MY FIRST REAL CLIMB

Although I’ve already been to three mountains, first was years ago, I don’t remember the name but I’m with college batchmates to do tree planting in one of the mountains near Dupinga, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija. Second was Mt. Samat. I’m with friends here but we cheated. We rode a tricycle up and down the mountain because we have an itinerary in the afternoon.

After months of planning with my friend, finally, we pushed through with our plan of climbing Mt. Ulap. I knew there’s already a lot of blogs about Mt. Ulap so I’ll cut to the chase, itinerary and expenses.

DAY HIKE (January 22, 2017)

11 PM – ETD at Victory Liner Cubao
4 AM – ETA at Baguio City
Breakfast then walked to Lakandula St to ride Jeepney to Itogon
5:30 AM – ETD at Baguio City
6:20 AM – ETA at Ampucao, Itogon, Benguet (Brgy Hall/ Elementary School)
Registration and getting a guide. My friend and I joined a group of 4.
7 AM – Start hike
9:30 AM – ETA at Second Peak (Gungal Rock, 1814masl)
We waited 2-3hours for our turn to have pic.
12:30 PM – Camp Site 2
1:11 PM – Start traverse to Sta. Fe
3 PM – ETA at Sta. Fe
6 PM – ETD from Baguio
12 MN – ETA to Manila

I read a lot online before pushing through with this hike. A lot of people said it was an easy hike and beginners can do it. Yes, beginners can do it but, a lot of shortness of breath moments and it will take a lot of time going up. We didn’t get to the third peak because it’s getting late and there’s a lot of people that day and there’s hike traffic along the way. 

Unsolicited Opinion: I want to hike it again and I wanted to start from Sta. Fe Ridge. It may be steeper than from Ampucao Trail but there's ladder-like steps to walk on.

EXPENSES:
450 – Cubao to Baguio
31 – Baguio to Ampucao
100 – Registration Fee
600 – Guide Fee
50 – Sta. Fe to Baguio
600 – Baguio to Cubao (Every bus schedule were fully-booked that day. This is a UV Express fare)
500+ - Estimated budget for Food

TIPS:
- Wear comfortable clothes.
- As much as possible, make your backpack light-weight.
- You need a lot of water and/or Gatorade.

GALLERY:

On the way to this and we already experienced shortness of breath.
First time climber here without preparations.

To the viewpoint. There's actually a photo-op place at the top of this.

Jumpshot before my legs get sore.

Ambanao Paoay. First Peak.

Yaaaay! Second Peak.

Waited 2++ hours for my turn to have a pic to this famous Gungal Rock.

Our hiking group. Strangers we met at the Registration.

Camp site 2. Where the comfort room is located just don't expect too much.

Yes, there's a store around Camp Site 2 where you can buy food and made
them cook noodles/canned goods for you. The prices were a bit higher
but it's good that you can eat hot food.

The hanging bridge was an indication that you're almost finished.

Hold on a little more and you're almost there.

It felt so good to see the road. We survived!

MY FIRST SOLO TRAVEL

So last November 2016, I finally crossed out traveling alone in my bucket list. I was supposed to be traveling with my friend but she’s been promoted and her leave was not approved. I already have tickets and I can’t rebook it again since it’s already rebooked. I remembered the weather that time was not good but I still pushed through.

          My scheduled trip to Baguio was 11 pm. There’s a lot of people in the bus station because it’s almost weekend. Luckily, I had my trip scheduled, no need to queue in the long line. I arrived in Baguio City at 4 am. I stayed the bus station for a while before going to the other bus terminal bound to Sagada. The first trip to Sagada was 5:30am. I thought Sagada was near Baguio but it was far, 6 hour drive.

      I arrived in Sagada in the afternoon. I tried to find a house to stay after paying the MANDATORY Environmental Fee. Since it was a Saturday, there’s a lot of tourists and almost all inns were fully-booked. Luckily, I found one but there’s this group of three people with me looking for a place to stay. They beat me to the room but I ended up joining them. So much for being alone but it turned out great that I joined them because going around Sagada requires tour guide and a car. We split the payment for the tour.

3D, 2N Sagada Itinerary

Day 0

11 PM – Departure from Victory Liner Cubao

Day 1

4 AM – Arrival in Baguio

5:30 AM – ETD from Baguio

12 NN – ETA to Sagada

Afternoon onwards, we spent eating lunch and napping after the long travel. You can do community tour at this time. We ate at Salt n Pepper for lunch and at Sagada Brew for dinner.

Day 2

5 AM – Kiltepan View for Sunrise (Epic fail because it was rainy weekend)

7 AM – Rock Inn for breakfast and Orange Picking

11:30 AM – Echo Valley

1 PM – Lunch at Yoghurt House

2 PM – Caving Connection (Short Course)

4 PM – Bokong Falls

Day 3
Well this day consisted of buying pasalubong, packing bags and checking out of the inn. We booked a 2PM bus trip back to Manila from Sagada.

EXPENSES

450 – Cubao to Baguio

220 – Baguio to Sagada

35 - Environmental Fee (mandatory)

1500+ - Food expenses for 3D2N (Yes, food is expensive in Sagada)

1500+ - Pasalubong expenses (or more depending on how much you shop)

817 – Tour Package (x6, from 4 to 6, includes Guide Fee and Van)

600 – Hotel Accomodation for 2N

720 – Sagada to Cubao (courtesy of Codalines)

Conclusion…

I didn't get to maximize my time in this trip but I had fun and also got a chance to be strangers. It was scary but you just have to do it. 

Sagada is a place for adventure and it should be done by group to minimize the expenses and to be more fun but also, it’s a perfect place to be alone if your goal is staycation because of the cool weather. 

Start planning your trip and enjoy. :)

GALLERY:

Sagada, Mt. Province Map

Kiltepan View (no sunrise because it was raining)

Orange Picking at Rock Inn

Hanging Coffins at Echo Valley

Inside the Sumaguing Cave

Bokong Falls