Sagada was one of the places I would love to visit since the time I saw it in the hit film, The Thing Called Tadhana. SO FINALLY!!! We booked our roundtrip bus seats (P720/one-way, Coda Lines Deluxe) a month in advance via Biyaheroes. It was hassle-free! The booking process was fast and Miss Virna (customer support) was very helpful and patient with me. Our seat requests were accommodated accordingly and we even got freebies. Highly recommended! Anyway, I had no idea how far it was. I thought it was just near Baguio but it would take another 6 hours to get there. A total of 12 hours or more depending on the traffic and stopovers. But as for us, we endured the 15-hour drive to Sagada’s town proper due to unforeseen circumstances. We got stranded for 3 hours somewhere in Mountain Province. It was around 6 am when our bus can’t get through this muddy road close to the cliff edge. The bus driver didn’t push through since our lives were at stake. One wrong maneuver can get us all killed. Thankful we were all safe.

Anyway, since we arrived late we decided to not follow the itinerary we copied on the internet. We headed straight for the Tourist Information Center to register and to pay P35.00 for the environmental fee. The receipt will be checked upon entering tourist spots/areas, so we needed to carry it with us at all times. Afterward, we ate lunch at Yoghurt House (I’m going to create a separate post about the foods), then asked for a shuttle to pick us from town to Rock Inn. This is one the perks of being an in-house guest of Rock Inn and Cafe, you get to have a free one-way trip per day from Town-Rock Inn and vice versa. In excess, you will be charged P250/one-way trip, or if you want to be picked up/dropped off at a specific place you will be charged depending on the distance. By the way, the inn is 2-kilometers away from the town proper. So yes, we got their Executive Room for P2100/night. The room has 2 queen-sized beds and a private restroom, complete with a hot and cold shower. It also has a panoramic view of the rock garden and gazebos. It was such a beautiful cozy room. Another highly recommended place to stay at. We were supposed to book at Sagada Blue Mountain Cabins but it was fully booked already. Well, almost all of the inns/cabins/lodges we inquired about were unavailable. Glad we found Rock Inn.

The bus got stuck here for 3 hours

The view from the second-floor common balcony of Rock Inn and Cafe

One of the in-house dogs. I forgot his name. There were 2 huge chowchows and a puppy. They were all cute but the big ones were snub.

We basically did nothing but lounge around on our first day. We just wanted to chill and rest, condition our bodies, and be prepared for the activities the next day. So yea, it was such a spontaneous trip. This is my kind of getaway. Enjoying and taking your time and trying not to squeeze everything into your itinerary or cram too much into your travel plans. There’s always a next time, y’know. Asis and I have learned our lesson. We experience a lot of stress from our past travels and we just don’t want it to happen again. Getaways are supposed to be relaxing. Not to exhaust or stress you out. So yea. If you have any questions regarding this trip, please message or comment down below. I’ll be posting the days 2 and 3 + where to eat post soon. If I’m not lazy enough to create an update. Okay, laters! ♡