Surviving Sagada!
This tour is part of my 4-day Banaue-Sagada trip
Dec. 19-22, 2015
Itinerary:
Day 1 1300 Arrival at Sagada, Check in at Panikpikan house 1400 Sumaguing cave tour 1700 Back to the hostel, rest, freshen up 2000 Dinner 2100 Walk on the street, Sagada at night 2300 Lights off Day 2 0500 Wake up, light breakfast 0730 Off to Marlboro Mountain and Blue Soil 0800 Started trekking 1300 Back to the town 1330 Late lunch 1400 Back to the hostel, rest, freshen up 1630 Visited Sagada pottery 1700 Lake Danum, sunset watching 1730 Sagada weaving 1800 Souvenir hunting, Reserved a seat for bus bound to Manila 2000 Dinner 2200 Bought streetfood 2300 Lights off Day 3 0430 Went to Kiltepan peak for sunrise viewing 0700 Orange picking 0900 Back to the town 1000 Walking tour again 1200 Lunch 1330 Back to the hostel, pack up 1430 Went to the terminal 1500 Departure |
Brief History:
Biag, the founder of Sagada, bothered by the dangers posed by headhunting enemies and the destruction caused by wild pigs on his kaingins, left the mountains together with the families of his brothers and sisters and found themselves settling somewhere in Candon, Ilocos Sur. Wary of attempts by Spaniards to have them baptized with Spanish surnames, he left Candon together with his family and moved back to a place further west. Later he started back to the mountains until he finally came to what is now Sagada. Biag brought with him a cultural background, enriched by his experiences from "Loco," the Igorot name for the lowland coast, into this land "Golot," the name Igorots gave their place of origin. Deducing the facts surrounding the story of Biag, Sagada came about in the 1830's. This was about the time Governor Claveria was enforcing the giving of Spanish surnames to the Filipinos. Biag instituted a ground religious festival that took place every ten years wherein the dried tails of pigs sacrificed for the occasion were kept in a basket knapsack of Biag which had been preserved to the present. The period of Biag could be established by the count of the tails. The name Sagada came about when a group of Spanish soldiers coming from Besao met a man near Danum Lake who was carrying a bamboo basket for catching fish. The soldiers asked the man what the name of the next place was. Thinking that they were asking what he was carrying, the man answered, "sagada." From then on the settlement of Biag went down on Spanish records as Sagada. Ignacio Daoas was elected mayor for the 1988-1992 term, Maximo B Dawas for the 1992-1995 term, and Thomas A. Kilip for two terms, 1995-1998 and 1998-2001. The municipality is composed of 19 barangays. These barangays are Aguid, Ambasing, Ankileng, Antadao, Ballugan, Banga-an, Dagdag, Demang, Fidelisan, Kilong, Madongo, Nacagang, Pide, Poblacion, Suyo, Taccong, Tanulong, Tetepan Norte and Tetepan Sur. Source: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/rucar/fnf_mp_sagada.htm |
Spelunking adventure at Sumaguing cave. It was fun, wet, dark and very challenging. We just had the usual spelunking tour being offered. There are other tour offered, like the cave connection but we did not choose that since that’s more challenging (dangerous) according to the guide. For day 2, we decided to do hiking/trekking to Marlboro Mountain and Blue soil. This tour is one of the most expensive one and not commonly visited. Well, we enjoyed the trekking though it was also very challenging due to the mud and wet soil. Unfortunately, we did not really see the sunrise because we went late and see the beautiful scenery on the top/viewdeck of Marlboro mountain that much because the weather was gloomy. After more than an hour of trekking, we reached the place called blue soil. Based on its description, it really has a blue color, blue green to be exact. Another hour was spent trekking again until we reached the last part where we were pick up and brought back to the town. I called this the golden lake. Few meters from here is a good spot for sunset viewing. Another unfortunately, we did not witness it due to the gloomy weather. Another live watching of pot-making. There is an entrance fee for this and a 100php if you want to try pot-making. Saw the products made and also the process on how they weave it. On the third day, we woke up early to prepare and went to Kiltepan peak for the famous sunrise watching and sea of clouds. All I can remember is the coldness that I felt during that time. Unfortunately again, we did not witness any except for the beautiful scenery of rice terraces due to the weather. I never thought that there is an orange farm in the Philippines. Orange picking was the last from our itinerary. There is an entrance fee, however you can eat the orange that you will be harvesting in 30 minutes. If you want to bring it home as pasalubong, you can pay for it. Since I still had roughly 4 hours, I decided to walk again on the streets. Wandering around and appreciating the place. I went to the church to take pictures and see the place. I looked for the museum as well uptown but it was closed. |
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Things to remember:
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EXPENSES:
Day 1
300 Van to Sagada from Banaue
130 Lunch
120 Sumaguing cave tour (shared by 5 people)
20 water
130 Dinner
50 Midnight snack
Day 2
10 Coffee
100 Breakfast
620 Marlboro Mt. and Blue Soil Tour (Shared by 5 people)
110 Lunch
100 Lake Danum tour, Vehicle rental (shared by 5 people)
20 Snack
160 T-shirt souvenir
250 Dinner at Sagada brew
Day 3
40 Cup noodles
50 Entrance at orange picking
71 Price of harvested orange
200 Souvenir
200 Lunch at Sagada Lemon Pie House
600 Room accommodation for 2 nights
100 Snack
720 Bus fare back t Manila
50 Snack, pay cr
110 Meal at Chowking
94 Fare back home
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TOTAL: 4355php
Day 1
300 Van to Sagada from Banaue
130 Lunch
120 Sumaguing cave tour (shared by 5 people)
20 water
130 Dinner
50 Midnight snack
Day 2
10 Coffee
100 Breakfast
620 Marlboro Mt. and Blue Soil Tour (Shared by 5 people)
110 Lunch
100 Lake Danum tour, Vehicle rental (shared by 5 people)
20 Snack
160 T-shirt souvenir
250 Dinner at Sagada brew
Day 3
40 Cup noodles
50 Entrance at orange picking
71 Price of harvested orange
200 Souvenir
200 Lunch at Sagada Lemon Pie House
600 Room accommodation for 2 nights
100 Snack
720 Bus fare back t Manila
50 Snack, pay cr
110 Meal at Chowking
94 Fare back home
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TOTAL: 4355php