Day 1
Travelling to Sagada is not an easy thing to do. I never thought that the road to the broken heart’s place is also broken. Almost every minute there is a hard turn made by the bus. It is like a roller coaster for the whole travelling time. Some are comparing it to “Bitukang Manok” or chicken’s intestine because of its road that is too curvy. If you’re planning to sleep while travelling, believe me you can’t do it easily unless you don’t care if you might head butt the window.
From Olongapo City you need to ride a Victory Liner to Baguio for 7 hours then ride a taxi to Dangwa Station. After that you need to ride the bus from the Dangwa Station to Sagada for another 7 hours. Take note that the bus from the Dangwa Station is only available for until 1:00PM.
Despite of having a hard time travelling. The beautiful scenery can totally make you forget about the road. There is no angle that is not beautiful. It will capture your eyes and make it rotate at anywhere. If the view while travelling to Baguio is already good, believe me, travelling to Sagada is more eye captivating. The view from a thousand meter altitude is really amazing. You can see a lot of Rice Terraces which is once included in 7 wonders of the world. You can also see various artistic land mass and rock formations.
When I arrived in one of the bus stops in Benguet, the cold is starting make me chill. When I washed my hands, the water feels like there is an ice mixed in it.
I arrived in Sagada at 6:00 pm in the afternoon. The first thing I did is to find a good place to stay. It is really hard to make reservation from other Inn.
Their contact number is hard to get in touch and their online customer service is not always there.
I decided to spend my night in Saint Joseph RestHouse & Restaurant. There are a lot of rooms that offered there but only few are available. There are economy rooms that cost P600 for 2 persons, P900 for 4 persons and 1700 for valued room. There is a heater in every Restroom. The crew here is always there to help. One of the good thing in Saint Joseph is its backyard. It has a lot of flowering plants that add a floral to its ambiance. Saint Joseph RestHouse & Restaurant has their own restaurant so whenever you want to eat then you don’t need to go far.
The first night is a little bit hard for me. I don’t know where to go and where to find food. I tried to ask several restaurant but I’m not really satisfied because I learned that the food here is really expensive. The food here are almost 3 to 4 times expensive than the normal prices of our food in our hometown. For example, an instant coffee which you can buy from the store for only 6 pesos, you can buy it here for 35 Pesos. The reason why foods are really expensive is that their target customers here are not really Filipino but foreigner. Their main business here is tourism so the value of foods here is not considering the price for local people.
Saint Joseph Inn has their own Internet connectivity that is free for every customer. The problem is that the radius of its signal is limited and it cannot reach my room. I got curious how they managed to have their own internet connection and what is their ISP so I asked their front office. I learned that their internet connection is globe and subscribed in their office in Bontoc City. Bontoc City is the capital of Mountain province where Sagada is one of its municipalities. I’m planning to visit Bontoc City so that I can learn what services are available there.
Work Plan for tomorrow:
1. Find another Inn where I can stay for the next day
2. Register in their tourism
3. Go to City Hall
4. Find lot or house that are for lease
Day 2
I woke up 5:00 am in the morning to check and record the speed of the internet using my internet modems of Smart, Globe, and Sun Cellular which are all pocket wifi with 4G capabilities. Unfortunately Sun Cellular has no signal here so I got no reading with it. Globe Telecom is faster than Smart Communications in terms of speed.
The time of checkout in Saint Joseph Inn is until 12:00 AM so I must find a better Inn where I can stay for this day, but before anything else, I need find an eatery to eat my breakfast. I went to the public market which is located in front of Saint Joseph. The price is cheaper compared to other restaurant here but for me it is still expensive. I bought a meal (Rice, egg, tapa) and it cost P100.
Time is running out so after I ate my breakfast I immediately find a next Inn. I found Alapo's kitchenette & Inn which has a good room service and complete of what I need. It has 2 beds with its own bathroom with heater.
Alapo's kitchenette & Inn is located near the municipal hall of Sagada and is not hard to find. At its first floor, there is their restaurant which offers great food. I also took my lunch and I can say that their foods is delicious. While eating my lunch I asked one of their crew if they know some properties that are for lease or for sale. At that time she said she has no Idea so I gave her my calling card so that in case that she found someone then he can refer it to me.
Later on I had some friendly conversation with an old lady. I saw some opportunity and asked her about my purpose here. In the middle of our conversation I found out that that she is the owner of Alapo’s Inn and she occupy the whole 3rd Floor at the same time she gave me some idea about some properties of their family that’s available for lease. She said they have a lot that they can lease for us for long term and we can build house. Later on she referred me to Ate Abielyn, an owner of a small grocery store at nearby place and one of her daughter.
At 1PM I went to Ate Abbie’s store to ask for more details. She said that she has a house 10 to 15 minutes from our place. I told her that I need to take photos and test the internet connectivity there for my report, she allowed me and arrange our trip there. More than 1 hour after hour conversation we went to her house and we’re riding in his truck. I’m a little bit adventurous so I asked her if I can ride at the back of the truck and stand there so that I can see the beauty of Sagada, she allowed me.
We arrived at her house. Her house is a 2 story building with rooftop and garage. Beside her house is a small place for gardening and farming. Plants is all around her house you can see some of unusual plants such as mole tomatoes, Berries and more. It is also located near the Bokong Falls and Bomod-ok Falls which are the same walking distance. The place has a very beautiful view of Sagada. The internet speed is also good with up to 2Mbps for Globe and Smart and there is also some foreigner who are living in its neighborhood.
The 2nd floor of his house is available for long term lease. I also asked her if how much it will cost to us if we try to live there for 1 month. She said since we are now friends, she can give it to us for P8,000. I was surprised because it is too much cheap knowing that her house is very good. By the way, it has 2 rooms with its own Sala. There is also a Chimney that she said they use it every ber months when the season is really cold. A lot of its furniture is made of wood and pine trees.
I learned from ate Abie that globe recently made their entrance here in Sagada 1 month ago. They are offering 4G service of up to 3mbps for only P1,200. Unfortunately Smart does not offer any other modem except a pocket wifi. Right now I am now sure that it is really possible to work here online since there is a good internet connection offered by Globe Telecoms.
When I need to go back to the town where I am staying I have no choice but to walk. I walked for more than 30 Minutes so we need to take note that we might need to have a car to have a better life when we choose ate Abbie’s house. If we have a car, it only takes less than 5 minutes to go in the town proper.
While walking back to Alapo’s Inn, I saw beautiful scenery, I also saw the Bokong Waterfalls so I got some pictures with it.
I also pass by the Sagada Weaving so I also grab the opportunity to take a picture
I also went to the St. Mary’s Church and get some photos. The church is historical and very beautiful. At the front of the church you can see the big bell of the church that was no longer in use but displayed only. The church in service since 1921 and they own big land in Sagada town.
I also saw the town hospital of Sagada. It was small but not as busy as other hospital in Olongapo. I bet there not much of diseases and accident that needs their assistance.
Work Plan for tomorrow:
1. Find another Inn where I can stay for the next day
2. Register in their tourism
3. Go to City Hall
4. Find lot or house that are for lease
Day 3
It’ Day 3 so I need to find a new place to spend my day. My Check out time in Alapo’s Inn is 11:00 AM so I need to find a new place as early as possible.
I test the internet connection in Alapo’s Inn and and both Smart and globe varies their speed in about 1.8 Mbps download Speed.
As I am walking with my baggage to find another Inn, I passed by their tourism department so I decided at that time to register as a tourist. That is their first hand rule for everyone who visits here and at the same time to ask people there if they know some properties that are for lease, unfortunately they also told me that It is not possible to buy because they are preserving the community and the business sector for their own people, if any big companies entered here, then the business of the people might suffer a greater loss.
When I registered as a tourist, I paid P35 pesos and I got their Tourist Map where you can see the tourist attractions of Sagada. Some part of P35 pesos payment will cover environmental fee to the town.
I found Salt & Pepper Restaurant Inn. I checked their available rooms and I was amazed although it is too high. The room is at the 3rd floor and their building is located at a high place. When they showed me the room. There are available 2 bedrooms and a big window made of glass where you can see the beautiful view Sagada. The room and its rest room is very neat. The color combination with its yellow paint, wooden base of bed, and maroon colored curtain is really relaxing.
The window is always like a big LED TV because of its scene. Believe me, it is so beautiful.
I checked the internet speed and I was shocked because I got more than 5mbps download speed with Globe. That was the first time that I got that speed. What I think is that it is because of their high place and what it received is a 4G LTE signal. But actually this is not consistent, when I tried to test it again, I got 3Mbps which is at least is still good.
I spend the rest of my time in asking people around and one of them is a guy sitting at the front of a souvenir store. I gave him my calling card and he said he will contact me after lunch.
I received a text message from the guy a met at the souvenir store, his friend wanted me to meet so we arranged it, while waiting for him for a couple of hours he texted me that he cannot go because of his work. He is a tourist guide. He told me that we can meet tomorrow morning and he will bring his motorcycle.
To save time, I walk again to ask people around. There is someone at the market that gave me an information that there is house for lease near at the rocky valley Inn. To go there, I need to walk again for a few kilometers.
Have I told you already here that there is no tricycle in Sagada. If you don’t have your own car then you need to walk around like hell because there is no means of transportation around except walking and having your own car, that is the reason why I am always walking and spending a lot of my time with that activity.
I went to rocky valley Inn to ask for any properties that are available for lease, again they discouraged me by telling me that it really hard to get for lease properties here. I didn’t listen to their words so I walk again and asked more people. I became exhausted for more than 2 hours of walk but another problem came when it started to rain hard. I decided to go back to my Inn and spend the rest of it there.
Work Plan for tomorrow:
1. Find another Inn where I can stay for the next day
2. Find lot or house that are for lease
3. Meet the guy that is offering a lot for lease
Day 4
I woke up 5 in the morning to start writing, record my expenses, get the speed of internet and wait for the text of kuya Raymond, the one who texted me yesterday that he said he will show me some lands that are for sale.
I’ve been waiting for him for more than 2 hours, so for a while, I check some places where I can buy breakfast. Right now my budget is starting depreciate so I need to tighten my belt. The price of foods here is so high and the least you can buy is a meal for P100 pesos. That meal is an egg and rice.
Since Kuya Raymond is still not here and I need to check out 10:00 am. I first find a place to stay for this day. I went to Shamrock inn which is one that has a good rank in tripadvisor. Unfortunately they are fully booked and since I really wanted to check their amenities and services I immediately booked for the next day.
I also went to Kanip-aw which is only few meters away from Shamrock Inn but it is also full. Now I need to find again a new Inn for this day so I walked again.
There are too many tourist this day that’s why I’m having some problem getting a lodging, everything is full. In this place it is really hard if you don’t have any means of transportation because there is no tricycle or anything that you can ride on. Everything here needs to be walk. So carrying my electronic gadgets, Camera, and baggage while looking for an Inn is really hard.
Finally I found a room in George Inn. There room is neat and maintained well. It has its own bathroom with a hot shower. It also has TV and balcony. The only thing I had a problem here is that at night the people who are staying on the next floor is too noisy.
Finally I met Kuya Raymond. I thought it is all fun going for a walk to see the lots he said for sale and for lease. He said we need to walk until we arrived there.
We started walking along the road from the right side of the municipal hall. I have seen all Inn’s while walking and also we passed on to the Sumaguing cave. After that we walk again for about 5 kilometers. He showed me the lots that are for lease and that we only need to talk to the landlords and owner. The problem is that we can’t find the owners since at the same time there are different thanksgiving party happening in random places. I got some pictures of lots but I think this walk is not successful although it took me 4 hours to get there. My feet was shaking because of exhaustion and my muscles are crumping. We decided to go back but we need to walk again like hell. After that we ate in a carinderia below the Centrum building and I also gave him compensation.
In the Afternoon we went to the public market and asked the people there. I met Mrs. Jess, a graphic artist. She is the only one who has a printing service there. After a short talk we became friends and I shared ideas on how she can improve his income by giving service that is in demand here. I told her that she need to study web development because there is no one who give provide that service here despite of the idea that there are too many Inn and tourist attraction here. I am sure that it will boom here. If only I am living here I would start a business of web development here.
Ate Jess told me that she has some lot for lease. We wait for her husband that will accompany me to their place. Her husband is an Igorot. He showed me the lot they have. The place is not that good right now but I think if it is properly landscaped, its beauty will show. I check the internet connection but it is not that fast.
I spent the rest of the day asking people around but I didn’t find anymore.
Work Plan for tomorrow:
1. Find another Inn where I can stay for the next day
2. Meet Mr. Ramil
3. Find lot or house that are for lease
Day 5
Again I started this morning by getting the status of the internet speed and. I was surprised that speed has changed a lot since my last trial. From less than 1Mbps yesterday, now I got more than 3Mbps. After that I prepared myself and my baggage so that when I come back, everthing is ready for me to transfer to Shamrock Tavern.
Shamrock Tavern is a beautiful place. The got a good view of Sagada and their service is excellent. This is also the first time that an Inn gave me a towel and soap.
I texted Mr. Ramil who is the husband of the cook in Alapo’s Inn. He is offering his house and lot for lease. We rode on his motorcycle to house which is about 2 km away from the terminal. It is located in Bario Madongo.
The place is far from the center of Sagada and has no place for parking. You need to step on more than 50 steps of stair then another hundreds of steps down. Their place is very simple. Their place has a really nice view but to go there is so hard for elders, I actually don’t advice this place for you. They’re house is a two story building which is mostly build by Mr. Ramil whose happens to be a carpenter. It is a very simple house that is not what I actually expecting when he is describing it before. And the price which he is giving it to us is P100,000 a year, it is too expensive compared to what Ms.Abie is offering.
After our conversation, I rendered my good bye to his family. That place is hard to reach if you don’t have a car. I waited for a jeepney for about 30 minutes but there was none so I decided to walk. It was a 3 kilometer walk under the strong heat of the sun.
I also texted a lady which is offering her lot. She made me wait more than an hour but never showed up.
I transferred in Shamrock Inn. It is a good room which is good for 3, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, hot shower, and balcony. It is also the first inn that offered towel and soap. Their room is clean and the bathroom is organized. It is prohibited to your clothes because they have their own laundry shop.
I went back to some part of public market and city hall to ask about my objectives. I also went to the tourism department but it started to rain. Because of the rain, I decided to go back to my Inn to spend the rest of the day.
At night I tried one of the famous place, “Lemon Pie House” I thought the food were expensive there but it’s not. Their lemon pie and Egg pie is P30 and their food meal is P130 which is cheaper to other restaurant here considering that it has great ambiance.
Last time I also went to a famous restaurant of “Salt & Pepper” A lot of tourist are going there to take their dinner. Salt & Pepper also has an Inn which I where I stayed few days ago. The price of their food varies from P150 to P250. The ambiance is good with its wood theme and the foods are delicious.
Work Plan for tomorrow:
1. Find another Inn where I can stay for the next day
2. Go to Bontoc City
3. Check Public Market & Hospitals
4. Find lot or house that are for lease
Day 6
Again I woke up 5:00 am to write about my activities yesterday. I transferred to Kanip-Aw Pines View Lodge. It is one of the Inn’s that has a high rank in tripadvisor. Over-all it is really nice. It is very neat. It has a hot shower and a private restroom.
The big advantage of Kanip-aw is its Pines View. You will be indulged in its majestic view. The people here is very polite and hospitable.
I checked the speed of globe there and the speed is quite good. The first time I tried it, it was not that good because it was raining. I tried it again and records the highest speed among all the previous places that I went through. It recorded a download speed of 6.31Mbps. Although its speed is really good, its upload speed is really low for about 0.36Mbps.
One of the good thing in Kanip-Aw is that we can cook. They have a kitchen where everyone can cook. The payment for the kitchen is P50.
It is also a good choice for foreigners as I saw that a lot of their customers are western people. The main reason might be that Kanip-aw is pretty well advertised in tripadvisor.
I had some conversation to some foreigner customers there. I met a couple who went here to have a vacation. They came from US and they are here for 2 weeks. They really love this place and told me that if they can stay here, they would love it.
After I took my breakfast I went to Bontoc City. To go there, we need to ride a Jeepney. The jeepney terminal is located at the front of Saint Joseph Inn and the municipal hall. One of the famous activity here in Sagada is riding on the Jeepney. Yes it is “on” because it is normal here ride on top of the jeepney.
I grab the opportunity and decided to go at the roof the jeep. It is really fun although there is a little nervous in my chest seeing that I’m riding on the jeepney that is running on a very thin road and is located beside a thousand feet high mountains.
Please excuse my muddy shoes. It is really a big mistake for me to use my nike shoes here. It almost broke during my stay here. As I told you, the basic means of transportation in Sagada is walking so having a muddy shoes here is quite normal.
While riding on top I meet James, also a foreigner. They are also having a vacation with his girlfriend. They are also on the roof of the jeepney.
The travel from Sagada to Bontoc City will take more or less 45 Minutes. Bontoc City is the capital of Mountain province. I arrived there and wandered where to go so I asked people for the terminals of jeeps. Public Market and important places.
I went to the Public Market. I was surprised by the price of goods there. The prices in Bontoc City is quite cheaper than Sagada. You can buy meals there for only P50 which is I can say is the normal price of a meal. The foods in the market is also cheaper. Although you cannot see a market like the Malls are offering, their public market offers a lot of goods although not as neat. I put the photos in GD of the bontoc public market with their prices.
I went back to Sagada before 4:00 PM because the available jeepney is only until 5:00pm. But the sky does not want to finish the day without pouring me some blessings because it rained before the jeepney arrived in Sagada. I don’t have an umbrella so I waited 1.5 hours in the terminal before I can go back to Kanip-aw.
Rain in Sagada is not like rain in low land. When it rains here, the whole mountain is surrounded with great fog. Sometimes you cannot see the houses and building in the next street. It is very cold when it rains here. You can’t go out without a jacket.
Day 7
My Last Day has come and I’m a little bit saddened by this. I now realized why my boss told me that living in Olongapo City is really hell. I might really not noticed it because I was accustomed by its temperature. But now that I tasted the place where the natural temperature is cold, going back to low land is really heart breaking task to do. I almost love everything in Sagada specially its culture . . but not the price of living expense there. I’ll be broke in a week if I live there.
I spent my last day in Ganduyan Inn. I went there not because it is the best but because It’s cheap yet the place is still good. I also love to stay there because the Sagada Museum is beside it and the owner of the Museum is also the owner of the Ganduyan Inn.
Ganduyan Inn is good for its price. It’s accessible to anyone because it is also beside the terminal and located in the heart of Sagada.
By the way, the word “Ganduyan” is not just an ordinary native word there. “Ganduyan” is the original name of Sagada. That is why the museum beside it is named as “Ganduyan Musuem”.
I checked the internet speed in Ganduyan. The download speed is decent with its 2.2Mbps. It has a good location for Globe internet because it is near to its tower.
I went to the museum to know more about Sagada. I was amazed of how rich their culture is. They really have a great history. But they are not allowing anyone to take pictures inside the museum and I was upset by that seeing how much historical and precious the artifacts that they exhibit there. The museum was once offered by the Philippine National Museum to purchase everything there in exchange for a dream price of anyone. The owner didn’t sold the Museum because for them the artifacts must remain in Sagada.
At the front of Sagada Inn I managed to asked and have a conversation with people around there. I told them what I need to accomplished and later on learned more about the internet connection in Sagada.
They told me that it ony started last month that globe started to provide a decent internet service in Sagada. They offered a wimax modem that received 4G signal. To get their service, we need to subscribe in their service. Unfortunately globe has no office in Sagada. The people there only told me that a team of globe telecom crew arrived there last month to transact with them and since there is no office there, the payment method is by depositing in their bank account or by payment online.
I am not yet satisfied with what I received. They told me to go to Bontoc City again get more info because there are some fliers in electric post there that gives more info. I decided to go to Bontoc City to check for that. I asked people there and searched for more information. After a few hours of searching I found the poster that the people in Sagada told me.
I texted the contact number below and confirmed about what they offer. Their customer service confirmed that that is the same service they offered in Sagada and that if I need to have their service I just need to contact them.
I went back to Mrs. Jess. The graphic artist in the Sagada Public Market. I remember that she has a connection of Globe LTE. I politely ask for a few minute to just only check the speed of the internet. Using speedtest.net I measured the speed of the internet for about 3.5Mbps for its download speed. I think it is fair enough for us to work online there.
The afternoon is quit giving me some hint that it will rain but I still tried to get search for real properties. But until the end of my day I found no more.
Day 8
I decided to absent this day to tour in the two famous places in Sagada. The Hanging Coffin and the Sumaguing Cave.
Day 9
I packed my things and started to move on. I casted my good bye to Sagada at 7:00 am and rode in Gl Trans to Baguio City then Baguio City to Olongapo City.
CONCLUSION
With the data I gathered while in Sagada. I therefore conclude that it is possible to work there. The internet is good there with an average speed varying from 1Mbps to 3Mbps.
Using a pocket wifi modem is not that reliable because its speed is dependent to weather, time, and location. The best option is to apply for a globe wimax modem but is subscription is 1 to 2 years. But its speed is more consistent than the pocket wifi modem.
Expenses
Internet Speed
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