Banaue-Batad Trip: Commuting From Manila to Banaue

The Banaue – Batad Trip is one of my travel goals for this year. My interest to visit Ifugao started when I had this one conversation with Dominic or most widely known as Dong Ho in the blogosphere. He is the blogger behind Escape Islands and most of his weekends are spent either trekking to different mountains or simply bumming around the beach.

We accidentally met last September in Serendra with other blogger friends. He told us that he is planning to organize another Banaue-Batad trip on November. When he finally posted the announcement in his blog, I immediately signed up. Aside from the fact that it is my first time to go to the Banaue-Batad area, I felt that it is a good chance to meet new friends who also loves to travel.

It’s just in time that Alex of Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler is here for the scheduled trip. I told her about my plans and she gave her go signal that she’d like to join too. It is also my first time to meet my co-PTB member Tina. Nice to meet up for the first time while traveling, yes?

Together with Alex, we rode the LRT-1 to reach the Tayuman station (my first time to reach that station hehe) and took a cab going to the Florida Bus Station as it is our meeting place. I was a bit worried when I saw the traffic. You know that feeling when you’re on a rush yet you’re not familiar with the place? Hehe. Dramatic much LOL.

Pa-simpleng kuha sa Ohayami Bus

We finally reached Florida Bus Station and met some of our new travel buddies there. Actually, I thought I will be riding the Florida Sleeper Bus and I was looking forward to it. It’s just our meeting place since it is a more visible landmark with the pink big buses. Dong Ho is as accommodating as usual and you can see also that our new travel buddies are excited and all smiles as we do a walkathon to the Ohayami Bus Station. Thanks to Dong Ho for reserving all 19 tickets hehe. Pampered Kids LOL. It is advisable that you book tickets in advance.

Ohayami Bus # 4, where we were assigned left the station at 10:30PM after some confusion with the seats. I think almost half of the passengers were foreigners who wants to see the Banaue Rice Terraces, which is dubbed as the ‘8th Wonder of the World’ for the longest time.

The whole trip lasted for 9 hours with two short stopovers in Bulacan and Nueva Vizcaya. Most of us were not able to sleep well because of the freezer-like temperature of the bus. It helps when you drink hot coffee or eat a cup of instant noodles in one of the stopovers hehe.

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The Banaue Tour Map

Once you enter Ifugao Province, the scenery becomes inviting.  While inside the bus, I was wondering why they kept on playing Country music or something from the 80’s. I will tell you in my future posts.

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Coffee, finally!

We finally reached the Banaue Bus Station at 7am and went straight to Halfway Lodge and Restaurant for breakfast. We need to eat and recharge since most of us wasn’t able to sleep well. Coffee, do your job and rescue me! #meynteyn.

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Residential View from Halfway Lodge and Restaurant
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Eskapo Peeps

It’s nice to take a glimpse of the rice terraces from the window of your breakfast place. It is also the point of warm-up for all of us hehe.

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Breakfast #1
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Breakfast #2

We fixed our things after breakfast. We need to gear up for approximately three more hours for our adventure going to Batad. Toploading in the Jeepney for the first time under the strong heat of the sun with no sunblock and trekking for almost two hours is what awaits all of us. Whew. This is one weekend I will never forget.

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Hello, we're ready for the topload adventure!

Random Tips for a Hassle-Free Manila-Banaue Trip:

  • Book tickets a week in advance. According to Dominic, the only safe option is going to the Ohayami Bus Station for reservation.
  • Bring jacket and socks with you. We all know how air-conditioned bus in SEA are, right? My technique eversince is covering the individual aircon by using the the curtain LOL.
  • Bring bottled water with you. Fight dehydration!
  • Drink Hot Coffee or Eat Instant Noodles with Soup on Stopovers. It will help you feel a bit more comfortable after freezing for hours inside the bus.

UP NEXT: Banaue to Batad: Toploading and Trekking to Wonder-land.

17 Comments

    • Senyorita said:

      Awww too bad! You should try it once πŸ™‚ Yep, the trekking part is quite challenging LOL. I didn’t try the bi-cable tramline 😐

      December 10, 2011
      Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Frozen Passengers LOL

      December 16, 2011
      Reply
  1. On my bus back from Banaue to Manila I was also a victim of the ice cold bus. I had all my warm clothes in my pack underneath the bus. I froze too.

    December 10, 2011
    Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Felt like winter on a bus, right? Hehe. I’m glad though that finally, this Banaue-Batad trip pushed through πŸ˜€

      December 16, 2011
      Reply
  2. Rain said:

    This is so inviting. Aside from the Metro, i’ve never been anywhere in Luzon. I should bookmark this for future reference πŸ˜€

    December 10, 2011
    Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Go Go Go! You have the option to roam around Banaue or go straight to Batad or Sagada πŸ™‚

      December 16, 2011
      Reply
  3. dong ho said:

    pampered kids. lol. hahaha… kailangan yon kasi kasama ang Senyorita.

    nice that Alex only found the aircon of the bus bad. it meant she enjoyed that butt-numbing topload ride.

    December 11, 2011
    Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Haha ganun? πŸ˜› Onga, butt-numbing talaga. Biglang feeling ko kelangan ng massage na sa part na yun ang concentration ng masahista hehe

      December 16, 2011
      Reply
  4. I smiled when you mentioned about that western song thingy…reminds me of the good times in my 6-years in Baguio and the memorable trip to Bontoc via cable bus.

    December 12, 2011
    Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Nag-stay ka pala sa Baguio. Too study or for work?

      December 16, 2011
      Reply
  5. Marx said:

    Gusto ko ng mag-Batad…

    December 12, 2011
    Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Go na Marx! πŸ˜€

      December 16, 2011
      Reply
  6. mervz | pinoyadventurista.com said:

    haven’t been there… sana pwede ‘tong side trip on our Mt. Pulag climb next month… thanks for sharing your experience… πŸ™‚

    December 19, 2011
    Reply
  7. I’m wondering which month did you visit the rice terraces. We’re planning to visit it this November…

    September 5, 2015
    Reply
    • Senyorita said:

      Hi Ian! We went there late November of 2012 πŸ™‚

      September 6, 2015
      Reply

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