Barefoot Sagada Package Inclusions

Below are the details you need to know if you want to join one of Barefoot Travel's future Sagada trips. I got these details from the primer they sent me a week before my scheduled tour of Sagada. You will receive one too should you decide to join them. You can also read my introductory post about Barefoot Travels and my Sagada excursion with them. Just go to this link here: Sagada with Barefoot Travels: An Introduction. Barefoot Travels has an upcoming Sagada trip this February 7-9 so be sure to register! 

If you wish to contact them for further details and clarifications, feel free to email Barefoot Travels at barefoottravels@yahoo.com or contact us at +63917-3589716 or +63923-5610062 Go Travel. Be Practical. Have Fun. Go Barefoot. Work Shoes: OFF LIMITS!

The Annual Sagada Bonfire Fest, now on its 5th year and held every last week of December, is organized by the Sagada Genuine Guides Association or Saggas. It is a night of merry-making, food tripping, music jamming and cultural bonding. Experience this one of a kind bonfire feast as Barefoot Travels brings you to the heart of the Mountain Province this December. 

PACKAGES:

 SAGADA EXTREME: Php5,500 per person (Php5,250 for early birds) 

STANDARD PACKAGE: Php4,450 per person 

Sagada with Barefoot Travels: An Introduction

Sagada Rice Terraces

Sagada has always been one of my dream destinations ever since my younger sister told me that she's been there during her UP days (about 15 years ago) and it was such an awesome experience for her. She was telling me all these wonderful stories of heading there atop a jeepney squeezed between her friends traversing the dangerous and steep sides of the mountainous Banaue while intoxicated with alcohol and what-not. It sounded so much fun and I wanted to experience that too. Unfortunately, between my younger sister and me, I am not as brave. So whenever I'd try to schedule a trip to Sagada, visions of buses and jeepneys falling off a cliff would pop in my head and just as soon as I thought of going there, my dream would immediately fade away too. Yeah, I'm such a scaredy cat. 

Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur Tour

So many things to do, so little time... I know this is my constant rant here on my blog. But looking at the brighter side of things, I still consider myself lucky. I work from home (basically from any place where there's internet wi-fi) which means I can travel on a whim or at a moment's notice. In fact, this weekend (just when I thought that I'd just be staying home this month to take a break from all that continuous traveling I did since October last year), I am going to visit Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu again. Actually, I'm leaving tomorrow and I need to be at the airport by 4am!!! Ack! I really need to pack!

Magkukuob Cave and Cliff Jumping

After our short trip to the luminescent Hagukan Cave, we went to a smaller and darker one called Magkukuob Cave. Our boat docked near a cliff wall to show us that later after we go spelunking inside the cave, we'd be jumping off that cliff too like what the boy we saw was doing.

Hagukan Cave in Sohoton Cove, Siargao

Get awed by the luminescence of the Hagukan Cave.

After we swam with the millions of stingless jellyfish at the Jellyfish Lagoon, we explored the first of two magnificent caves that Sohoton Cove has to offer, the Hagukan Cave. It came from the root word "Haguk" which means "snore". This is because the cave emits a snoring sound as the waves splash and enter the opening of this dark yet luminescent cavern, hence, the word hagukan.

Puerto Princesa, Palawan Underground River Tour

 

Arriving at the entry point of the Underground River 

On our second day, we bought the package tour of Casa Linda for our trip to the Underground River. It cost us P1,300 each. We would’ve gotten the one offered by our trustworthy tricycle driver, Mang Lito, if it didn’t involve being on the road for two hours. I thought, if something bad would’ve happened to us, at least Casa Linda would’ve been accountable for it. So we went on with our journey.

The left side of Sabang Beach was where we boarded our boat.

By 7:30 am, we were already on the road. The annoying thing about joining a package tour is that you get to be with other people, mostly of foreign descent, who have their own various styles and personalities. What ticked me off about it was these two Koreans is that they move so slowwho happened to move so slow. They seemed ignorant about the concept of respecting other people’s time. We waited for them outside Asturias Hotel for more than 30 minutes when we could’ve been using that time heading to our destination already! Apparently, when I talked to the Filipino couple we were with, who also came from Asturias Hotel, they explained that their hotel front desk  officer was not able to coordinate well with the tour agency. The two Koreans thought they were going to Honda Bay, so they went back to their room and changed attire making us all wait for them in the process. How inconsiderate, right? Grrrr!!! It was infuriating!

Cool Bicol Tour

Hi Folks! Happy Easter! BEFORE I TELL YOU ABOUT OUR TRIP TO PALAWAN, LET’S LOOK BACK AT OUT TRIP TO SOUTHERN LUZON’S LAST FRONTIER.  WE KNOW IT’S BEEN DEVASTATED SOME TIME LAST YEAR BUT IT’S BACK ON ITS FEET AGAIN.

My constant reminder to everyone who wants to experience summer in its full glory: Don’t forget your hat, shades and SPF70 sunblock and you’re ready to conquer the scorching summer heat.

~~~oOo~~~

 SORSOGON, BICOL REGION 

Being the travel bugs that we are, we really couldn’t help but try to explore our beautiful country as much as we can. And so as soon as another long weekend hit our calendar, we hit the road again, this time, going as far south of Luzon as possible (We even met some friends at the Petron gas station at the South Express Way —Wing and Joedi as they stopped for breakfast before heading to Batangas).

 

 From left to right: Joedi, Peter, Wing

Anyway, as I was saying, we headed as far south as possible, passing by Laguna, Quezon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, and Sorsogon —- a long 12+ hours on the winding roads of Bicol region, exploring the following sites:

 Mt. Mayon in Albay

 

 

Passing by Albay on our way to Sorsogon, we noticed that the sun was about to set and there’s no telling when we can pass by Mt. Mayon again, hence, these snapshots. 

Bolinao on a Weekend

The previous night, I was dreaming of going back to La Union for another surfing adventure when I woke up to a single text message from Joan asking me if we’d be interested of going to Bolinao with Paw and her BF (and Browman Revival’s vocalist) Dino. At first I was excited that they asked us and then it dawned on me that we’d be picking up a friend at the airport same date that they’d be going there. So I pulled all our resources to make this trip happen. Afterall, the sun has been shining more frequently these days and I truly miss the beach…

           

So, at 11pm of Saturday June 10, after having dinner at Pier 1, Tomas Morato, we headed up north to Pangasinan, a 5-6 hours drive  to the Lingayen Gulf from Manila. We arrived at the beach around 4am. The beach was calm and the perfect full moon was in sight. Dino and Joan slept under the moon and the stars, Paw immediately started skim boarding, Peter took a nap while I explored the beach and took some pictures.