Baguio to Sagada by bike!

Finding my way out of Baguio was a bit tricky, but once on the main road towards Sagada it was stunning. The scenery just kept getting better and I had to keep stopping to take photos every few minutes. I reached the Philippine Pali, the highest point of the Philippine road system with no problem. Just after that things started to go a bit wrong. I noticed up ahead that I was so high, the clouds were blowing over the mountain summit across the road in front of me. No option but to go into the clouds, I was very quickly very wet and very cold. Then the weather changed and it got so cold I actually began to shiver uncontrollably! The fact I only had a few T-shirts on made it even worse, but I needed to get to Sagada. After a few hours of this freezing weather I thought I saw the sign to Sagada so I stopped and read it carefully. Unfortunately it didn’t say Sagada, but by now my brain was so frozen I was convinced it did!, I now know it didn’t!! I took the fork in the road and continued for about 40 minutes until I arrived in a small village I thought was Sagada. I looked around for hotels but there weren’t any! Confused, I asked the only person around, a 10 year old girl and she told me this isn’t Sagada! But if I take that little road up the hill I maybe able to get to Sagada in 2 hours! Again not much option so I took the little track up the mountain side. About an hour later I found myself on a totally deserted track skirting the edge of a mountain, with a 1000 metre drop on one side, a sheer rock wall on the other and the weather getting colder and colder and wetter and wetter! It suddenly occurred to me I had taken this 10 year old girls directions on complete trust! What if I’m heading to nowhere? What if I get a puncture, there’s simply no-one up here to help. And I’m freezing! Literally! Luckily after about another hour I came back down the other side of the mountain and there was the sign I was desperate to see: Sagada 9 km!! Definitely the craziest bike ride I have ever been on!!! And it took over 10 hours!
After that I really liked Sagada, apart from the temperature, it was about 3 degrees above freezing and everyone, especially the locals were dressed as if on an Artic Expedition! I hired a guide and we had a great time on my bike whizzing from site to site. Waterfalls, Caves, Rice Terraces, Sagada has a surprise around every corner! Great place, only wish I had more time there.

---

---