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A day ago, I stumbled upon my extra SD memory card where pictures of my trip and adventure to Sagada last March 2011 were stored. I immediately checked the images and realized I took videos of our crazy Sagada top loading adventure too. It dawned on me that I never really got the chance to see the entirety of all the videos I took in this popular highland town. After seeing our crazy toploading stunt, I just had to create a video and show it to you so you guys can see how memorable our trip was to this amazing town in Mountain Province 😉
After a butt numbing 8-hour bus ride from Manila, we arrived in Banaue, Ifugao on a cloudy morning. It was cold and raining. An hour after our jeepney ride was about to leave Banaue for Bontoc, Mt. Province, we told the jeepney driver that we’ll go top loading. I bet the driver thought we were a crazy bunch with our choice of seats as it was also raining but he finally gave in when there was no longer any room for more passengers inside the jeepney.
At that instant, my companions and I hurriedly climbed the top of the jeepney and immediately settled our butts on that wet, hard, dirty, rusty, uncomfortable rooftop without minding the dangerous stunt we were about to do. It was freezing cold on that Friday morning and to make matters worse, we had to endure being soaked in the rain for an hour. The good thing was that Ed and I had the best seat advantage since we were at the back part of the jeepney. Carla, James and Toffee were seated in front of us and we were really surprised when we saw them all soaking wet. Turns out they sort of became our rain shield. Thanks guys! LOL.
After reaching the Banaue-Bontoc border, the weather improved just as what the jeepney dispatcher predicted. The rain stopped. Toffee wasn’t able to endure the wet, cold and uncomfy state he was in anymore so he decided to get inside the jeepney. The rest of us were still too stubborn to get inside. How could we even think of such a thing when we were already at the peak of our top loading adventure? hahaha. So while Toffee slept with his wet clothes inside the jeepney, the rest of us allowed the wind to dry our clothes while we continue to shiver in silence and just admired the beautiful view of Mt. Province 🙂
Tired, wet, shivering and uncomfortably sitting on top of a jeepney, Carla, James, Ed and I managed to make it through the entire trip. It wasn’t really because we were too stubborn to get down. We simply couldn’t resist the best seats on that scenic 2-hour jeepney ride from Banaue to Bontoc nevermind the deep ravines, some indications of landslides and bad roads that we had to pass through. One wrong move from the jeepney driver and one thing could have lead to another. We were just glad that despite our careless adventurous ways, we safely reached our destination unscathed.
top loading is not all fun with roads like these
If you were to ask me if I’d do it again, I’d definitely say yes in a heart beat! 😀
However, I do not encourage you guys to go top loading as there are also risks involved when you decide to do this. But if you must, please do it at your own risk and please please please be extra careful and be cautious at all times, okay?
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There are different routes to take when going to Sagada. We decided to take the Manila-Banaue-Bontoc-Sagada trail as this was more convenient for us in terms of our travel schedule and comfort since a trip to Sagada will entail 12 hours of travel time if you are travelling from Manila. In our case, since we travelled all the way from Cebu, that meant 30 hours of travelling. But for someone like me who’s a travel junkie, those long hours are just numbers. If you truly love and enjoy what you do, anything is possible! 😀
Hindi ko pa to nattry, pero i want 😀 Thanks for that advice, sa likod ng jeep din ako ppwesto para protected hihi
yeah. try mo mica. but if walang ulan, sa harap ka para makita mo akyat baba ng dinadaanan nyong steep roads 😆
swerte din sguro kami coz iba yung direction ng bagsak ng ulan kaya sila carla ang todong nabasa. hehehe
Sagada is definitely a must see for me while I’m still in the Philippines. I wish I was here and known you guys when you went there. Nagpumilit siguro akong sumama kahit ayaw ninyo Lol. Nice entry!
yeah. must-see place talaga ang Sagada. and also Batad – this i have yet to see din. Ok lang Drew, di mo kami kelangan pilitin coz u’ll always be welcome to join our trips! 😀
FYI: the 5th person sa trip na to – si Toffee – he was ed’s (FB) friend din and a fellow Cebuano who’s based in Bulacan and nung nalaman nya na may trip kami ay sabay sabi na he wanted to join us too. it was the 1st time all of us met Toffee but super fun naman din adventures namin lahat. yun lang, nanibago ata sya sa kakulitan namin pagdating sa adventure. LOL.
hope to travel with you one of these days too 😀
ang galing! human shields… hehehe!!! this i have to try… thanks for sharing Doi! 🙂
swerte lang din talaga for us coz sila yung sumasalubong sa direction ng ulan. np mervz! 🙂
I agree! Toploading will guarantee you the best seats of the Cordillera mountains! AT AN EXPENSE! Super sakit ng buttocks! I might try it again when we come back pero I’ll make sure na prepared na ang pwet ko. Hahaha.
I also have a video of us toploading pero sobrang nakakahiya. Wahahaha. Buti pa ata kayo nakaupo sa gulong. Kami kasi sa bakal.
si carla lang at hubby nya nakaupo sa gulong rob. as for me, hiniram ko 1 pair ng slipper ni ed but struggle din coz nagsli-slide sya at minsan di ko mamalayan yung bakal na rin nauupuan ko. hahaha.
weh? shy ka pala? 😆
my gulay. di nako ni kaya, promise.
asa ani? ang mag topload or mauwanan? 😆
ang mag topload nga ma uwanan. kanang magkurog kurog bitaw. hahaha
ahahah. kaya ra ni nimo dwin oi. sisiw ra ni nga challenge 😆
excited to do this.. mukhan nakakatakot nga yung mga daan.. sana lang tlga hndi maulan sa pagpunta namin dito 🙂
yeah, scary sya kaya it’s not advisable talaga magtravel dun pag masama ang panahon. i just hope bumuti na ang weather 1-2 weeks before your trip para maging safe kayo 😉
This post reminded me of my topload experience from Sagada to Bontoc to Banaue. And yes, I will do it again. Gusto ko rin ng video! It really shows the experience more than a picture.
thanks Josiah! mas maganda naman talaga if mag topload 😉 dala nlng tayo ng extra cushion next time 😆
my friends and i tried toploading while in Batanes. not that we ran out of space inside the jeepney, we just wanted to do it for the experience. it was fun… but it wasn’t raining though. you video is great too. makes me wanna go back to sagada for the nth time 🙂
thank you gladys! 😉 same here. i wanna go back to Sagada and stay there for a month or so 😉
wow! parang ako nilalamig when i read this post.I’ve tried sumakay sa top load when I was a kid sa mindanao,sobrang enjoy
ang lamig nya talaga! buti nalang nakatalikod kami sa jeep. at least di kami sinasalubong ng hangin 😉
Waaah. Even with the hurdle. Go pa rin. I am hoping I can visit this place and fight my motion sickness. hehe 🙂
elal, bonamine lang ang katapat nyan! but yeah, you should try Sagada. i want to live there for a month or more! 😉
Isa yan sa mga pangarap ko sa buhay hehe
you can do it Christian! 🙂
Yeah, like the song in the vid, at habang tumutugtog at binabasa ko ang post na ito, feel ko nasa Sagada din ako at nakasakay sa jip habang umuulan at freezing, at nasa bubong actually! hehe. Ganda ng vid. sakto! I want to go there as much as I would like to visit Vigan..Thank God, meron kayong shield..hehe.
thank you mitch! yeah, useful talaga yung shield namin. hahaha.
I hope I can travel back to Vigan soon too 🙂
[…] our trip to Sagada last March 2011, something similar happened. After top loading on the way to Sagada, we immediately went spelunking when we arrived in town. We saw centuries-old coffins at the mouth […]
Gusto ko makapunta diyan kasi everyday nalang dito sa Tugeugarao Mainit :)) Ahahaha Galing nga ako sa Pinakamainit na parte ng Phils, Pero ppunta ako sa malamig na part din ng Phils :)) Ahaha Weeeeeeee
ok lang yan. must-try ang toploading but ingat lang ha! 🙂
It is so great over there. Love top loading, if only it didn’t hurt that much 🙂
i agree both on the place and the toploading Alex! 😆 but i’d still choose the same route if given a second chance! 😀
wew! eto gusto ko matry top-loading!!! been in sagada last august pero di ko ntry toh 🙁
hehehe. yeah, masaya sa top but be sure to be extra careful if you decide to do this gelai! 😉
hahahaha
great ride guys!
indeed batanggala! you should try this too! 😀
The place looks really scary with the mountain mist adding in the background, I always dreamed visiting Sagada.. Beautiful place overall!