Solo Ride Manila to Sagada and back in 48 hours

Halfway from Manila to Sagada, you will be passing by the Highest Point along Atok Benguet Province

One fine day on the first week of July, all I planned was buying a new helmet and the one I wanted was sold at a reasonable price only at Ace Motorcycles in Subic Bay. After spending two hours there, I just had this silly whim to why not ride to Banaue Rice Terraces, A place I have never been in my lifetime yet.

12 hours later, I find myself enjoying this unforgettable Sagada View

I left Ace Motorcycles Subic at around 6pm and found myself at Tplex a around 730pm. By 9pm I found myself at a junction with signs leading me to Baguio and Ilocos. I arrived Baguio at around 1000pm and took a nap prior continuing my journey at 530am

Night Ride Tplex, killed too many bugs this trip

En route to Sagada from Baguio, one will surely pass by Halsema Hiway (a.k.a. n204) where your journey starts from La Trinidad with epic unli roadside views of the 'gulay rice terraces' along Bontoc

just 20 minutes from Baguio, you will be bombarded by veggie terraces, at this time I said this was quite enough, I just wanted to take Terraces pics... but then,  I decided to soldier on

Another landmark along Halsema hiway is the Highest Point in the Philippine Hi-way system where almost every rider I know has a "been there done that selfie" of themselves. I also did the touristy thing and snapped a few of my own.

Mandatory Selfie at the Highest Point sign board, nothing much really here except this sign

After that quick stopover at the Highest Point in Atok, found myself driving two hours worth of fun fog filled twisties, epic mountainside views (you will feel lula at times since you are so high), plus the never ending gulay terraces view plus a few bonus mini falls along the hiway

Hiway n204 is an epic route filled with fun twisties, endless epic mountainviews and at times mini falls which I love so much 

Amused how my Huawei P20pro can take silky water shots without a need for a ND Filter

After more than three hours from La Trinidad, I found myself at the base of Sagada where getting there, you shift from N204 (Halsema Hiway) to N206 (Bontoc-Sagada Road) and find yourself at the heart of Sagada in less than 30 minutes. 

this was the most scenic terraces view in the area, I checked every nook and cranny, this was it as it greets you as you eggress N204 to N206

Once in Town, I at first wasn't particularly impressed or felt a good vibe probably because the rains caught to me upon arriving plus I was missing the breathtaking sceneries I was spoilt with for the past 6 hours. I was unusually fresh when I arrived and found a local coffee shop to have my late lunch.

like everyone, after a long travel, I reward myself with great local cuisine in an artsy environment, well thats me

It was quite funny as I got to this quaint artsy cafe fronting Lumiang Burial Cave, I was greeted by the owner who shared she was the help and later approached by the help who introduced herself as the owner. Funny moment but after a few minutes on conversations with Ghy Zel, I was fortunate enough to find me a seasoned local to take a peek at what Lumiang Cave was all about.

Ghy Zel and her super cute and sweet daughter

Getting to the cave was approximately 150 steps down along a misty pine forest leading to a downward trail between rock formations. Once getting to the mouth of the cave, my jaw dropped.  

The entrance of Lumiang Burial cave was epic in perspective, as well as beautifully breathtaking.

What makes Lumiang Burial Cave uber interesting is how thousands of coffins can be found stacked upon one another, others hanging, while I wanted to get down to the history of things, I just snapped a few photos what Lumiang Cave was about from a mobile photo tourist perspective

Coffins galore from culture's past

While there is much more to explore in Sagada, (Samaguing Cave in particular, I found myself too lazy to even bother exploring further. My mind was actually set on the ride back, taking images of areas along Bontoc road etched on my mind which I missed.

Lumiang Cave Inside looking out

While I wanted to stay a bit longer or supposedly ride another three hours to Banaue Rice Terraces from Sagada,  a friend informed me a super typhoon was coming so just decided to rest and head back to Manila by morning, fulfilling a log cabin stay fantasy with Rust N Wood

Rust and Wood is a very cool local art cafe filled with interesting local gift items, Screw those hotels...Slept here..shhhh :)

Found myself up at around 530 am and ready to head back to Halsema hiway but the folks at Rust and Wood were kind enough to serve a hearty breakfast...thank you so much...

Breakfast for champs like moi lol

The ride back wasn't as smooth sailing as when I went in. The last photos I managed to take are from the backroads of Sagada where several streams gave me some interesting photo opportunities

a slew of mini falls en route back to N204

This was the last time I would be doing stopovers since after I got back to N204, the typhoon caught up with me and was riding wet for roughly six hours till I got to Baguio. I just made a quick stop for strawberries for mom and again rode another four hours in non-stop hard pouring rain, My Sena headset stopped working as water seeped in, plus after Baguio, I found my tire has gone soft, was lucky enough a vulcanizing shop was so conveniently located to the gas station where I noticed my almost flat rear tire.  I was way tired by this time, all I wanted was to hit home and dive into bed.

one of the last few moments of having blue skies, it was all downhill wet after this

It's funny how the most memorable trips in your lifetime are spur of the moment trysts with your motorbike. What started as just buying a new helmet turned into an action packed, photo extravaganza moto trip for me and my V.

I managed to arrive back home at around 10pm, and that was my 48 hour journey from Manila- Sagada and back riding solo on a whim :)

888km in 48 hours...cheers to more long rides in the future

Getting to Sagada from Manila via Motorbike

1. NLEX to SCTEX

2. SCTEX to TPLEX

3. TPLEX to Marcos Hiway

4. Marcos Hiway to N204 (Baguio-La Trinidad-Bontoc road)

5. N204- N206

theres is apparently a way back going through Nueva Viscaya region but skipped that, I enjoyed the N204 too much, but traffic was a major bitch in Baguio heading back so consider the Nueva route back

Trip Costs

Toll fees one way is P615 (tot trip P1.2k)
*detail
P340 nlex
P270 tplex
P5 baguio bontoc

Fuel one way 650cc is P1.4k (x2=P2. 8k)
*three stops
P400 at tplex
P400 at baguio
P600 along bontoc road.