Before I go for my next trip, I figured it's better to get this wayyy back dated post done. Since the first trip I made, I (and my travel mates) did most of the plannings ourselves. I've never went on any package trip or trip with tour group. At most we planned the location and got local tour guide for a day trip.
This Philippines trip (4 January to 11 January 2013) has got to be the most random trip I have been to so far. I don't even remember what we did for which day so I'll just blog it as a sum up post wtf. Prior to the trip, we were all very busy. Nobody had sufficient time to plan for the trip. Thus, this has to be one of the most useless travel post on Philippines fml. I will however guide you through places to go and why we made such choices.
Following are the routes we picked very last minute. Picked different route to and fro so that we can experience different views along the way.
Northern route: http://sagada.org/ride/manila-baguio-sagada/
Southern route: http://sagada.org/ride/sagada-bontoc-banaue-manila/
I am currently planning for Taiwan trip, full plan with accommodation, where to go, how to get there, all the prices and opening hours etc. Boy, a random trip/"free and easy" could be so much easier and relax. I, however, wouldn't want to miss important spots in Taiwan.
I am glad we chose Boracay over Manila. I've always wanted to visit places for their natural beauties and scenery, not the shopping malls and busy traffic. Thus, I present you the most random trip, with lots of food photos. We didn't even know where were we going, didn't book hotel in advance and did planning on the road itself.
Due to my passport tragedy which I blogged earlier, we had to depart a day later. We landed at Clark International Airport, after meeting up with my friends at a Hotel nearby, we went to the mall to get lunch and some snacks. Then we made our trip to Baguio right away in a bus (Our plan was to get to Sagada, but we need to stop at Baguio). The Victory Liner bus was really empty, and quipped with WiFi! Check schedule here: http://www.victoryliner.com/schedules/.
The thing about Philippines buses (not only this one to Baguio but also other buses we took after), they doesn't seem like they have a final destination. As in it can stop anywhere without proper signage, we didn't even know where we were already at our destination. Some stop were just at the road side, not even proper bus terminals =.= What we did, we just kept asking the driver whether we were at our destination. And after veryyyy long hours on the bus, it stopped at a roadside and asked us to get off. It is dark, and approximately 8PM. We were not even sure where we were but when we got off the bus, it was cold! It felt like Autumn in South Korea :D
The location were we got off, there was a van waiting. Probably seeing us so lost, truth is we didn't even know where to stay, so the driver offered us to stay at a hotel nearby. The price was not bad for that hour, and for the desperate us. The driver requested for tip! I still dislike tipping countries >_<
The hotel, couldn't recall the name, is uphill and located near a 7-11 mart! It was so humid and cold, one of the bed kinda broke. But just for an overnight stay we endured. Before getting in bed, we wondered off to the nearby 7-11 in the blissful weather! How I miss being in such perfect weather. Ate Pork Noodle for supper!
And because it was after Christmas, we saw Christmas decorations at the petrol station next to 7-11. We figured that the area was occupied by Koreans. There is a Korean Restaurant (Bulgogi!!), Korean-English Learning Center and bumped into Korean teenager at the 7-11. Honestly the hotel in Clark was also run by Korean owner, with lots of Korean customers. We saw many Koreans in the mall, I guess Koreans really like the Philippines?
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| Christmas decorations at the petrol station |
The next day we woke up early for Church! It was Sunday and being in a Christian dominant country, we wouldn't want to miss the chance. took a taxi from the hotel upon request. It was not very far away. And the Cathedral was sooo beautiful! Unlike many modern designed churches in Malaysia, Cathedral Baguio still preserve the classic look!
After church which was sooo early, it was still pitch black when we arranged. We went back to our hotel for breakfast, pork is served everywhere in the Philippines. Even though I really love pork, I was in need to more vegetables towards the end of the trip fml.
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| Checked-out from Hotel |
At one of the rest stop, my friend bought Balut!
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| Balut, one of Philippines exotic food. |
Also some snacks for our longgg journey. Again, we knew we were going to Sagada but we didn't know how that place will look like. Didn't even check the weather and because we sat at the pathway fml, we didn't get much view. On the next stop, the driver had to fix something on the bus. I looked out the window and figured there must be many people smoking outside fml. Went we stepped out of the bus, it was cold! It was the fog/mist and we were at the highest point of Sagada.
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| Rice terrace |
On the way I've jotted down places to stay in Sagada (Sagada webpage: http://www.visitsagada.com/). Due to the tiring journey and the hilly paths, we settled for somewhere closer and also with good review and price. Residential Lodge! It is in fact the highest rated place to stay in Sagada. Glad it wasn't booked out because we didn't make any reservation. Should you go there, do call Mary Daoas +639196728744. The view and weather were really nice, I loved it! Upon arrival at Sagada, you need toto register and pay a miniscule fee of Php20.00.
After check-in, we went around Sagada. Walking in the perfect weather!
And by night, settled dinner at a nearby eatery.
For supper we went for pie! The famous pie of Sagada located at The Sagada Lemon Pie House (http://sagadalemonpiehouse.blogspot.com/). Sagada is not really big, you can walk around the small town (with mostly hostels) in half a day or less. We actually spent our evening walking towards the village nearby.
The next day, booked the earliest tour for caving and hanging coffin! There are 2 routes but we chose the shorter route due to physical strength and time constraint :D We had a tour guide and a driver who will bring us around. You can choose to walk but we didn't have much time as we plan to depart to Bontoc in the afternoon on the same day.
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| Hanging coffins, but you'll have to be there to have a clearer view |
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| Sagada and it's wonderful weather in the morning! |
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| Starting our caving! |
We were not wearing appropriate clothes because we didn't do much research, just go with the package offered at the Tourist Information Centre. We were actually not really prepared for what we signed up for. We went for Sumaging Cave and came out through the same route. The longer route would take you exiting through the other side of the cave.
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| Was really dark, no proper path. We just stepped on all the bats' poo and whatever we walked past because the only person with light source was the tour guide. And because I was taking photos so practically the last person |
It was however, totally worth it! The view in the cave was marvelous! Definitely a must visit in Sagada.
And this was not really the most challenging part. There were many parts where the tour guide need to help us get up and get down the steep and slippery paths. For someone just slightly bigger than me, kudos for his strength!
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| God knows where this hole leads to. Have you watched "Sanctum"? |
If you picked the longer route, you would've exit at where the Hanging Coffins were located. But since we took the shorter route, we went to the location via van.
After getting back to our lodge and cleaning up, the bats' poo stained clothes was almost "unrecoverable" Fol. We took a jeepney to Bontoc. And we rode ON TOP of the jeepney. It was an exciting experience despite the risk (of doing that on a mountain road) and the pain our asses had to suffer. The view of the mountains and rice terraces were what we really looked forward to. No photos due to the fear of dropping my camera, and I was busy keeping my hair in place Lol.
Lunch at Bontoc while we wait for our bus to Manila! Have I mention how Filipinos love meat, specifically pork? We ordered everything on their mix rice menu and everything was pork!
Of course if you are not on budget like we are, you can always hire a van and tour guide for Baguio, Sagada, Bontoc and Banaue tour.
Here comes the bad experience, so bad I didn't have time or energy to take any photos. So again we only knew we were going to Manila but didn't know where exactly to stop. We arrived town around midnight and were asked to get off at an petrol station! At that time we were not even sure whether we were already in Manila Fol. Everything was closed and what we did was to look around and I saw a motel. Because we were so exhausted from the long journey, we just check-in. The receptionist didn't understand English we so we just said "2 rooms ok" wtf. We went to our rooms and they were...small and very run down. Rather than sleeping, we just lie on the (oddly smelling bed) and waited for daylight.
At daylight, we took a cab nearby and left for the airport. Only then we realized we were in Manila, after looking at sign boards, flags all over and the horrifying traffic. So practically we unknowing stayed in Manila for one night (at probably the worst hotel in Manila) and "drop past" Manila city in a taxi.
After that was all what we were anticipating, trip to Boracay. Though it was a direct trip like I expected. Just like Koh Samui, we landed at an airport quite far away. Had to take bus then ferry to arrive at the beautiful island.
The rest is history. Boracay accommodation was booked. The view was nice. We also booked a half day tour to the other side of the "less disturbed" beach and to the highest peak of Boracay. Though the weather was much hotter than Sagada, the view was a whole different thing. We partied at night (one of the best night life!) and due to budget, didn't do much water activities. Would totally go back there!
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| Dinner on the beach! With sun setting behind us. |
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| Shakey's for brunch before we headed for day tour! |
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| "Less disturbed" Puka beach |
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| View of Boracay from the top spot! |
After Boracay, we went back to Clark before our flight back to Malaysia. Stayed at a hotel near the airport and went to the mall nearby! Bought some Philippines made goods and ate Philippines food buffet at Cabalen! Must try if you didn't manage to try all the Philippines food~
For supper, ordered delivery Jollibee. Maybe it was delivery and we didn't know what is best so it was so-so to us. Will definitely try Jollibee again since I've seen many good reviews about it!
End of Philippines Tour!
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