Sagada Adventure 2016

[katie23]

[katie23]

I'm glad there are no big hotels, commercial establishments or franchises; just mostly local businesses.


You can get guides from here. For the nature hikes & caves, you must have a guide.

[katie23]

My friend said that in 2009, they didn't allow vehicles to pass through this road. Now, they do.


This minivan is most likely from a tour group.

[katie23]

[katie23]

[Bettyboo]

Excellent pictures, Katie. Green owned when I've reloaded.

[phunphin]

love a good photo thread, have one of my greens.

you can have one too betty ....oops.555

[grasshopper]

Nice thread Katie. Visited Baguio about ten years ago. Trip up was nice but glad to get the hell out.Due to the bowl effect in the centre it was a monumental carbon monoxide gassing experience. Jeepneys and trikes basically immobile so the passengers copped it large. Never again!

[katie23]

Thanks for all the lurv & the greens. Will update this thread w/ pics when I've got more time. I've only release ~1/4 of the pics. I've only shown the town proper. There's still the trek, the caving & the sunrise on top of Mt. Kiltepan.

@grasshopper: yeah, Baguio can really get trafficky & polluted. It's becoming a Manila but at higher elevation. On the way back frm Sagada, the traffic started at La Trinidad then on to Baguio.

Thnx too to phunphin & aunt betty

[katie23]

Baguio is still good for a weekend getaway, especially if you want cooler climes. However, for nature and mountains, Sagada is much better, IMO.

On with the show... this was our room at the homestay. We used the (shared) bathroom of the family, which was downstairs. The room was on the 2nd floor of the house (or 1/F for the Brits, which I've always found weird. 1/F is different from the ground floor, while in the American system, 1/F is the grd flr). For those who've seen my other threads, that's my trusted backpack & handbag. We've been to many places together. The room is made of pine wood, I think.

[katie23]

After we had checked into our room, it rained a bit, so we rested and waited for the rain to stop. After that, we went to a tour agency office to arrange for our adventures the next day. Then we went for a feed. This was dinner.

Yoghurt with strawberry preserve & bran flakes


Friend and I shared a serving of pasta


Dinner was at Yoghurt House, thus the yoghurt.


Food was good, but a bit pricey. We noticed that generally in Sagada, food was sold at tourist prices (higher than prices in the lowlands) but what the heck, we're tourists and the place comes alive during weekends only, so by buying, we're contributing to the local economy. All good.

After dinner, it was off to dreamland as we were tired from the 20+ hours of travel.

[katie23]

We got our guide from Saggas Tour Guides office. The office was still closed when we passed by. Our guide arrived a few minutes later.


The tour office was near this.

[katie23]

The homestay was along an alley, not on the main road. These are some scenes from the walk to the main road.


I saw lots of ongoing construction. It would be interesting to revisit in the next 5 years.
I hope that Sagada doesn't become overcrowded like Baguio.

[katie23]

It was Saturday, so market day. These pigs were off to the slaughter house.


It's good that we were deep in the valley by the time these pigs were slaughtered.
I eat pork but I don't like to hear their cries as they get killed.
My family reared some pigs when I was a kid. All part of the food chain, but still....

[katie23]

This was our guide, P. We walked uphill to go to the town center. Those are some yuppie tourists. As I've said before, most of the tourists that I saw were local tourists and mostly young professionals.

[katie23]

Aunt Betty, if you're still seeing this, as I've said, I didn't see any goat. But I hope these pics will suffice.


This is for the shifters.

[katie23]

Along the way to the Echo Valley nature trail, we passed by the dry goods section of the market.

[katie23]

This was the bellfry of the Episcopal Church. The original was destroyed by an earthquake (I think the 1990 mag. 8 e.q.), so they made a new, smaller one.


Saw a couple of female foreign backpackers

[katie23]

This is the Church of St. Mary, an Episcopal church. According to our guide, it was the first church built by American missionaries in this region.



There's an UK-flag waving emoticon, why isn't there a US-flag emoticon?
I would've liked to use a US-flag emoticon in this case.

[katie23]

Some pics of the church and its surrounds

[Davis Knowlton]

^^There are. When you type your post, click on "more smiles' in the upper left hand corner just above the emoticons.

.

[katie23]

Since it's an Episcopal church, there's no statue of saints and whatnot, only JC


This wheel was part of the wheelbarrow which hauled the rocks to build the church
(according to our guide)


Very good weather that morning - blue, blue skies. Got nice pics bcos of that.

[Bettyboo]

Nice pictures, Katie - everyone loves a photothread. &, don't worry, a goat will turn up when you least expect one, they always do...

[Davis Knowlton]

This is the Church of St. Mary, an Episcopal church. According to our guide, it was the first church built by American missionaries in this region.

Those Yanks should dig in the collection plate and touch up their sign.

[katie23]

On with the walking tour... this signifies that a cemetery is near


There's also a mini golf course