Roadtrippin' Filipino Style

We took our first, and possibly last (j/k), major road trip in the Philippines, destination the Cordillera mountains.  The trip turned out to be an amazing journey with lots of twists (literally the windiest road I've ever travelled) and turns.

After dropping off my sister-in-law and her husband at 7:00am at NAIA we headed north.  We had decided to leave a day early so that we could stop before reaching Banaue in an attempt to shorten our drive.  Good thing too, because we didn't reach Bambang (2 hours south of Banaue) until 5:00pm.

The first day of driving was long for a couple of reasons.  Primarily the traffic from Tarlac to San Jose was grueling.  Once you leave the super highway, your stuck on a 2 lane road behind Jeepneys, trikes, buses and cargo trucks.  The traffic wouldn't be so bad if you weren't breathing a steady stream of exhaust the whole time.  The second reason for the long drive was our frequent stops.  We stopped for about an hour for breakfast, then again for about an hour for lunch and a third time to do a bit of shopping.  These stops were needed, but it made the day feel that much longer.  The final reason for the seemingly endless day of driving was the previous night's Jollibee Hawaiian burger that threatened to exit via my mouth the whole trip.  Finally, at our shopping stop, I was able to find a nice trash heep sheltered by bushes to free the wretched burger from its confines.

The stay in Bambang was nice enough, the Hillside Inn, but it was right on the national highway making for a very noisy night's sleep.  We arrived in Banaue around 11am the following day and had a wonderful stay despite the weather.  The fog was ceaseless except when it raised enough to allow a light rain to fall upon us.  It actually wasn't too bad, as it added to the "mountain feel", but I think it may have hindered our views a bit.

After checking in, we walked a short distance to the nearest village and rice terrace.  Some how we got suckered into listening to a burial ritual story and seeing a very odd fella's great grandfather's bones.  We walked through Banaue market, did a bit of souvenir shopping, enjoyed some yummy fried bananas and headed back to our hotel for the New Year's dinner buffet.  The buffet was your typical Filipino fair with pork, chicken, beef, pancit, and lasagna.  It wasn't half bad and we had a nice conversation to boot.  The hotel boasted of fireworks at 10pm, but we didn't make it out that late.  There wasn't much to see anyway as the fog was pretty thick.  The sound shook the room though.  We were awakened at about midnight by the world's worst karaoke.  Apparently, this guy was wearing headphones, because he went on for about an hour and never got better.

The following day in Banaue was spent exploring the rice terraces.  We walked down through another native village to see the famous "standing stone" which wasn't that great, but the walk and views were very nice.  I'm still blown away by the engineering marvel that is the rice terraces.  All the people that we encountered on our trek were extremely friendly, carrying chickens and other good for their New Year's day celebration.  One women in particular impressed us all.  She was barefoot and humpbacked, walking up the long stairs to the road.  She kept a steady pace as she ascended the path which she must have done 10,000 times in her life.  At some points, I wasn't sure she wouldn't clear the next step, but without fail she leaned on her cain looked up and forged on.  It made all of my hardships and body aches seem very feeble.

Day 3 took us away from Banaue and on to Sagada.  Our original plan was to hike into Batad on that 3rd day, but with the weather socking us in, and the uncertainty of the trail/hike in, we decided to forge on.  Best decision we could have made.  Not that Batad wouldn't have been beautiful, but the drive to Sagada, and then Sagada itself is where Anna and my heart lie.  Sagada is set among the pine trees and cool air of the Cordillera mountains.  It's a relatively small, touristy town with unique eateries, a lively Saturday market, and bizarre hanging/stacked coffins.  We hiked, sipped coffee, and ate an American breakfast as we reveled in the deep breaths of fresh air that filled our lungs.  We encountered a pleasant evening surprise at the Cellar Door as we enjoyed some craft brews around a campfire with quality conversation.  It was tough to leave Sagada the following day, but it is definitely a place that I would like to return.

From Sagada, we headed for Baguio as a stopover before heading home.  The drive from Sagada to Baguio was stunning.  Very similar to the drive from Banaue to Sagada, we were greeted with terraced mountainside the whole way.  However, these terraces were filled with vegetables in lieu of rice and they were set atop pristine rivers that ran through the bottom.  It was really one of the most spectacular drives of my life (right up there with the Grosslockner Strauss).  Pictures nor words can describe the scope of the scenery that surrounded us.

Our stay in Baguio was uneventful, as we simply found a nice hotel (Hotel Supreme) stayed the night and left early in the morning.  Baguio was choked with traffic and hard to navigate through, but the surrounding area offers some open wilderness that might be worthy of a return trip.

The drive from Baguio home was about 5 hours and an easy one once we exited the mountains and hit the superhighway.  Two things that I learned on this trip - there is no easy driving in the Philippines, and it's worth the journey.  Once again, I was impressed by what the Philippines has to offer once you leave our little enclave in Brentville.