Northern Luzon Philippines

The last part of our trip was touring on Northern Luzon. We arrived at the domestic terminal and picked up our rental car. The rental car was located close to the International terminal so we had to wait for the van to transfer us. Getting the rental car took a lot of time and our flight was late arriving. Trying to get through the traffic in Manila was also very time consuming so we did not start driving on the toll road until several hours later than expected. The drive was five hours to Baguio and it was dark by the time we left the toll road. Grant had to maneuver the narrow twisty mountain road to reach Baguio. Google maps helped us get through the cities but did not always choose the easiest routes to drive.

Baguio is a large city with a huge student population. There is not much to see in Baguio and it is spread out over a vast area on the sides of the mountains. When walking in the city you are either going up or down a hill. Parking is also very difficult to find but there are lots of Jeepneys if you know where you want to go.

Older Jeepneys will soon not be allowed to operate.

From Baguio we had another long day of driving towards Sagada which is only 146 km away but is a five hour drive. Sagada is located in the Cordillera Mountain range. The road is two lanes and extremely twisty.

Arriving safely we checked into our hotel. Parking is an issue in Sagada so we had to pay for parking at the local church. Sagada is a tourist town. To stay in Sagada you have to pay for a national park pass. There are several tourist offices where you can book guides to take you to see the sights. This is the are were most people do spelunking adventures. There are a few sights that do not require using ropes and ladders.

Hanging Coffins

Our first tour was to see the hanging coffins from the road in  Echo valley and walked to Lumiang cave where there multiple coffins are stacked at the entrance had been placed for centuries.

Lumiang Cave

Our second tour we walked to the Hanging Coffins, past coffee trees, through a cave to the rice fields and a small waterfall and swimming pool.

Hanging Coffins

 The practice of placing the coffins in Echo Valley is gradually being eliminated.

Following the path

Before entering the cave

Looking back inside the cave

Exiting the Cave

Following the river

Farmers Fields

Swimming Pool near Sagada

Sagada Rice Field

Working in the rice field

Farming Area from road

From Sagada we drove to Banaue along the Cordillera Mountain road. This drive was only 83 km and took about three hours.  Here we stayed at Banue Greenfields Hotel which is located out of the town center. The hotel was very nice and you could get meals. We booked our guide Irene at the hotel for our tour of the UNESCO rice fields.

UNESCO Rice Fields on the road to Banaue

Map of Sagada and Banaue Area

The drive from Sagada to Banaue was not far so we decided to walk down to the Bangaan.

Town of Bangaan from the start of the trail

Lots of stairs

Once at the town of Bangaan we had to climb back up to the road. The next day our guide took us to Battad too walk around the rice fields. This was a great experience as you had to walk into the area. There are several places that tourists can stay over night in very basic accommodation. Once you reach the main center of Battad you still need to walk farther down actually experience the narrow walkways and stone steps protruding from the walls to climb between terraces.

Looking down from our restaurant

Walls of the rice fields all the way up the mountain.

Walking the walls

Rice

The group

Bananas

We survived

 After Banue we drove back to Baguio before continuing on to Lingayen.

We choose this area so we could spend some time on the beach and visit the Hundred Islands National Park.

Boat tour of the Hundred Islands

One of the Islands we visited

View from the tower

Private Boat and driver

The beach at Lyngayen is more of a grey colour and is long and flat which was very easy to walk along. Lyngayen is located in the Gulf of Lyngayen. The town has lots of services and caters to Philippians over North Americans. If you are looking for a white sand beach you need to go to Patar which is another 2 hour drive from Lyngayen. There are some hotels in this area but services are limited. At the beach in Patar you can rent a sun shelter for the day.

From here we drove back to Manila the day before our flight which took about four hours with a slight detour through a market street.

Palawin Philippines

We had arranged for a rental car and a driver to met us at Puerto Princesa International Airport. This was a great choice as they were waiting when we arrived even though our flight was late. The first night we stayed in Puerto Princesa as we knew that we would have a five hour drive to get to El Nido at the northern end of the island. 

Taytay Bay

The drive is slow and we were happy that we had arranged our own driver as the passenger vans were packed. It also allow us to stop when we wanted. El Nido is a tourist town with lots of young backpackers. People come to this municipality for it's white sand beaches, coral reefs and to see the Bacuit archipelago, a group of steep karst cliff islands.

At Taytay we stopped and visited an old fort.

We chose to stay out of town on a section of beach that had numerous hotels and eating establishments. Our room had a fantastic view of the karst islands and China Sea. Each night we were provided with a wonderful sunset.

Our Hotel Stunning Republic Beach from the water.

Most people come to El Nido and take a boat tour our to the nearby islands. You can connect with a group tours and visit several islands on a day trip, book a private boat, or chose to stay overnight on several islands.

A standard tour might take you to Secret Lagoon, Small and Big lagoons, Shimizu Island and Seven Cammandos Beach. Because the large tour usually have booked up all the spots so you might not be able to see these areas on a private boat but there are lots of islands to chose from. Be prepared to board the boat from the water and be packed in like sardines. They do not provide snorkel equipment or water shoes which you might consider renting on the beach before boarding. This is a great area for the diving enthusiast.

Entrance to Secret Lagoon

Seven Commandos Beach

There are also a couple of beaches outside of El Nido worth exploring. The best beach is Nacpan Beach but closer to town is Vanilla Beach which is very commercialized. You can rent a chair, get a beer or food and relax for the day.

Nacpan Beach

After enjoy our rest and beautiful sunsets we were back in the vehicle heading south back to Puerto Princesa.

Sunset from our hotel

On the drive back we stopped to purchase Buko Pie from a local vendor which Adam our driver recommended. Buko is coconut and the pie is made form coconut milk and coconut meat. That evening we enjoyed our Buko pie.

Back at Puerto Princesa we stayed in town and did day trips. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area and is about 80 kilometers for the city on the west coast (China Sea).

We did not have a lot of information about how to make arrangements. If you do not want to pay for a private boat then you have to try and find someone else that will go with you to make a boat of six people. This can be very difficult as most people come by tour and have full boats. It might be better to pay for a private boat instead of waiting. Once you pay for the park fee and boat then you wait until the boat with the number you are assigned returns to the pier.

Getting ready to enter the underground river.

Once you get to the park and have a beach landing you need to prove you have paid the park fee before proceeding. Our boat man helped us with this part, arranging to pick up the tape recording devices and getting us on a river boat. It can be all overwhelming.

Inside the cave.

The beaches in of Puerto Princessa are not spectacular so we took another drive back northwest to Nagtabon Beach. This is a long white sand beach on the China Sea side of the island. There are a few service available but limited lounge chairs.

You can also take a trip to Honda Bay and tour the islands.

After experiencing Puerto Princessa we took Cebu Air back to Manila.