Bus to Baguio with Isa in Victory Liner’s None Stop Deluxe Bus
The Bus to Baguio via Victory Liner costs 750 Php. It comes with free water bottle, snacks and wifi. The seats are more comfortable too. The ride takes about 5 hours.
All I had was my Rudy Project backpack, but Isabella brought her “Princess Maleta” which I teased her for as this roadtrip was supposed to be all about roughing it out.
OH MY GULAY LUMPIA (SPRING ROLL) SALAD
Isabella and I stopped over at Oh My Gulay in Session Road in Baguio for a quick lunch before proceeding to make our way to Kalinga Mountain Province to get our ink from the Legendary National tattoo artist, Whang-Od.
We proceeded to Dangua Station, near SM Baguio and just a short walk away from Oh My Gulay to take the G-Liner Bus to the town of Buscalan. The Village that connects Kalinga, Banaue and Sagada to Baguio.
The G-Liner bus to Buscalan costs us 230 Php. The ride was about 6 hours.
Love, Palawan; Madelein 35, and Marcus 22, from the UK and Austria respectively met in Palawan , fell in love and decided to pursue traveling the Philippines on a backpack together
We met Marcus and Madelein from the G-Liner station and have accidentally shared our trip with them since as our route were the same.
We stayed in Archug Hotel in Buscalan for 800 Php a night, but you can opt to stay in Pines for 250 a night for a common room with a common restroom.Other inns the area would cost about the same.
We arrived in Buscalan from Baguio at 7pm, so we decided to have dinner in the hotel.
Vegetable Soup
Traditional Pancit Canton
Most of the food in Buscalan is traditional Filipino food, as seen above. It usually ranges from 100 to 200 Php a plate. Always good for sharing.
The road to Tinglayan, Kalinga;
Off to Tinglayan, Kalinga via public bus
The Bus to Kalinga leaves Buscalan Terminal at 730 am and arrives in Tinglayan, Kalinga at 9 am. Fare is 110 Php.
Once in Tinglayan you can choose to stay in Inns like Sleeping Beauty or Lulupan inn for 250 Php for a common room or 500 Php for a private room.
CHICO RIVER in TINGLAYAN
Hanging Bridge from Sleeping Beauty to Chico River
Fighting my fear of heights with this rocky swinging hanging bridge
The river is pristine in its cleanliness, but the current is fast and strong. You cant miss swimming in these waters but make sure to tread slowly and to anchor you self amongst the rocks lest you get swept away by the strong currents.
Time to dive? Not really, with the strong currents and rocky waters youre more likely to get hemorrhage than soaked to the toe
Had to make do with undies as swimwear coz I cant pass up the chance to swim in the ice cold waters of Chico river
The Trek to Buscalan Village to meet Whang-Od
Get a guide! We recommend Francis, (Mobile # 09157690843) he’s been doing this for over a decade and has toured celebrities and journalists alike. He’s even featured in Lonely Planet. All the local inns in Buscalan and Tinglayan knows of him so ask for a referral.
The Trek to Buscalan Village requires you to climb the Mountain, it takes about two hours from the road. For this hike, I strictly advise that you have a guide as the path is tricky and its easy to get lost. Francis normally charges 1000 Php for a day trip but we haggled for 800 Php.
View from the Top, Buscalan Village Finally
Sleeping beauty, the mountain that takes the shape of a maiden
Our guide Francis even had the Mountain slope as a tattoo on his chest, that’s how revered this view is to him.
Mineral spring water from a road faucet. Seriously beats both Evian and Fuji any day! And it’s FREE too
In Makati, water is distilled and is stripped off all its vital minerals and nutrients. The water from Kalinga comes from its Mountain Water falls, it is pristine, it is pure, and it is mineralized. Ive never had anything like it…
A bottle can quench 2 hours of climbing, something that not even a litter of distilled water can fill.
Palayan, or rice terrains in one of the bed of the famous rice terraces
Rice farming is still the official livelihood by the people of Buscalan, although from the looks of things, they may not be planting enough as a lot of planes are empty…
Many Igorots have abandoned rice farming due to poor compensations for their harvests, that along with the neglect and deforestation of our government has stripped Banaue off the 7 wonders of the world.
Usa (Deer) i Buscalan Village
The local panday of Buscalan Village
Criminal Pig: This wildboar has been found guilty of eating chics, stealing food and destroying property
Trivia; The wild boars of Buscalan are free-roaming and are treated as family until a feast is due and that is when they are slaughtered for the village’s consumption.
The villagers and the boars are very familiar with one another, easily distinguishing each one from the rest.
Children of Buscalan: Dont be surprised if children and their mothers approach you for CANDIES. This seems to be the only thing that excites them about visitors
Grace, the grand daughter evaluates my current tattoo to see if its possible to cover it up. Unfortunately, organic ink cannot cover machine ingrained ink. My loss really, I came here for that.
Whang-Od or Fhang Od using a branch and a thorn to ink an Alibata calligraphy that means right on Isabellas right leg
Whang – Od is a local celebrity and a national treasure. At 96 years old her eyesight is better than mine and she is able to navigate the village with more familiar agility. A wise woman who has very few words or patience for that matter to spare, she is the last of her kind with only a grand daughter from her sister, Grace as her successor.
Isabella’s 1 cm tattoo cost 100 Php.
Peeling off this cucumber for an instant snack. They literally plucked this off from their forest “garden for me”
Evolve Cocogreen Kale Chips with white rice and white beans, because the only thing available outside this is sardines
Isa strutting her new ink
I was hoping Id get fresh vegetable harvests but it seems that commercialization has taken over the pantry in the village, with only packed bread, canned foods and bottled condiments as options. I was a bit confused why the villagers just didnt make rice cakes out of their harvests and meals out of the lush vegetation of the forests or dessert out of the bananas, passion fruit and the famed sagada orange.
I was hoping to feast on those, not 7-11 packs.
Visitors from Polland
Benguet Coffee, another FINEST FIRST. The best coffee in the country, SERIOUSLY. Take it black, I dare ya! Isa had three cups in a row!
Biker on the road back to Tinglayan
Who happened to be another patron of Whang-Od’s ink-art
Meet the Ozzie in the Mountains. A 22 year old from Melbourne who migrated to Buscalan Village says hi from his motorbike
GRASS ROOTS
Green Gurb the Gold of Buscalan
With rice commanding small value, villages have resorted to planting the Green Gurb, the miracle herb of the mountains. For a few hundreds of pesos, you can get your hands on this wonder drug by Mother Nature.
It is legal here in the Cordilleras, but passed the boundaries to Buscalan, it is not and most especially to and out of Baguio.
Narcotics sniffing Jack Russel
Last meal!
Enroute to Manila from Baguio, we walked to the new branch of Cafe by the Ruins a few blocks from Victory Liner terminal
Cafe by the Ruins’ new branch near Victory Liner Bus Terminal
Kamote (Sweet Potato Bread)
Vegetable ginger soup
Lumpiang Sariwa
Fresh vegetable salad
Fresh Baguio Strawberries and Cream
If youre taking the terminal bus to Manila make sure youre on time, we were 5 minutes late and missed our bus and had to wait a full hour for the next one.