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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Hanging Coffins |
The practice of placing the coffins in Echo Valley is gradually being eliminated.
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| Following the path |
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| Before entering the cave |
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| Looking back inside the cave |
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| Exiting the Cave |
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| Following the river |
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| Farmers Fields |
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| Swimming Pool near Sagada |
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| Sagada Rice Field |
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| Working in the rice field |
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| 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.
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| UNESCO Rice Fields on the road to Banaue |
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| Map of Sagada and Banaue Area |
The drive from Sagada to Banaue was not far so we decided to walk down to the Bangaan.
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| Town of Bangaan from the start of the trail |
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| 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.
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| Looking down from our restaurant |
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| Walls of the rice fields all the way up the mountain. |
We choose this area so we could spend some time on the beach and visit the Hundred Islands National Park.
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| Boat tour of the Hundred Islands |
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| One of the Islands we visited |
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| View from the tower |
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| 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.
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