Here I am once again pouring out my thoughts about the trip which made me once again a very happy person. It all started when friends of my sister organized an out-of-town trip. This time it's Sagada, a 5th class municipality in the province of Mountain Province, Philippines. According to the our local tour guide, it has an estimated population of 12,500 people. As what our tour guide said, the people know their situation thus the population do not increased rapidly unlike other provinces in the Philippines. Sagada is famous for its "hanging coffins". This is a traditional way of burying people that is still utilized. Popular activities include trekking, exploring both caves and waterfalls, spelunking, bonfires, picnics, rappelling, visiting historical sites, nature hikes, and participating in tribal celebrations. Anyone who is looking for an adventure, this is one of the best places in the North Area of the Philippines you may want to visit. Our trip started at 11:00 pm, Nov. 25, 2011 as most of our companions (colleagues) have work until 10:00 pm. We renter two vans, 14 persons were in the first van and then 10 persons were in another van. We paid 2,880.00/pax for a 3 days 2 nights tour excluding meals. We traveled 6-8 hours going to Baguio City and then another 6-8 hrs going to Sagada proper. Some can sleep but as for me - I only had a nap the whole travel as it was a very bumpy ride. But if you prefer to save time, you can travel by air going to Baguio City and then travel by land going to Sagada. Our first stop after Baguio was in Cattubo Atok, Benguet. It is the the highest Point in Benguet. Elevation: 7,400 feet above sea level. We arrived there at around 8 am-Nov. 26, 2011. The cold wind was blowing so strong at that time...my hands was shaking that I even went back to our van to get gloves just to proceed with the picture taking =). While we were there, we were able to witness a rainbow which was very near us. Amazing!
If you are are looking for a cheap adventure that is near the Metro...you may want to check on Tagaytay or Trekking the Taal Volcano in Talisay, Batangas. This is one great place for you to tour visitors. That's what we did when one of our clients visited our company.
January 21, 2010, my team leader organized a trip to one of the Philippines tourist attractions, Taal Volcano. This trip was organized for one of our client's CFO. We met at 8:30 in the morning in Ortigas then leave at around 9:00 am. We arrived in Tagaytay at 11 am but first, we ate our lunch as we were very hungry. The place also offers variety of foods for you to choose from but if you would like to save, you can also bring in your foods or cook there. They have a place where you can set fire to grill foods but make sure you bring your charcoal, a fan, plates, glass among other things because these are not available in the place where we dined in. But if you would rather not bring your own foods, you can order at the restaurant available there. After lunch, we rode into a boat going to Talisay Batangas. Boat rental costs Php1,500.00. At around 2:30 we arrived at Taal. It was a short journey from Tagaytay to Talisay via boat. It was about 30 minutes travel time. When we get to Talisay. Once you get off the boat you will pay Php 5.00/head which i don't know why we paid and what's that for. Then you have to walk a few meters to reach the entrance. Entrance fee worth was Php50.00/person. Remember to keep the ticket because there will be an inspection at the "gate" on your way to the volcano. You will also find there horses which you could rent for around Php500.00 and you will also be approached of people if you would like a tour guide for i think Php1,000.00. But we chose none of these offers because my team leader has been there, so he became our tour guide =). We then began our walk to Taal. The one that we usually see on the highway of Tagaytay is actually not an active volcano. We found out that when reach the place, there are more volcanoes than what we thought of. The one we visited is an active. It was a very long walk, my heart was pounding. I stole some time to rest while the others continued walking. I was having difficulty climbing up at the top because of my shoes as It was not fit for hiking. When I get to the top, all the difficulty i felt changed. It was a great success. I loved the view, I saw the water was actually boiling inside the crater. My heart was stolen by that view.
