples, one with their 11-year old daughter.

After freshening up, resting, and having lunch at a nearby homey restaurant which was just a few steps from our apartment, we left for an afternoon and evening of adventure — visiting the Sagada Cemetery, the St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, and the hanging coffins, and spelunking in Sumaguing cave.

The Sumaguing cave was an ultimate experience. It’s not for the faint-hearted nor for the clautrophobic or nyctophobic. One even needs to have a good stamina and strong muscles since it combines ascent and descent into darkness (literally), wall-climbing, and strong grip on cave stones, some of which are made slippery by bat droppings.

We then returned to our apartment and after changing our clothing, we went to a viewing deck for a few minutes before we headed to the Sagada Cellar Door.

It was quite late when we got back to our apartment, but some had to do a quick stop at the restaurant (it was still open!) because the child in our group got hungry because there was no “normal” rice in the Cellar Door. 😀

We were all so happy that day that we didn’t run out of stories until the time we were lying down on our wooden double beds but finally decided to go to sleep because of our very early schedule the next day.

Day 2

Around 4am, we were ready to go, wearing our hiking shoes and comfortable clothes. Our goal — to hike to the top of Marlboro Hills before 5am so we can view the sunrise from the top of the hill! It was not an easy feat, but guess what? We made it! Hurray!

At first, we were all energetic and enthusiastic. I even raised each of my leg high with every step (ambitious 😀 ) just to maximize the exercise but almost an hour into the hike, our bodies, which spent most hours of the day behind a desk in the Office, suddenly was thrust with the challenge of completing this long hike before dawn! Our tour guides were agile and jolly and navigated the route with ease, which also helped us complete our goal. At several points in our hike, we were like children asking “Are/n’t we there yet?” because the hike seemed to go on and on.

After spending several minutes marvelling at the magical view (we can never get enough of it), we decided to have breakfast. There was a wide array of food stalls. I chose hot champorado with milk, while of my classmates had macaroni soup, rice meal, and others.

Then after more photos atop the hill, we began the hike down. Energized by the breakfast and the accomplishment of watching the sunrise, we had lively a lively chat and exchanged funny banter with the tour guide. We passed by blue soil, uniquely blue-green in color because of the high copper sulfate content of the soil. We stayed in the area for several minutes and of course, took photos again.

After, we went back to our apartment, freshened up, checked out, and left Sagada to go to Baguio, on our way to Manila. We had lunch at a restaurant, where the food is delicious, the serving is generous and the price is affordable. While there, heavy rains–the type that obscures visibility when driving, which started with a drizzle, fell. We felt lucky that we didn’t experience the deluge and were blessed with a lovely weather when we were touring around Sagada.

When the rain subsided, we left. We went to the strawberry farm (it was not the best time; there were hardly strawberries) and the wet market, where we bought pasalubong. I got some vegetables for my mom and sweets for the Office.

We had a stopover at a pizza shop, had a light snack and went on our way. By the time we reached Good Taste Café and Restaurant and the nearby Burnham park, it was early evening. Our initial plan was to have dinner there, but seeing the long queue, and feeling the start of our muscle ache from our strenous physical activities, we decided to just continue our trip. Also, most of us had to return to work the next day (Monday) and we were calculating our ETA in Manila to be 12 midnight.

Our return trip was again time for kwentuhan but a bit quieter than the trip to Sagada. Our bodies had to “recover” from the physical activities. 😀 And the inner “turmoil” of going back to work next day. Haha! It was around midnight when we arrived in Manila and after hugs and goodbyes, we parted ways.

Overall, our Sagada tour was a really fun and memorable activity, one that I would gladly do again and again with friends. ❤

Author’s Notes:

-We booked this tour with a travel agency so the driver, tour guides, and accommodation are already included in the PhP 2,500 fee per person (+individual contributions for the food & tip). We were looking for a 12th companion since the package includes a free transpo and accommodation, but we were only able to get 11.

-Our tour guides were friendly and efficient. They motivated us to finish our itinerary as close to our initially agreed schedule. They also had little stories about some of the places we visited, which were both entertaining and informative.

-It’s important to use sunscreen as most of the time is spent under the sun. It is also essential to bring a balm or a minty cream and headache/stomach ache/allergy in case a member of the group feels unwell or gets dizzy. In the course of our trip, one participant felt nauseous as we were nearing Sagada because of the winding road. The good thing was she was able to recover fast.

-The featured photos were taken by Joan, Cel and Claire.

-To you, Cel, Claire & Bryan, Irms, Joy & Joan, Me Ann, Sally & Rey, thank you so much for this wonderful trip. ‘Til next time. 😉

Additional notes

-I initially hesitated to add these, but since they’re part of my experience, then I’ll share:

(1) I think it’s important to carry a ready cash for tip, even a small quantity, for those people that greatly assisted in the tour but were not originally part of the plan. For example, when we went to the Sumaguing, a man was so helpful to the group for assisting in navigating the deep cave and going back up. When we left, I wasn’t able to give anything since I didn’t bring cash. We did say “thank you” to him though. He didn’t ask for any, but since it’s their livelihood, it would be good if even a small amount could be provided.

(2) Only one thing blighted my otherwise perfect trip. When we had a stopover at the wet market right outside the strawberry farm, we bought vegetables. There were offered packages, and I got one. One of the three (3) vendors in the same stall offered to give me brocolli (as a free item) and I was all smiles in thanking them. Imagine my dismay when I found out as soon as I got home that 1 set (3 small purple cabbages) were missing in the plastic bag given to me. (And it was the cutest among all the vegetables!) I was telling myself that it was unintentional so I wouldn’t feel bad but it was so clear. I should be more