Entries about accomodation

Sunrise over Padjao Rice Terraces

Awichon on "fire" aka Sunrise surprise!

After I wrote about my Kalinga travel experience here, I got a lot of questions about how long my trip was and how much it cost me. So I decided to do another blog to give some details as to the itinerary, cost and other information about this solo travel. I hope this will help you plan your own trip.

A. SAMPLE ITINERARY FOR KALINGA 3-DAY TRAVEL

DAY 0
8:00 PM depart Manila for Tabuk

DAY 1
7:00 AM Arrive Tabuk
Breakfast while waiting for jeepney/bus
8:00 AM Ride a jeep/bus for Tinglayan
12:00 NN Arrival in Bugnay
Ride a habal-habal for Turning Point
Meet your guide, Register and pay the fees
Trek up to Buscalan
1230 PM Arrival in Buscalan, find homestay
Lunch
1:30 PM Free time, tattoo session, buy tokens from local artisans
6:00 PM Dinner

DAY 2
5:30AM see sunrise in Padjao Rice Terraces
6:30 AM Breakfast
7:00 AM Trek back to Turning Point
Ride a habal-habal back to Bugnay
8:30AM Catch a jeep/bus for Tabuk

11:30 AM Get Off at Lubuagan Municipal hall
Quick stroll around Lubuagan to take photos of the old houses
Ride a habal-habal to Awichon
Check in @Awichon and talk with Mr. & Mrs. Saclag
Explore Awichon
Dinner

DAY 3
5:30 a.m. Wake up to take photos of the surrounding of Awichon
8:00 a.m. Get into costume; have photos taken with Ma’am Rebecca
9:00 a.m. Travel back to Tabuk
Lunch
Explore Tabuk
5:00 p.m. Get on the bus back to Manila (dinner on the way back)

DISCLAIMER:
This is just a sample itinerary. Since my trip to Kalinga I have time to rethink the itinerary I posted above. It would have been better to have done: Manila - Tabuk - Lubuagan (Awichon) - Tinglayan (Buscalan) - Bontoc - Baguio - Manila. The revised route will save you time because it will be straight route and no switch backs like my itinerary. Even more less time consuming in terms of travel time is for you to fly in from Manila to Tuguegarao, Cagayan (40minutes), then take a van to Tabuk (2 hrs) then Lubuagan (Awichon) - Tinglayan (Buscalan), back to Tabuk and on to Tuguegarao. The time posted in the sample itinerary above is very tentative. You have to make room for delays caused by vehicle breakdown, unscheduled rest stops, and road accidents.

B. COST OF 3-DAY TRAVEL IN KALINGA

Here is an itemized costing of my budget for this travel:
1. Bus fare from Victory Cubao -- (Manila- Tabuk- Manila) - P830/way
2. Trike fare from Victory Tabuk to bus station for Bontoc - P10/way
3. Bus fare Tabuk to Bugnay - P150/way
4. Habal-habal - Bugnay to Turning point - P150/pax
5. Guide fee (Buscalan) - P1,000/group of 5 -- this was the single biggest cost for me in this trip as I did not bother to look for anyone to split the cost with. If you want to save some money and you are alone you can try and get other solo travelers you meet on the bus to Tabuk or at Bugnay to split the cost of the guide with you.
6. Homestay (Buscalan) - P300/night
7. Environmental fee - P75/pax
8. Breakfast - P50/pax
9. Dinner - P200/pax
10. Picture with Whang-Od - P50
11. 1 liter bottled water - P50
12. Bus fare from Bugnay to Lubuagan Municipal Hall - P80/pax
13. Habal-habal to Awichon from Lubuagan Town - P300/way.
But by hindsight I should have paid more! I am such a skinflint!!! That is the difficulty when the other person not being upfront about the cost of his/her services!!!
14. Entrance to Awichon - P50/pax
15. Accomodation in Awichon - P500/pax
16. Van fare from Lubuagan to Tabuk - P80/pax
17. Tri-cut GLOBE SIM - P40

Note: This list does not include lunch since I brought bread, cheese, trail food and some bananas with me and somebody always seem to offer me a cup of hot brewed Kalinga coffee. That saved me some PPP . Having said that, I saw that lunch on the roadside carinderias (which seem to be the stop for PUBs) costs anywhere between P80/120.

C. SOME USEFUL CONTACT NUMBERS FOR KALINGA TRAVEL PREPARATION

Buscalan - Gaspar Laguinday CP No. 0999 180 5012 (Smart)
Kuya Gaspar is a guide and he owns a homestay which is located right on the Padjao Rice Terraces. You can watch sunrise while lying down on the 2nd storey balcony of the homestay or walk a few minutes to stand in the middle of the rice paddies.

Awichon - Rebecca Saclag CP No. 0948 540 9407 (Talk n Text) Smart

Dionica Alyssa Legasi Mercado 09052475300
Kalinga Provincial Tourism Officer

Jhonny Tiggangay 09152837885
Tinglayan Tourism Officer

It might make you antsy not to get instant response when you use those numbers I posted above. Please be patient as the signal for both Smart and Globe are chancy at best up in the mountains (read: Buscalan and Awichon). So if you are preparing for your trip, do give some block of time to the delay in communicating with the folks up in Kalinga.
:P If you cannot afford to be out of touch from your loved ones or work for a few hours/days, then you might have to rethink your Kalinga trip.

From experience, Kuya Gaspar's homestay is located right where one can get a signal from Globe but Smart signal is non-existent. In contrast, I was able to use both my Globe and Smart providers up in Awichon. Globe has stronger and more consistent signal though. Tabuk has good quality signals for both major service providers.

All in all, being off the grid for a few days is very liberating but it does limit your chances to brag about how great a time you are having up in the mountains! Hahahaha!

Western music with a flip: Guitar and native drum, "God must have been a cowboy"