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Sagada Philippines Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): (Almost Everything You Need To Know)

Benj — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:50:18 +0000

Visit Sagada is your one-stop resource website for everything that has everything to do with Sagada, Philippines.

Here’s the Sagada Super Post. Almost everything you know for planning your very own cost-efficient, organized and fun Do-It-Yourself Sagada getaway is here. If you don’t find it here, email us at team@visitsagada *dot* com

Think of this post as a table of contents that would tie together almost all the entries that we have here.

How do I get to Sagada?

Comparing the routes - what's the best one?

What are the places to see and the things to do?

How do I see the sights and places of interest?

Where can we stay in Sagada?

Residential Lodge – Visit Sagada highly recommends this.
George Guesthouse

Budget for Sagada? How many days?

Sagada Bonfire 2011!

Benj — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 04:27:59 +0000

And it’s that time of the year once again! There will be another Sagada bonfire this year! If you’re going to Sagada at year’s end, it would definitely a must-see event! Like it has always been for the past two years, the bonfire will be held at Kiltepan Point – a gorgeous look out spot that culminates in a cliff that overlooks vast terraces. The fog usually rolls in at night time so the bonfire will be a functional heat source against the cold Cordillera night!

The Sagada Genuine Guides are once again organizing the event for December 28. For just 250 pesos, you can already get a nice buffet, sample fruit wines and dance around the bonfire to traditional percussion. It’s going to be a trip! Feel free to bring your own food and alcohol! The cost also covers the transportation fee to and from the venue.

Party starts at 630! Let’s do this one more time.

Note: I’ve been to the last two and there’s no way I’m missing this year’s!

Sagada by the numbers by We Are Sole Sisters

Benj — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 03:08:33 +0000

Chin of the wildly entertaining and now emerging We Are Sole Sisters blog recently published a very light and somewhat inspiring piece on Sagada. She went up on a whim and ended up (as expected) falling in love with the place. Keep visiting their blog to see how Chin chronicles her stay in Sagada.

The next post is going to be on “5 things I did in Sagada that you should never ever ever tell my Daddy”. That sure sounds like an intriguing read, right?

Visit Sagada turns three

Benj — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 20:28:16 +0000

Around three years ago, a group of guys got together to create a website that would help people find their way to Sagada. The internet was still pretty bare when it came to having good websites that would be useful in providing information and tips on how to go about planning a trip to this sleepy mountain town at the heart of the Cordilleras. Travel bloggers already had their take on their Sagada adventures but it was still quite a challenge to consolidate the information. When I tried going back in 2006, I had to rely on Pinoyexchange (the Philippines’ largest online forum) for directions and hotel recommendations. This is how I discovered the then still unnamed and unpainted Residential Lodge – my home now for most of my 16 trips to Sagada.

Angel Juarez (one of my good friends – and now one of the best travel bloggers in the country) found this old Sagada entry on my personal blog back in August 2006 and this in turn inspired him to check out the town himself. I guess the way I described it intrigued him to a certain extent.

After a couple of more trips to Sagada, my friends and I become more and more comfortable of doing the trip ourselves and we were fairly confident that a website that would share information on how to do it as painlessly as possible would help a lot of people. This was how Visit Sagada was born – it could easily been named “Travel Sagada” and I was a bit partial towards this name that eventually ended up on the cutting room floor. Jeff Villafranca bought the domain and the rest was history – we were heading towards an awesome adventure in putting a website that thousands of people would eventually trust their trips with.

Shortly after getting the hang of posting, the site shot up the Google search results. As it stands now, Visit Sagada is the top-ranking website when it comes to the search term “Sagada”. We must say however that this meteoric rise to the top could not have been possible if it weren’t for the support of the people who voted for us during the Top Ten Emerging Influential Blogs for 2008. The link love generated from this exercise was absolutely awesome for the site’s cred as far as Google was concerned. We narrowly missed the top spot!

A few months later, we were nominated for a Philippine Blog Award for the travel category – an award that we lost to the very able and accomplished Ferdz Decena. Despite the loss, being in the final helped us get the word out that we existed.

We have received thousands of e-mails and we’ve met so many people in Sagada who know us from the site. It’s flattering to see people carry print outs of our websites in hostels in Sagada – yes, I’ve seen this once or twice but I chose to just keep quiet and not say anything. :p

That being said, I think I speak for the team when I say that we think that we did the right thing when we started Visit Sagada three years ago. This project has been a very fulfilling exercise for all of us involved. We could have never imagine how big of a responsibility this would have been for a few guys from the city who just happened to love Sagada maybe a bit too much. Three years on, comments of appreciation and thanks on our posts and e-mail inbox still make us very grateful that we do what we do. And if there are any suggestions and criticisms, we really try to take it on board and see how we can enhance the site into helping more people figure out how they could best plan their trip to Sagada.

We really want to keep on improving the site and prove to everyone that yes, your trust is very important to us and we are both humbled and honored that our opinion and take on things Sagada are taken in high regard and with a certain air of authority. At the end of the day, we strive real hard to deserve this.

So before I end, let me take this moment to thank everyone who has made this possible.

I would like to thank Tita Mary for being my adoptive aunt whenever I was in Sagada. Having her around in the hostel sure makes Sagada feel a lot like home. I hope you could meet my parents soon – I’m still figuring out how to convince them to come back.

I’ve been to Sagada so many times but I can still somehow think logically on how each trip went – for the most part; the trips were awesome. Sagada has allowed me to meet excellent people from all walks of life and from all over the world. Please don’t feel bad if I forget to put you on the list, I’m merely typing from the top of my head:

2010: Antonio Totto Jr, Lynn Labios, Pam Cajilig, Karla Rey, Ozy Go, Jose Bimbo, Paolo Montecillo, Kristine Liu, Gerard dela Paz, Cai Abbas, Mikoy Yap and family, William Yutuc, Fidji Miranda, Martin Jancik, Tet Grajo, Emil Tapnio, Pow Belgado, Anthony Zapanta, Lola Shanghai, Stephen Lim, Verge Santos, Denise Tan, Ronnie Gatbonton, Rob Real, Neil Generoso, Sithli Mendoza and friends and Yoshke Dimen and friends… and the many people at the 2010 bonfire.

2009: Benjamin Mintel-Meyer, Kai Liesse, Ronnie Gatbonton, Oman Serapio, Dan Dimaandal, Adrian Caguiat, Adrian Raposas, Dale Gutierrez, Ralph Mandingiado, JP Licudan, Sithli Mendoza, JayR Magallanes and many others who I just can’t remember.

2008: The good people from Manila Bulletin who trekked to the falls with me (I’m sure you’re still on Friendster), Jack and the other Korean, my brother BJ Espina, Allan Roy Uy and friends.

I know I’m missing a lot but for sure, you guys made my trip more awesome and even if I don’t remember your names, I assure you – the experiences are still fresh in my head.

Much thanks also those who got sold on the idea of going to Sagada. I’m like a rabid salesman whenever I meet a traveler – I really try to convince them to go to Sagada.

I’d also like to thank everyone who bothered to e-mail or leave comments on this blog. It’s a task to respond to each and every query but we try our best to give the best answers possible based on what we know and what we’ve experienced. To date, we have had over 2000 comments and well over a three thousand e-mails.

Thank you to all the other bloggers who choose to write about Sagada. We appreciate it that you share the common goal of helping other people get to see the beauty of our second home.

To my teammates Angel, Jeff and to the friends of Visit Sagada like Fritz Tentativa and Gareth Likigan and our other blogger friends, this wouldn’t have been possible without you!

And lastly, to everyone who has bothered to read even just a page on this site, THANK YOU. It is our pleasure to do what we do.

Marijuana in Sagada

Benj — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:27:54 +0000

For better or for worse, Sagada has gotten the unfair reputation of being a source of marijuana (obtained from Cannabis sativa) and the town’s name has even been linked to the best quality of the “drug”. Whether you believe in the legalization of marijuana use is irrelevant when you’re in Sagada – or anywhere in the Philippines for that matter. Yes, many countries have moved forward and made it possible for its citizens to access and use marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes but only Philippine laws would apply should you ever get caught.

Here’s what the law states:

Republic Act 1965 is the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. It metes out very stiff penalties for those who are found using, selling, storing and manufacturing substances that appear on a fairly comprehensive list included in the bill (the list includes cocaine, heroine, MDMA and other substances). You will face anywhere from 12 to 20 years in jail if you are found guilty and if you’ve seen what Philippine jails are like, it’s likely that you wouldn’t want to spend more than a few minutes in one.

–

So please, do not unfairly equate Sagada with weed. The place can stand alone without that tag and reputation. No, it is NOT true that the people don’t care if you do use it – but you’re more than welcome to push your luck between getting a cheap thrill and landing 20 years in the slammer.

Do what you wish at your own risk.

Please LIKE the Visit Sagada Facebook Page

Benj — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:45:52 +0000

Visit Sagada is now on Facebook. We currently have around 130 people who have liked the page and if you think we deserve your “likes” and clicks, please go to the Visit Sagada Facebook Page. You may also use the wall to ask questions about Sagada. See you there!

Sagada Bonfire 2010 – December 28, 2010

Benj — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 13:11:56 +0000

The Sagada Genuine Guides Association or SaGGAs would be once again hosting a year end bonfire party on December 28. The guides hosted an awesome feast last year and I definitely have a lot of photos that would never be posted on Facebook from that night. As you can see on the poster, the cost of the ticket is 250 pesos – inclusive of transportation to the bonfire site, dinner, drinks and the entertainment (cultural presentation) for the night. Expect to dance around the fire til midnight!

This should be fun! Please contact 09295569533 or email sagadagenuineguides@gmail.com for any inquiries.

Typhoon Megi / Typhoon Juan victims need our help

Benj — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 03:19:48 +0000

Typhoon Megi (Typhoon Juan) lashed Northern Philippines with gusts of wind in excess of 300 kilometers per hour making it the strongest typhoon in recent history. While the people of Northern Luzon have always been known for their resilience and hardiness, the unique geography of the area makes the logistics of giving assistance challenging and time-consuming. As I type this, many towns – especially those in the Cordillera Administrative Region – are currently isolated. The photo above was taken by Naty Sugguiyao of Kalinga.

Following last year’s Typhoon Pepeng, Sagada was without power for almost two weeks and the travel time from Baguio lengthened from five hours to well over nine hours due to the many landslides that affected the Halsema Highway.

They need our help. Please donate to the Philippine Red Cross. Send encouraging words to your family and friends who live in the typhoon ravaged provinces – Isabela, Cagayan Valley, Kalinga, Apayo, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Quirino, Benguet, Abra, La Union and Aurora.

Or better yet, visit them in a few week’s time to show them your support.

Sagada tourism statistics

Benj — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 18:39:39 +0000

These are the figures from the Sagada Environmental Guides Association’s records for the first half of 2010. It’s refreshing to see a tourism organization be this transparent about their figures and total number of visitors.

The first half of 2010 has seen almost 16000 tourists trooping to Sagada. This number is only inclusive of the people who actually registered at the tourism information desk. For all we know there could have been some people who didn’t bother to do that.

Local tourism wildly fluctuates throughout the calendar year with the most people choosing to visit Sagada during April. Surprisingly, the number dramatically drops in May despite it still being the tail end of the summer vacation period. There are less fluctuations with the number of foreigners but the figures have definitely been taking a dip since it’s peak in February.

Most of the foreign visitors have originated from France, Germany, South Korea, United States and Canada.

For the full details, you may browse the PDF files for January to March and April to June.

Beyond Sagada: Manila To Tinglayan, Kalinga – Budget and Itinerary

Benj — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 11:50:10 +0000

As I said in a previous post, Eazy Traveler and I went to Kalinga to check out the province and be among the last witnesses to a dying tradition of tattooing among the indigenous people of Tinglayan. Much of Kalinga still has bad roads making a full fledged splash into the tourism market a bit difficult to say the least. The road from Mountain Province’s capital Bontoc is very rough and the completion date of the project is uncertain due to incessant rains and landslides that wipe out sections of the road.

For adventurous travelers however, Tinglayan and the rest of Kalinga is a good opportunity to see how tourism encroaches and develops in a community. Some parts of Tinglayan only had electrical services four years ago. There is no tourism infrastructure and for the most part, all rates and payments to home stays and meals prepared at the host’s home are to be determined by the guest. It’s an almost raw and unadulterated experience – just a few notches below being a regular family friend who happened to be visiting.

Here’s how we did it:

Itinerary

Day 0

2030 – Bus departs from Cable Tours terminal in E. Rodriguez (the terminal is near Trinity College and St. Luke’s Hospital). Fare: 650

Day 1

0830 – Bus arrives at Bontoc.

0900 – Bus departs for Tinglayan. Cost: 110

1200 – Bus arrives at Tinglayan.

1230 – Lunch at Sleeping Beauty Guest House (the sole guest house in town – around 1-2 hours by motorbike from the villages). Cost: 70

1400 – Jeep leaves for Tulgao. Cost: 50

1430 – Jeep arrives in Tulgao.

1600 – Ed goes around to look for the elders with tattoos. Elders would appreciate it if you would give them a small token for taking their photos. A small box of matches (around 2 pesos each) would do. Ed has gone the extra mile and has sent prints of the photos to the elders via snail mail. You would have to ask for a local to guide you around the village to know where the elders live. You may give around 100 to 150 to your guide. Again, there are no set rates.

1800 – Dinner time. Ed and I elected to pay 50 pesos for each meal.

2100 – Sleep

Day 2

0700 – Breakfast

0800 – Trek to waterfalls. Again, no rates for the guide. Our guide was our a young son from our host family. I think we gave around 100 to 150 each.

0920 – The supposed 40 minute trek takes longer than expected.

1030 – Heading back home.

1200 – Lunch

1300 – Walking up the junction. Ed gets absolutely distracted by pitcher plants T_T. We end up waiting 1.5 hours for a motorbike that will take us to Butbut village.

1500 – Motorbike ride to Butbut. It was exciting but my life was flashing before me. Haha. Cost: 100 each

1530 – arrival at Butbut. We quickly located the Baccoy residence. This family is written on the pages of Lonely Planet Philippines.

1630 – Ed goes around to take photos. It rains really hard. I take this as my queue to sleep the afternoon away.

1800 – dinner time!

2100 – The Baccoy’s send us to their ancestral house just a few paces from their current house. It’s a gorgeous traditional wooden house with cogon roof! Again, no rates. You will be asked to pay based on how much you want to give.

Day 3

0700 – Breakfast

0800 – Motorbike ride to Tinglayan

0900 – Jeep departs for Tabuk cost 100

1200 – Jeep arrives at Tabuk

1300 – we reserve seats for the LONE bus that leaves Tabuk for Manila everyday. The bus leaves at 430 PM. Cost 493

1315 – Lunch at some nearby carinderia. Cost 70 each

1630 – Bus departs for Manila

Day 4

0500 – Bus arrives in Manila

–

Budget

Manila – Bontoc Bus = 650

Bontoc – Tinglayan Jeep = 110

Tinglayan – Tulgao Jeep = 60

Tulgao – Butbut Bike = 100

Butbut – Tinglayan Bike = 200

Tinglayan – Tabuk Jeep = 100

Tabuk – Manila Bus = 493

Home stay = 100-150/night

Meals = 50/night