Northern Adventure : Sagada

Long before the movie Tadhana, I have been fantasizing to go to Sagada, but the stories I heard were not favorable (distance, rough road and so forth) so it was only a dream until it finally became a reality last June.

I was really intending to go hiking to Mt. Pinatubo with my husband. The scenery, once you reach the crater, is just so calming and perfect for a birthday adventure. I searched and searched for packages and sent messages to a lot of agencies but no one ever replied.

It was my birthday month, and I just felt that we needed a break from stress in Manila so I started googling Sagada itineraries. I got hooked and finally made an imaginary itinerary on my mind (expenses, lodging, where to eat and where to go). I started calling lodging homes in Sagada to see if there are available rooms on our desired date. The only thing that hinders me for really pushing forward was the dreaded Halsema Highway. I researched and found out that this highway going to Sagada was listed as one of the most dangerous roads in the world because of the steep crags, narrow and sheer drop offs and a lot of accidents that happened there. Although a lot of people are attesting that it has highly improved, I was still hesitant to take the risk, especially with our kids tagged along. Only when my husband agreed and said that he was willing to drive (and take the risk) did we finally went ahead.

It would take about 10 to 12 hours to reach our destination so we decided to cut the trip in half and stay the night in Baguio. We left at 12 midnight and reached our Baguio hotel at 4AM. One thing we realized was that leaving at the wee hours would be the best time to leave for Baguio because the roads are clear with only a few cars so even after the expressways, we still maintained the same speed of about 80 t0 100 kph. We slept for about 6 hours and then we braved the way to Sagada. From Baguio, it was just 150 kms more but because it rained and the slippery road added more hazzard to the super zigzag road plus fog, it took us  about 6 hours to reach our destination.

Halfway to Sagada is Atok, the highest point in the Philippines. Of course, we just have to stop and take a picture.

We went on until we reached Mountain Province.

It was already about 5PM when we arrived in Sagada. We checked in at Salt and Pepper Lodge. It is a modest and clean hotel in Sagada, not to mention that I only paid 900php for a room of 3 ( my youngest free of charge). The only small problem was lodges in Sagada do not normally have parking spaces. The employees from Salt and Pepper were kind enough to lead us to a pay parking beside Sagada Lemon Pie House. We parked and decided to have dinner there.

Their prices are reasonable ranging from 100 to 200php and we love their famous lemon pie!

Immediately after dinner, we had refreshments at Sagada Brew. It is another great restaurant with fair prices and super delicious drinks. I love my Peppermint Mocha and my husband especially love his Sagada orange shake. My eldest ordered Vanilla milkshake which was good as well but nothing extraordinary.

We retired to bed early because we had to wake up at 4AM the next day. I read a lot of blogs that said that it is always better to leave early to see the sea of clouds from Mt. Kiltepan and also because a lot of tourists flock to the area so you will not have a good spot if you are late. Although there is no guarantee that the sea of clouds would be seen always, we still wanted to go. Besides, this is the main reason why we were there!

That scene from the tadhana movie was just so romantic and I wanted to be on the same ground as well.

It did not disappoint!  We were lucky enough to see the sun rise and the picture of the sea of clouds and the view was just so surreal. What a great God we have for creating such beautiful masterpiece!

After Kiltepan we stopped at Yoghurt House and ordered their Sagada Honey Yoghurt. It tasted so natural and I’d say it was the best yoghurt we have ever tasted so far.

We went to Gaia Craft Cafe after Yoghurt House. Gaia Cafe is another idea from the tadhana movie. Not only was it famous because of the movie but because the cafe in itself is a good place. They only offer vegetarian foods though but it was fine with us because we really also wanted to go vegetarian even once.

We were “mission accomplished” and headed back to Baguio where we stayed for another night before going back home.

It was a day before my 31st birthday and my husband gave me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Baguio and my eldest bought the sweater that I held while we were at the night market.

To sum it all, it was simply a perfect vacation. It was the best because God gave us a glimpse of how wonderful His creations are and a glimpse of how much more beauty we will find when we meet Him in heaven one day. It was a memorable trip because it was time spent with the people that I love the most. All thanks and praise to God for being our Guide and Provider.

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”