Journey from Boracay to Sagada
In the 9 years I have resided in the Philippines I have never felt cold, save for the times I have spent in buses, airplanes and shopping malls when the A/C has been full on. I have often longed for those Autumnal months in England that I happily escaped from years ago, those months that ended the summer and are the gate way to winter the winter months that I still don’t have a longing for.
I have never felt cold in the Philippines until I visited Sagada, a place high in the mountains of Luzon, a place that is surrounded by stunning views, a place where you look down on the clouds that float over the rice terraces.
Our Journey from Boracay to Sagada
From the tropical island of Boracay, eleven of us met on the main island which is a quick 10 minute boat ride from Boracay. It was about 8am and we all gathered to find a bus to take us to Kalibo airport, which is approximately 2 hours bus ride. We arrived in plenty of time for our flight to Manila which takes about 50 minutes on a 2 engine prop plane.
Arriving in Manila at around 1:15pm we had to wait till 8pm before our bus came to pick us up for Sagada. This gave us plenty of time to shop around the Mall of Asia, have some lunch then visit the department store and the vast variety of different stores there. I really like the Mall of Asia as it is next to the sea and is an SM brand of shopping malls, all the top stores and restaurants, cafes, cinemas, you can spend a whole day there easily.
Finally to Sagada
8pm. The bus arrives, we are all fairly exhausted by this time and are quite relieved to sit down and prepare ourselves for this 13 hour bus trip. Fortunately for me, I was so tired I found myself falling asleep for most of it although waking up for restroom breaks. I remember waking up at one point and seeing these beautiful mountains as the sun began to rise. The clouds below us and small towns like model towns beneath the clouds, it really was beautiful.
Arriving at Sagada
Now, when I got out of the bus I felt cold. We were taken to a large house and shown our rooms. No heating but comfortable. I had a shower and lay down on the bed and slept for a few hours.
After we all had a rest later we were taken to an organic / vegan restaurant which was perfect, the food was delicious and the prices very reasonable infact very cheap for the quality and the service. I loved this place, perched on the side of a mountain with superb views
That evening we all ate together in the house cooked by some of the guys in our own group, the house was self catering and had all the facilities for this.
The next morning, we were taken to a veiw point to watch the mountain sunset at 5:30am after a waking up at 4am. The local people took advantage of the many pilgrims to this place, by providing hot drinks and food, there must have been 10 to 15m different stalls offering their wares. The sunset was indeed wonderful, there were hundreds of people clicking away on their smart phones. As the sun came up and showed itself we could see how high up we were, with the clouds below us that looked like snow.
Then some of our group walked around the local town and bought real cheap vegetables, honey and fruit, while some went to the caves. There was also a climb to the water falls and another trip to see the ancient floating coffins which hung against the side of cliffs.
That evening we cooked and ate together again, knowing that at 1am we had to prepare for our return journey.
The bus collected us at 2am and by 8:30 pm we were back in Boracay collapsing on our bed.
Although the journey was long, I feel it was worth seeing another side of the Philippines, a natural, rural, cold but beautiful side. What I enjoyed mostly was being with people who loved and love to have fun.
