Discover Sagada: The "Shangri-la of the Philippines"

So here's our adventure in Sagada, in continuation of my previous post. I don't know why it is dubbed as the "Shangri-la of the Philippines", I just thought it'll be a good title to this post. Of course, I do a little bit of research before writing my blog. All I know is that Shangri-la is a high class hotel which I could never afford to check in to. I could never relate as to why Sagada is dubbed as that. From Banaue, we immediately checked in to our inn at Sagada, I think it was Sagada Guesthouse. I like the place, it was newly renovated and mostly made of wood. The bathroom is nice and clean too, with hot showers, of course. I can't possibly take a bath in Sagada without a heater. 

After moving our bags from the car to our rooms and unpacked some clothes for our orange picking activity, we had lunch at the cafe right beside the inn. I did not particularly liked what we ordered and everybody wanted to eat there.

I wanted to eat here, at the Yoghurt House, but everyone was contented with eating at that place where we had lunch. Finny said this place have really good reviews, as you can see it is packed in the picture. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try any of the food item on their menu.

Before picking oranges at the orchard, we first hike to these hanging coffins, which Sagada is very famous of. The trail is pretty manageable, but for those who rarely exercise, this would prove to be quite a feat. Anyway, we survived climbing down and up the cliffy, hilly, trail. I really do not want to post these photos since I want to pay my respect to the departed ones, but I also wanna share this with my very few readers. I did not post this at my social media accounts. I think currently, this place is off limits to tourist due to some unfortunate events.

 Afterwards, we rested at the courtyard of The Episcopal Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. There were plenty of pine trees, pine cones, and cow poop, so be careful where you sit. I kinda like small churches like this one. I can invite few guests who are willing to travel to Sagada to attend my wedding. But I like the Lazi Church of Siquijor more. You can barely trace any Spanish influence in Sagada, and this church is not that old.

The aisle. 

After the resting at the church, we proceeded to orange picking at Rock Farm. It costs 50 pesos for unlimited picking and eating of oranges for about an hour. I did not particularly like the oranges, and remembered it to be sour, but I did love the experience and the view. I really love cool places and the temperature was perfect. As you can see, Chin was clearly enjoying herself. Anyway, guys, if you go orange picking, make sure that you eat the oranges that you picked, and picked them carefully. You may think that you paid for it, but please don't waste any. 

The view from the farthest part of the farm before the barbwire of the neighboring farm. Haha

After the orange picking activity, we headed to Cafe Bodega for some snacks. This place was packed too. 

I ordered this fruit yogurt, forgot what it's called, but I believe, you should try all of their yogurt desserts and drinks. I love the french windows and the view of the orchard in the background. Sagada is really lovely place to visit, but very hard to reach. Life. 

 

We had our driver dropped us at the town to do some individual sightseeing. You will notice vendors selling these smoked pork. I'm not sure if these are from wild boars or just normal pigs though. I haven't tried these yet, but I really wanna go back and do all the things I missed when we visited Sagada. 

Don't forget to visit Ganduyan Museum and learn the history and culture of the people from Sagada. Taking pictures is prohibited inside, I manage to take some, but of course, if you wanna see what's inside, it would be best to go to Sagada yourself.

Our group head, treated us to a really nice dinner at Homestay Diner. He opted to have dinner at Masferre, but then of course, since it's popular the place was packed. I guess Homestay Diner  has a really good view if it wasn't nighttime. The restaurant was located on an elevated part a little bit far from the museum. After the dinner, our director treated us wine at Masferre, finally, since the place isn't packed anymore when we passed by after dinner. We strolled down South road, but most of the cafe's and bars closed at 10pm, great, not.

Anyway, I get to try these delicious crepes at this tine hole in the wall. I'm assuming the owner is French since he sells crepes with his Filipino assistants. This is probably the last one to close, and I still had to wait in line for these.

I forgot how much this cost but it felt like the price was the same with those bought in the city. The price I paid felt like it was worth it anyway. I feel like I wanna try this again when I come back.

The following day, we had to wake up early in order to catch up the sunrise at Kiltepan Peak. I couldn't even remember if I enjoyed may sleep at the inn, but who cares. OMG, the number of people on this event was overwhelming. I look creepy in the photo, but the main focus should be on those sea of clouds, which is a must see when you go to Sagada. 

Yep. Kiltepan Peak is now off the bucket list.

Our next adventure with be on the way to Baguio City. Why on the way? Because it took, like a day, rather felt like one whole day to reach Baguio City from Sagada.