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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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