Sagada Philippines

I have just removed my sticky post about inviting people to email me regarding their Sagada inquiries. I made that post in January and since then I literally received dozens of emails asking various Sagada questions. The most common were: how much is the budget, how to get there, the best inns to stay, sights to see, and the most unexpected one was when someone asked if her overweight brother can survive a trip there. I replied, yes of course.

Now for the past two weeks I have not received any new inquiries so I’m guessing everybody’s done with their summer vacation (even though it’s still summer). For one thing, the Lenten season has just ended so it means it’s back to work people!

I’m expecting a new surge in inquiries by October for the holiday season. December to February are among the best months to go to Sagada because it is coldest then.

But if you have any questions, you can always use my contact form on the right.

I stayed once at St. Joseph back in 2007 and I enjoyed it there completely. As it’s located on a hill, when you step outside of the inn, you will get a nice view of the town of Sagada including the mountains surrounding it.

Although you can’t tell by the picture, when I stayed there it later rained for the rest of the day so me and my friend were pretty much confined within the room. It was very cold then so we just had a very nice chit-chat while wrapped in blankets.

The wooden floor and walls got really cold when it rained that day. It was very cozy and one of the best comfortable feelings I have ever felt in my life.

Tags: St. Joseph's Inn

For the past couple of days, three people emailed me asking how much should their budget be if they are going for a two-day Sagada trip.

I said P4,000 should be more than enough. I once survived on a P2,500 budget but that was because I traveled alone and I didn’t hire any guides when I went around Sagada.

P4,000 is a safe budget. Just add a bit more for pasalubong.

Tags: budget, Sagada budget

While I am generally satisfied with the web hosting that I have for this Sagada blog of mine, I have to admit that I am considering an alternative due to the quite a bit more expensive rates of my current web hosting as compared to others.

I have considered some cheap web hosting plans, but with high quality service. I currently have another blog hosted in a different company. It is very, very cheap but the downtime has been increasing the past few months. So there has to be a line between something that is cheap and yet provides quality service.

I would rather that it be called a budget web hosting since, as I speak for myself who has tried various hosting companies and packages, I have a very limited budget and it would certainly be great if there is a good hosting out there with equally good service. A reseller web hosting option would be nice should I consider making profit from it.

While I have not tried Lypha web hosting, I am currently considering it as an option especially with its $6.95 monthly fee. That’s just about P350. Very affordable indeed. Plus they guarantee reliable enterprise servers and 99.998% network uptime per month.

I have stumbled upon the Multiply website of The Travel Factor and learned about their Conquer Sagada: Travel Factor’s 3 Days and 2 Nights adventure tour to the Mountain Province. The trip will start from February 20 and will be leaving Sagada on the morning of the 23rd.

They will be taking the Manila-Banaue-Bontoc-Sagada-Baguio-Manila route. It’s the same route that I always take whenever I go to Sagada and I guarantee you, if you join them, you will be seeing great sights along the way.

And with the fee of only P4,800, it’s already a bargain considering that you won’t have to worry about transportation, lodging, hiring guides and everything else since all will be prepared for you.

Now for those who are still confused, Sagada is located in Mountain Province. This province’s capital is Bontoc and as I have read Travel Factor’s itinerary, their tour’s focus is Sagada and they will be visiting Banaue and Bontoc at just an hour each.

That wouldn’t matter much because you can view the Banaue Rice Terraces within that time limit and there’s really nothing much to do in Bontoc. I’ve walked around Bontoc once and it felt like I was just in Metro Manila.

So if you’ve been wanting to go to Sagada, go click on the link above and see if Travel Factor’s Sagada tour is the one you need.

Tags: sagada tour

In all my trips to Sagada, I have yet to visit Lake Danum. They say it is best to go there during sunset and watch the glimmering water and the fading sun beyond the mountains.

Now that would be a lovely sight indeed.

I don’t know but every time I go to Sagada, Lake Danum was just never a priority. I guess it’s because I always go with a different batch of friends, all new to Sagada and they insist on seeing the major sights like the Sumaguing Caves, Bomod-ok Falls and the rest. The lake was just not one of them.

Lake Danum, I believe, is a man-made lake but just as the same, it is beautiful. It’s a 30-minute walk from the town center.

Tags: lake danum

Through this Sagada blog I got to talk (even if just through email) to some very wonderful people. And Chiquilou is one of them.

She was very kind enough to send me some of her photos when she went to Sagada a few months back together with some friends.

And for the record, Chix, I do find you all very pretty.

Tags: Sagada

For people in the United States and also those in the European Union, going on vacations is one of their top priorities. Why? Probably because of their hectic day to day lives both at work and with their families. Just like with anybody else, they need and seek a stress free life, even if just for a week or two, and away from the hustles and bustles of not only the city life, but primarily of the pressures at work.

And Mexico, that great and beautiful country just below the United States, has a wonderful answer to that. Puerto Vallarta! It’s an amazing and enchanting tourist’s destination where fun, sun, the sea and the people mix together to provide the best vacation for the wearied traveler. And although thousands of visitors go there for the sights, sounds and the life, there are plenty of puerto vallarta villas for your convenience.

What are the things to do and see in Puerto Vallarta? The beaches are worth the miles of air travel as it is not only filled with fine sand, but also filled with fine bodied ladies in swimsuits of every style and design. It’s a haven especially for the most eligible bachelor.

Go get yourself your own villas puerto vallarta so you can have the best place to stay and prepare before you go out do great outdoor activities such as scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing on boats. You’ll find yourself in the middle of the blue sea trying to catch the greatest game of your life. We wish you the best of luck with that of course.

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For the best information on Puerto Vallarta especially on trip packages and accommodation, visit PVRPV.com for more info.

Someone asked me if he could bring his van when goes to Sagada. I answered, yes, but I warned him that the road to Sagada either coming from Baguio or Banaue/Bontoc is mostly rough road. It is definitely a punishing experience to any vehicle.

But there are indeed people who bring their own vehicles there. I’ve seen Starex vans, Hyundai Grace, L300, the usual 4×4s like Pajero, Fortuner, Landcruiser and occasionally I would see cars like a Lancer or Corolla.

The best advice that I can give to any driver who would drive there with his own vehicle is don’t travel late in the afternoon because they would definitely be caught up with the darkness. And you it is very dangerous there with the ravine that drops to hundreds of feet and the roads that are not lighted.

Yesterday it was reported that Baguio has reached 7 degrees Celsius and that frost have started to form on the crops. The same thing has been happening in other parts of Benguet and nearby Mountain Province particularly in Sagada.

It is generally considered that Sagada is always colder than Baguio so I can just imagine how chilling it is there right now. The coldest I’ve experienced Sagada was when I went there on a February weekend and the coldness was already too much to bear for me who is used to the heat of Metro Manila.

If I only have the time to travel I would go there now to experience the freezing temperature of Sagada.