With Baguio City, the Philippines' Summer Capital, becoming more and more saturated during vacation time (Christmas Season and the Holy Week), local tourists are looking for other alternative vacation spots. SAGADA, with its cool climate and pine sceneries seems to be a choice, A BETTER ONE, and and an increased flow of local tourists have been observed the past couple of years.

SAGADA not only offers a more temperate climate and fresher and greener pine sceneries than Baguio BUT also has caves, waterfalls and a host of other man-made tourist attractions such as hanging coffins and rice terraces concentrated within a smaller geographical location. It has been an ideal haven for foreign spelunking-loving tourists and is now offering the less active but nonetheless nature-seeking local tourists an escape from the pollution, noise, and heat of urban places.

TRANSPORTATION: HOW TO GET TO SAGADA

Sagada is a 6 to 7-hour bus ride from Baguio City which is in turn a 5-hour bus ride from the National Capital Region. This route enables one to experience the grandiose of the Halsema Highway with its zig-zagging roads and the breathtaking Benguet countryside. At some point, the highway runs alongside the meandering Chico River as it moves towards the Cagayan River, the longest river in the Philippines.

An alternative route would be to go via Banaue (10 hours bus ride from Manila) and from there, take two jeepney rides going to Sagada. Although this route takes a longer time, some tourists prefer it for they will get a chance to view the famous Banaue Rice Terraces and at the same time, they would pass through the capital town of Bontoc.

There are now other options to go to Sagada which includes convenient travel tour transportation. The more popular ones are Autobus and Florida.