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 by gareth13
Day 1
8:00 am. Caving (2hrs) = included are the following: a view of the hanging coffins and one of the Sagada rice terraces and a short trek to the burial cave, home of the hundred coffins.
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 pm. Sight Seeing Trip = 3 spots to be visited, for some reasons I suggest you take the following: The ECHO VALLEY, UNDERGROUND RIVER, & KILTEPAN RICE TERRACES. All of these sites could be done in half a day. While on your way home, ask the guide where the Sagada Weaving is.
• the time would atleast be 5:00 pm. You could either go for dinner and rest or dinner then for some beer jamming or something. But be sure not to get too drunk and have a hang-over the next day. Tomorrow would be a tough day.
Day 2
7:30 am. Bigfalls = start as early as possible so to maximize your day and to avoid much of the intense heat of sun melting you while hiking towards the falls. I suggest, you hire a vehicle (php 550) so to lessen the agony of hiking before and after climbing the stairs from the Bigfalls.
12:00 LUNCH
2:00 pm. Visit Demang Old Village or Bokong Water falls or both.
4:00 pm. Lake Danum = You should hire a vehicle (450 php) so to lessen your efforts going to that place. While on your way, tell the guide to drop u first at the Sagada Pottery. The pottery is where some locals and outsiders develop their sense of artistry and creativity.. by 4:30 or so, proceed to lake danum and have some rest there while waiting for the SUNSET. It’s a nice view I tell you… that is if the fog won’t spoil your watch.. hehehehe… the sunset will come out around 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. So tell the driver you will be there until you the sun will Set..
7:00 pm. Dinner, Bar Hop, Bonfires, etc.. nightlife is limited to 9:00 pm only.
Day of Departure
Before you go, you could roam around the town for some souvenirs etc. Most souvenir shops are located near the Bus Station.
Based on the itinerary, these are the things you would spend on:
Guide fees:
Caving – 400
Sight Seeing – 400
Big falls Trek – 600
Bokong falls Escort – 200
Demang Old village escort – 400
Vehicle hires:
Caving – 350
Big falls – 550
Bokong falls – 250
Lake Danum – 450
Kiltepan Rice terraces – 350
These are things to be paid during your tour.. But you could reduce these costs through tour packages….
1 Day Tour package = is where you hire a guide (1200 php) for 1 day. It also applies to the vehicle (1200)..
continuation:
I suggest you hire a 1 day tour package with the DAY 2 itinerary only because that is where you need it the most.
Some sites you don’t need a guide is:
Kiltepan Rice Terraces – the driver could just show it to you anyway..
Lake Danum – It’s just near the Road.
Bokong Falls – optional, the driver could just show you the pathway going to the falls, its up to you to follow it. Its only 300 meters going down.
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• Bring your own portable water heater!!! The water usually gets ice-cold especially in the morning. Be ready to pay an additional fee of P30, though, for the extra energy consumption.
• Wear comfortable shoes or strapped sandals with good traction. You would be doing a lot of hiking and trekking and caving during your stay, and the last thing you would want to do is wear shoes that act more like ice skates or rubber slippers that keep on slipping off your feet. Your feet would get all muddy, making it easier for the slippers to slip off. This is important especially when exploring the caves where one small slip may send you falling to the sharp-edged rocks below.
• When going to sights requiring a tour guide (e.g., caves) or a jeepney ride (e.g., Bomod-ok “Big” Falls), it is much more economical to join other tourists with whom you could share the expenses. Usual rates for tour guides range from P500-600/guide.
• Have a map of Sagada. Especially if you are on a tight budget, having a map of Sagada (the one by P.M. Stephens was very useful to us) will do away with the need for tour guides (except the caves where tour guides are REQUIRED). Just make sure you are good with directions! For a map of Sagada, check out my "Packing List" tip.
• Regarding restaurants: You must try St. Joseph’s fried chicken with vegetables and rice (P90); Yoghurt House’s yoghurts (P50-60) and pancakes (P40-50); Masferre’s various food choices. For the budget-conscious, there’s Cuisina Igorota at the back of St. Theodore’s Hospital (it’s actually the hospital canteen). Meal costs P50, inclusive of generous (read: GENEROUS) servings of meat, vegetables, and unlimited rice. The lady cook was so good in preparing delicious meals that we ate there thrice. They also serve iced tap water (unlike the other restaurants), for free of course. And more, they have the only television set I’ve seen in Sagada, complete with cable. Leave a Comment
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• Reserve bus tickets in advance, especially during peak seasons. Autobus has only one daily trip to Banaue, with the bus leaving at 10pm. Ticket costs P462.
• Upon your arrival in Banaue, immediately arrange for your trip to Bontoc. Remember, there is usually only one trip per day. The jeepney leaves at 7-8am, or even earlier. There are, however, 2-3 Bontoc-bound buses from other provinces that pass by Banaue at around 11am-12nn. Ticket costs P100 each.
• Bring along face masks or anything to cover your noses and protect hair from dusts on the way to Bontoc; and
• If you have the luxury to choose your seats, take the seats on the left of the bus/jeep, because the view of the countryside is better on that side.
• Upon your arrival in Sagada, proceed to the Tourist Information Center at the Municipal Hall to register, and pay the fee of P10.
• The daily schedule of jeepneys and buses going to and from Sagada are posted at the TIC. Write them down. The standard rates of tourist guides are also posted there. Write them down too, so you would avoid being victimized by dishonest guides.
• There are various inns and resthouses in Sagada, the most popular are the St. Joseph’s Resthouse, Mapiya-aw Inn, and Sagada Guest House.
• If you stay at St. Joseph’s Inn (or any other inn for that matter), choose a room on the ground floor where water pressure is greater. Guests using the second-floor bathrooms usually have a problem with poor water supply. I’m just not sure if the resthouses located in the lower parts of town (such as Olahbinan and Masferre Inns) have better water supply than those in higher elevations.
• For reservations at St. Joseph’s, call 0918-5595934. There are dormitory-type rooms (sharing a communal bathroom), of different sizes (from 1-person to 6-person capacity). Rate for these rooms is P150/head/night. There are also private rooms with their own comfort rooms, at much higher rates. Leave a Comment
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Well probably the single most activity that I'd ask someone to do when one goes to sagada is to DISCOVER and SURVIVE SAGADA. My friends and I went there last April 1 - 4, 2007 and as what others have to do upon arrival is the register at the municipal hall. Pay Php 10.00 per tourist and the municipal hall will issue you an "OFFICIAL RECEIPT". We walked down the road and saw the office of well abled, skilled and courteous guides from SAGGAS (SAGADA GENUINE GUIDES ASSOCIATION) formerly known as ASSOCIATION OF SAGADA TOUR GUIDES. Well for a fixed rate depending on where you want to go, our guides LESTER TAO-EY (09203925882) AND RANDY DELIGEN (09106346855) brought us to the big falls and the sumaguing cave, the echo valley, the church, the hanging coffins, and the burial caves. At the caves not only did we see their skills in ably guiding and assisting the us around the caves but their complete grasp in the history of sagada. Sagada is such a nice place to visit. Go aroUnd and see al the interesting places in SAGADA. I STRONGLY suggest that when you go to sagada, avail of the services of a DULY ACCREDITED TOURIST. Try the SAGGAS (FORMERLY THE ASSOCIATION OF SAGADA TOUR GUIDES) and make your stay at SAGADA most enjoyable and memorable. Their motto" GUEST SATISFACTION!!!!
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 Burial Caves by herzog63Leave a Comment
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 Coffins by herzog63
The Coffins!! They are called Hanging Coffins but most of them that I saw are stacked in small caves or overhangs on the ledges of the cliffs. Leave a Comment
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 Hanging Coffins by herzog63
Well back to the story my son and I arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon and I wanted to do this hike that afternoon so after checking in at the Greenhouse Guesthouse we started off on our hike and Guess What? I started raining!!! REALLY pouring down!!!! We just kept going as were are pretty hardy hikers!! We made it to the St Marys Episcopal Church which is near the start of the trail but we were just soaked!! Even my little day pack was soaked and we didn't have any rain jackets! We checked out the Church and decided to move on through the Cemetary which was pretty spooky in the rain!! As we made it to the top of the hill we could barely see into the valley. We went down the trail for about 100 Ft but it was just to slippery!! There was no way we could get down into the valley!! So we made our way back to the Guest house hoping that the rain would stop! But it only stopped as we were in the final approach to the Guest House so we went to our room and changed clothes! We only travel with 2 shirts each we couldn't afford to get wet again that night!! And we had to hope that our stuff would dry by morning!! There wasn't any heat in the room so that would be a difficult task!! You can read about the rest of this evening in my Restaurant tips!!
This picture was actually taken the next morning!! Leave a Comment
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 Burial Caves by herzog63Leave a Comment
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 Burial Cave by herzog63Leave a Comment
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Upon arrival at Sagada, head straight to the town hall where the Tourist Information Center holds office. It's just a few steps from where you stepped down from the bus. There you will pay P10 per person for registration. It is also here where you will arrange for guided exploration of Sagada, courtesy of SEGA (Sagada Environmental Guides Association). Guide fees range from P500-P1000 depending on your chosen iteneraries (e.g. caving, nature hikes, camping, rapelling, etc.).
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