Pre-Sagada Adventure: Planning and Preparation

Coined as Sagada "Sagad sa Ganda" Adventure by our chosen tour group, this travel to the north, scheduled during the long weekend of the Philippine Independence Day is our second official tour as a couple. This also serves as our early pre-2nd year anniversary celebration. <3

I. CHOOSING OUR TOUR GROUP

I chose to look for a tour group again just like when I planned our Bohol trip last year since I expected our travel to be much pricier considering that there is just the two of us. To make it a bit cheaper for us, I decided to join a grouped tour wherein different groups are pooled together to form a bigger group. Plus, I enjoy organizing our travel but it would be a hassle to have to worry about actually coming up with our own itinerary when we can just pay someone to do it for us!







After contacting several travel tours via email (I was too lazy to pickup the phone and call each of them one by one), I opted to go for A Whole New World Travel Express (website: http://www.awnwtravel.com/) considering the following criteria:
  1. They are responsive to my emails. Unfortunately, I usually get late to no feedback from them when it comes to my inquiry but I guess it's understandable since I would just send I'm just communicating with them through email and text message.
  2. They have several likes on their Facebook account (around 41k likes as of now): https://www.facebook.com/awnwtravel?fref=ts
  3. The package is the cheapest I have seen based from my preference of choosing a private room with private comfort room for us. The drawback is that we cannot choose the accommodation we want since it would be the tour group's discretion already depending on the availability of the rooms. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we would end up getting a good room. 
  4. I had another tour group option which I have tried before when we previously did our Pinatubo tour but this one has the Banaue-Sagada-Baguio tour.
Here are the inclusions and itinerary for our package:


INCLUSIONS : 3 Days / 2 Nights Accommodation

TOUR INCLUSIONS (what’s included)
>> Roundtrip Seat-In-Coach Van Transfer (Manila-Banaue-Sagada-Baguio-Manila)
>> Fuel Charge, Toll Fees, and Parking Fees
>> Entrance Fees and Permits
>> Tour Guide Fee
>> Government Taxes & Surcharges
>> Side Trip in Banaue Rice Terraces & Baguio Strawberry Farm
>> 2 Days Tour: Echo Valley, St. Mary’s Church, Big Falls, Pottery
House, Sagada Weaving, Sumaguing Cave, and Orange Farm / Rock Inn Café

TOUR EXCLUSIONS (what’s not included)
>> Sumaguing Cave Fee w/c amounts: Php 150/person (for every group of 4 pax)
or Php 450/person (min of 4 pax) for Cave Connection
>> Bomod-Ok Falls Guide Fee w/c amounts: Php100/person (min of 10-12pax)
>> Strawberry Farm Entrance Fee (for strawberry picking)
>> Environmental Fee (Php35/person)
>> All Meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
>> Souvenir Shopping and others that are not written in the Tour Inclusions

ITINERARY

Day 0 (June 11)
9:00 PMAssembly at: SM North Edsa OPEN PARKING, Quezon City (at the back of SM North The Block)
9:30 PMDepart from QC to Sagada
DAY 1 (June 12)
06:00AMBreakfast in Banaue (on own pax account)
>> Side Trip in Banaue Rice Terraces Viewpoint (picture taking)
07:30AMDepart Banaue to Sagada
11:00AMETA Sagada. Check In. Rest
02:00PMPrepare for Sumaguing Cave (optional – guide fee not included)
>> Spelunking at Sumaguing Cave (will take 2-4 hours)
06:00PMBack to Lodging. Rest Free Time
DAY 2 (June 13)
05:30AMWake up call. Breakfast (on own pax account)
06:00AMAssembly
>> Bomod Ok Falls Trek (1.5Hours going down l 2 Hours going up)
please bring snacks & drinks and wear light clothing for your convenience
11:30AMLunch at Rock Inn Farm & Café (on own pax account)
12:30PMResume Sagada Tour:
>> Sagada Weaving & Pottery
>> St. Mary’s Church
>> Echo Valley & Hangging Coffins
04:00PMEnd of Tour. Back to Lodging. Rest. Free Time
DAY 3 (June 14)
03:30AMWake up call. Breakfast (on own pax account)
04:00AMAssembly
>> Proceed to Kiltepan for Sunrise Viewing (optional – depends on weather condition) - 15 to 30 mins trekking
08:00AMEstimate time of departure from Sagada to Baguio
11:00PMLate Lunch in La Trinidad Baguio (on own pax account)
>> Proceed to Strawberry Farm. Souvenir hunting
02:00PMEstimate time of departure Baguio to Manila
09:00PMEstimate time of arrival in Manila

TOTAL COST: Php 3,400 per head

II. WHAT TO BRING AND WHAT TO WEAR

I have never been to Sagada but I am aware that the climate there is very cold. Added to this, it is already the start of the rainy season so we need to be prepared. 

I have done a lot of research to come up with important things to bring and what to wear. The goal is to know the essentials for the travel but at the same time ensure that I am travelling light. I have always had issues with packing and I tend to over pack that's why I had to do this research.

I had to understand the activities we would do so I would know why I need to bring or wear the certain stuff listed on some blogs and articles posted on the internet. After that much needed research, here is a list of the items I think I need to bring/wear:

MANILA-SAGADA-MANILA TRAVEL (ON HAND)
TO WEAR
Light Pants Comfy enough to be worn for this round trip
Cotton Shirts Comfy enough to be worn for this round trip
Closed slip-on flats Comfy enough to be worn for this round trip but won't let my feet get cold
TO BRING
Big backpack (Trekking bag) Where I will place all my stuff
Small backpack The same I'll use when travelling around
Travel pillow The one you can put on your neck. It's a long travel after all.
Food (canned pineapple, oat cookies, nuts) Some of these may also be consumed in one of our activities.
GENERAL THINGS TO BRING WHILE TRAVELLING AROUND SAGADA
Light Jacket/Windbreaker Handy for the cold
Extra clothes w/ underwear To be left in the van just in case I need to change after.
Toque/Knit cap, gloves and scarf In case for the cold
Wallet/cash Around P3000 for the guide fees, environmental fee, food and pasalubong.
Extra plastic For trash or wet clothes. Can be sat on as well.
Sunblock/Sunglasses Sun protection
First aid kit/Medicines In case of emergency
Bug spray To prevent mosquito bites
Umbrella It's rainy season after all
SPELUNKING SPECIFICS
TO WEAR
Rash guard Can get wet and will keep me from the cold and scratches.
Sports Bra I don’t mind just wearing this when it gets too hot and I have to remove the rashguard. It's easier to do some physical activities with this, plus, can also serve as my swimsuit.
Spandex Leggings To keep me from the cold and from scratches. I can use this to swim as well.
Sandugo Slippers It's anti-slip already and we'd need to remove the footwear in some parts.
TO BRING
10-liter drybag To carry all my essentials
Xiaomi Yi cam w/ waterproof case & headstrap To capture all the excitement and the rock formations.
Waterproof case w/ phone and money Need to always keep this with me.
Small bottle of water Just in case  I get thirsty.
Extra drifit shirt Just in case I need to change.
Headlamp Got this for P120 in Divisoria but I didn't haggle anymore. Rechargeable with strong light.
TREKKING SPECIFICS
TO WEAR
Dri-fit shirt Wearing long-sleeves might be too hot.
Mesh 3/4 pants Comfy enough but won’t be too hot or too cold.
Sandugo Slippers My trusty anti-slip footwear.
Sports bra Easy to move with this worn  and will serve as my swimwear
TO BRING
Small backpack To carry all my essentials
Bottled water and snacks In case I get thirsty or hungry
Xiaomi Yi cam w/ waterproof case & selfie pod To capture all the excitement and the amazing view.
Waterproof case w/ phone and money Need to always keep this with me.
Extra dri-fit shirt and light shorts Just in case I need to change.
Spandex shorts For swimming. I can wear this under my 3/4 pants.
Goggles For swimming
Extra plastic For wet clothes, trash
Foldable windbreaker In case it gets cold
AT THE ACCOMMODATION/FOR THE EVENING
TO WEAR
Cotton shirt Heard it gets really cold at night.
Sweater/Thick Jacket Super cold…
Thick socks Really really cold…
OTHER NECESSITIES:
Small power strip Heard there's very few sockets for charging
Cable wires and chargers To charge all my gadgets
Instant Coffee Quick fix in the morning
Toiletries Shampoo, conditioner, soap, facial wash, feminine wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant
Towelite sports towel Easy to carry and easy to dry towel

References:
*Please note that these are just the websites that appear when you Google "Things to bring in Sagada" and I did spend some time reading on them. :D

III. WHERE TO EAT

One of the highlights I have read from a Sagada trip is the different food establishments that must be tried. Thanks to these blogs, I was able to get all the names of these well-known restaurants and their specialties. 

I will no longer list down the places to eat since the blogs are already short and well-written with them. But I did plot them on GoogleMaps just so I'll know how we can go there. 

What I did is I copied the list to a word doc and saved it to my phone for our easy reference. 

References:

Getting Around in GoogleMaps:

IV. SAGADA TRIP: DAY 0

June 11, 2015, Thursday: Today marks Day 0 of our Sagada Trip. I am excited but at the same time nervous because it scares me when I spend so much time planning on something and things would end up going unplanned. I guess I still have this issue of being spontaneous. Good thing, I have my boyfriend with me to cover that area and make me loosen up. I am also worried that we may not enjoy this trip, similar to what happened last year due to some unforeseen circumstances. 

Around lunch time today, I received a text message from the tour group reminding us on the meet up point and time. Later, I'll be commuting to SM North EDSA with all my packed bags. I'll be meeting Ruel there since he will be coming from work in Eastwood.


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