Hi everyone, I and a couple of friends are planning to ride to Sagada by the end of this month. It's my first time to go on a long ride North as most of my long rides are south bound. And this time...on a scooter Does anybody have a plotted map of some sort for this trip, distance from gas station to gas station, stop overs, and total mileage for this trip? I remember seeing on the old MCA a plotted map before. Also other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much!

Something like this......



Balintawak to Cabanatuan:
Distance = 114.0 km

Cabanatuan to Sta Fe, N. Viscaya
Distance = 104.3 km
Cumulative Dist = 218.2 km

*Additional 120kms (two way) to Banaue

Thanks Herc, could you post the source for this map please, it's a bit quite blurred when I zoom in. Also our route would be from Paranaque manila to Baguio then Sagada. Thanks again.

hi carlos,
wow going to sagada in the rainy season! gotta be careful.
i went up to baguio last weekend and it was raining almost the whole time i was there. on my way back in Tarlac, i helped a rider who met an accident by pushing his hornet to the breakdown lane. make sure you wear those high visibility vests.
and kennon road was a b**ch, passed at least 4 road repairs. light traffic but travel was slow.
good luck!

Hello Corinne yup, am currently itching for an adventure. However, I'm not used to getting to Baguio via the back roads. Will be on a scooter kasi that's why I'm plotting the best way to reach Baguio. I think getting lost on the way to sagada from baguio would be the least to worry about as "I think" there's only 1 way to get there from Baguio (correct me if I'm wrong) I'm also looking at a map where in you can reach Marcos hiway via Rosario/Pugo. Has anyone have any idea regarding this route?

Good luck Carlos! Don't forget to take pics...lots of it. Can't wait for you ride report on this one.

carlos wrote:


Well if you go past that turn into Kennon and stay on the main highway, you'll see that turn off into Marcos (I hear the name is different now) highway so that's no problem? And yeah..last June 12 that long bridge when you enter La Union was still under repair but just this weekend when I went up, it's already ok. But I think your main problem is going on McArthur highway right, since you're not taking NLEX and SCTEX. I suggest from Paranaque to go on C5 until Ateneo and go back to EDSA via North Avenue (like the Petron Endurance route) then when you get to Monumento go towards Valenzuela to get on McArthur highway. You have to go down the ramp at Malolos then just go straight (passing Pulilan, Calumpit) then enter Pampanga to SFDO, Angeles until Mabalacat then onto Tarlac...

Can't wait either Tom Will share pics as soon as I'm back

Thanks for the tips Corinne. Will study this route you've mentioned on the map. Thanks again

carlos wrote:



kindly advise your email so i can send the high resoulution pix to you.

Thanks Herc. Will PM you my e-mail addy. Thanks again

Hi Carlos,

In case you are interested, Motoworld will start carrying Garmin GPS units with official Garmin Philippine map and local warranty very soon.

This might be useful for your proposed excursion

Hello Ryan. Thanks for the offer will probably visit your shop when I have time which is most probably after the trip pa. For the meantime, we will be using a GPS loaded on a friend's iphone but it's always good to have the route plotted on our heads and a map as a back up. It would be great too if you could post the items here and the prices as well. Cheers!

if you have a nokia s60 phone or a windows mobile phone, you can install garmin mobile xt so you can use the locally made map... it' so much easier to use and doesn't require a data connection... you can then use Roadtrip (for OSX) or Mapsource to plot your route and upload the route to the phone... good luck...

I've had it with hi tech phones already boylit, they only last a couple of months with me before I break it We'll have to rely on my friend's iphone, sadly with a short battery life

Going to Sagada or long rides on a scooter is a first time for me. Lots of people do this regularly and surely we could do it too. At last after the long wait, we were able to pursue the ride to Sagada. ETD was supposed to be at 12:00AM of July 30 expecting that travel time would take awhile. Coming home from work in the shop till 7PM, I knew I had to at least take a few hours of sleep before taking off. Excited about the trip, I laid down the bed with my eyes closed but with a smirk on my face, imagining our journey which was to commence in a few hours. Sleepless, I stood up at 11PM and to my disgrace upon looking out the window, the rain was pouring hard. The plan was to ride rain or storm but at the back of my mind, I somehow know that some would be hesitant to push through. Drank coffee while smoking in front of the house hoping that the rain would stop. Psyching myself that when it rains hard, it won't last long and good weather always follows. 1 AM and still no one was replying to my text messages. Guessing that my companions decided to just sleep instead on the rainy night. 1:30AM and finally 2 of my friends Daniel and Emay finally showed up all wet from the travel from their houses to my home, again the excitement rushed back! Also another sleepy head "Paolo" finally woke up after 6 calls and several text messages. Soon the rain started to settle down a bit, all geared up we were able to take off at 2AM with a slight drizzle leaving behind 3 friends who were supposed to join us with all the excuses you could imagine but we knew deep inside...they were just too scared to ride in the rain Upon entering Edsa it was clear skies and was all good vibes for us riding in the dark with our grinning faces concealed by our helmets. I'm a person who could barely remember directions so Emay was to be the spear head and guide. We had to divert Mc Arthur Bridge "I think was the name" for us to reach Bulacan where a bridge was under repair, other than the diversion road, our spearhead knew another route where we would pass through residential areas to skip the congested diversion road. Tight roads and it was really dark and to be honest, it was creepy as sometimes, there were only 2 to 3 houses in a long dark stretch. HID lamps fitted on my scoot served me well . It was time for us to gas up, paranaque to bulacan consumed half a tank of gasoline. Note that a full tank would roughly cost Php 150-160, amazing fuel efficient machines aren't they It was a cold cold night and wasn't really aware that we we're already in Pampanga, then reached Tarlac at the break of dawn to take our first cup of coffee. Checked my index card sort of list that I made indicating the towns that we would pass by and was still wondering where this Pugo road is, it didn't take us long to reach Pugo and I came to my senses that it is the road I passed 2 years ago going to the Baguio motorcycle convention, now I am really confident that we won't get lost. We were blessed with good weather all the way, but still going up baguio on a motorcycle in the wee hours of the morning is really cold. Upper perforated leathers didn't do much of a job in giving me warmth. It was mostly good roads in marcos highway with a few spots that needs to be cemented. It's one helluva break in for my scoot climbing slowly. This ride report could also serve as a scoot comparo between my Yamaha Mio 115cc to a Suzuki Sky Drive 125cc, the more torquey Suzuki proved to be a much better performing scooter on climbs and long stretches but...fuel consumption, let's just say that the Yamaha Mio has an advantage of half a tank of petrol Front suspension, Suzuki wins but still, both are a pain in the hand and arms and is enough to shake the brains inside your skull, rear suspension-single sided swing arms and mono shock gives you a sort of feeling that your rear tire is under inflated while on twisties.

Becoming a tourist again
Finally after 8hrs of saddle time and a few breaks, our first leg of the journey was over. I still know how baguio exactly looks like from my visit 2 years ago, but what is baguio if you don’t visit the usual tourist spots. Still tired and chilling, we opted to do a little tour and went to Camp John Hay and Mines view park.

A sister of one of my companion who’s residing in Baguio was generous enough to adopt us while in Baguio and cooked us local Baguio longganisa and chopsuey with nothing but the best fresh vegetables baguio has to offer. A long ride and a good meal often results to…

They say I move a lot when sleeping, I had to shut up after seeing this picture. Waking up at about 3PM, it was finally time to take a market tour and buy what’s to be cooked for dinner. This was the only time we were wet, soaking wet as the freezing rain poured while we were in the market. As a tip for those who will travel to baguio this season, expect rain in the afternoon as we we’re told. Paolo with Ilocano roots spotted some chili peppers which kind of looked similar to what we use in sinigang but smaller, and bought a plastic full which was only for Php 5.00! He said it’s a variety that’s not that spicy and can be eaten whole after cooked supposedly Ilocano style called diningding “I think” but without bagoong in hand, it ended up as an adobo. True enough it served as a great pulutan.

(Kinda looks like a lumber jack Here he is cooking it up with some basic ingredients of finely chopped garlic, soy sauce and vinegar (which is not to be stirred in a few minutes) “that I really don’t understand when cooking with vinegar.” Minutes after, we received a text message from a friend that was left behind that he is already in baguio, this was around 10:00PM, he rode by himself, crazy! And then there was 5 . After having dinner of yummy Adobong Ilocano which had it’s fat melting in your tongue, and fresh and crisp vegatables with mushrooms and a few beers, it was time to admit that we we’re all exhausted and it was time to hit the sack.

The Sagada leg (July 31’10)
Woke up 7AM freezing, what’s the best thing to do…Torture yourself by taking a cold shower to wake up the body Took a quick breakfast with hot benguet brewed coffee and hit the saddle. Passed by Cathedral of Our Lady of Atonement yet better known as Baguio Cathedral to say thanks and ask for blessings for a safe ride.

There’s nothing like cruising these long and winding roads enjoying the sceneries on a scooter.





Here we had to stop for some picture taking and a cigarette break. The water was really refreshing and it didn't take long for everybody be tempted and took a quick shower in the freezing water. Admin, feel free to delete this porno pic if needed FYI-I am not included of the naked call boys






Before, I really don’t understand that much about the fuss in Sagada, but now I realized that the journey itself en route to our destination says it all. Here’s the mountain views.




Truly majestic!

Reached the highest point and took some pictures for bragging rights to some of our friends who failed to come with us.







Here we reached a town right after petron halsema where we decided to take an early lunch. Ordered food that was said to make you younger Bulalo and Papaitan.



The serving is a bowl full which could satisfy the apetite of 3 average persons for only Php100 per order. The papaitan really stands for its name as it really is dark green and bitter, not like what is normally available here in manila. Sad thing there’s no calamansi available for the papaitan and it was a bit too strong for my taste without this. Addt’l food info-Was told by our friend in baguio that calamansi is quite scarce and they often resort to using local lemon or dayap as an alternative. On the road again, we had to pass through patches of mud and dirt roads from time to time. Here we were closing in on our target destination, another endless ascend of rough roads mostly loose gravel and clay like soil.


Truly a punishment for the scooter’s suspension, felt like I was riding a jack hammer. While on this road, I was wishing that I was on a dirt bike.



Touch down


The last stretch of paved road leading to the town offered a feeling of pure serenity, this is guaranteed to make anyone sigh and smile while passing through. First thing’s first, look for an affordable accommodation to lodge our back packs and look for food. We ended up booking at George’s which offered a clean decent room with shower , satellite TV and a terrace with a good view for Php 200 The room could be considered great for any “back packer on a budget”. Most shops we’re closed due to lean season and finding a place to eat was limited to 2 or 3 café/carinderia at the moment. Price is a bit high for taste value and what I’d expect it to be for a carinderia. This made us utilize the camping stove we brought and will just cook our own dinner. The locals though are very friendly but expect to have a communication barrier if you are to speak in tagalog, I think they understand English better. Took a scoot ride again to tour the surroundings, this time on shorts to torture myself further from the cold weather.

We can see the hanging coffins from this side of the road. It’s also not hard to take notice of the amazing rock formation on where the coffins are nestled.





My companions thought of taking a power nap before getting ready for dinner but restless me went out for a walk enjoying every moment that I have, observing the culture and feasting my eyes on the truly spectacular sights. I was also hoping to drop by yoghurt house and try their specialty but sadly, they closed at around 5:30PM. As dusk approached we took out some canned goods we have brought for contingency and cooked in the room terrace, dinner was gone in 60 seconds . Cold weather, hanging out in the lanay called for a drink that would heat up our chilling bodies, Gin! It was great chatting and reflecting about the adventure, with a few drinks on a cold night where the only sound we could hear were our voices and a couple of dogs barking from afar. It was lights out for most of the residents at 6 or 7PM.


Day 3-Time to tour the places we can with the short time that we have left and was not able to go to bomod ok “big falls” anymore. Here we visited Sumaging cave and went spelunking for a guide fee of Php600 for the 5 of us.






We opted for option 1 which is without the cave connection due to the limited time we had. It lasted for about 2 ½ hours, expect to get wet in freezing water until waist level or higher, a few rope climbs and rope descends. Here we were told to take off our sandals and shoes, I was thinking wouldn’t our feet hurt? We later found out that from this point, lots of climbing, crawling, and steep descends are to be tackled and the lime stones offer tremendous grip on bare feet, like a Velcro effect, now I know what it feels like to be spider man.

Beautiful rock formations...



In this part, we really had to squeeze in a tight entrance. Some interesting rock formations.



Call me weird but the stench from bat guano that annoyed my friends somehow reminded me of the smoke scent of inihaw na bangus . Finally it was time to wrap it up, bought bugnay wine which tasted like sweet red wine at first sip but would leave a sour aftertaste. Off to Baguio-Manila riding at a steady pace reflecting on the journey we made left an experience that was tattooed on my mind. I’ve been riding motorcycles for quite some time already, but going on a scoot, even if travel time was an issue made me appreciate the details and beauty of all the surroundings motorcycle touring has to offer. Till my next adventure…Can’t wait

Congratulations to you and your friends! That was a fun read. Glad you all made it back safe and sound.

Great ride report, cool pics!

Animo wrote:


Thanks Tom. Can't wait till my next tour de scoot. Mindoro probably?

cyril wrote:


Thanks Cyril. There's more pics but I'm afraid they're too XXXish

Congratulations guys