From Baguio City, we left for Sagada around 9:30 AM, Tuesday, April 7, on board an ordinary Lizardo Transit bus from the Dangwa Tranco terminal, off Magsaysay Ave.. Once outside Baguio City, my mobile phone became useless. The 151-km. trip from Baguio City to Sagada passes through the spectacular 146-km. Halsema (named after Engr. Eusebius Julius Halsema, American civil engineer and mayor of Baguio City, 1920-36) Mountain Highway. It was originally a foot trail used by mountain folk and was improved and widened by the Americans. The highest highway system in the country, it was formerly called the “Mountain Trail” and it links La Trinidad and Baguio City with Bontoc. It took more than 15 years to build and was finished in 1936.
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| View of dried up rice terraces |
The trip took all of 7 hrs. (including stops for lunch and snacks) as we cut through mountain peaks, gorges and steep cliffs, cross deep ravines and skirted dangerous slopes. It could have been shorter but more than half of the drive was over rough, dusty and unpaved roads. Jandy had a case of biyahilo (travel dizziness) and threw up. Some sections were so narrow that only one vehicle could pass at a time. A narrow section over one treacherous gorge was simply breathtaking (but I was afraid to look out the window). It was the peak of the El Nino phenomena and a number of the terraces were dry. Smoke from some small forest fires could also be seen in the distance. Still the drive was scenic all the way as we passed through some of the most spectacular mountain vistas found anywhere. We also passed the highest point of all Philippine highways – at Km. 50 near Bayangan, 2,225 m. above sea level. Here, where the road crosses 2,450-m. high Mt. Paoay, we had good views of Mt. Pulog, Kabayan, Atok and the Agno Valley. Too bad we didn’t stop.