I will not start this trip until, as the title suggests, Christmas Day, December 25, but I’m just too excited not to post it.
I still don’t have news if I have work from December 22 to 24 (my work doesn’t follow Philippine holidays), so I decided to book a plane ticket for December 25, returning on January 5. This is also to make sure that I have funds for this trip.
I’m expecting a lot of hitches. After all, I’m heading to the Christmas capital of the Philippines right on Christmas day. Hitch number one was the mistake I did when booking my plane ticket (not that I owe it to Baguio being the Christmas capital). I entered the wrong date so I had to pay something extra to rebook.
I will be spending two nights in Baguio City, so I will be there from December 25 to 27. It took me a while to find a hotel available as almost all of them are fully booked. Something came up in Agoda after a few hours of searching so I booked it before any second thoughts got to me.
I will then be heading to Tinglayan in Kalinga via Bontoc on Saturday, December 27. I have made contact with Luplupa Riverside Inn that has an available room until December 29. This is the part of the trip which I’m most excited about. I can’t wait to see Apo Whang Od or Apo Fang Od (I’ve seen either spelling on many blogs) and get tattooed by her.
Initially, I was planning to head first to Ilocos after Kalinga to spend New Year’s Eve there. But then I realized Sagada is just a few minutes away from Bontoc, which is my stopover point from Kalinga to Baguio, so I decided to go to Sagada first. This would be from December 29 to 31. I have not made contact with anyone there yet but it’s still two weeks from now anyway. I’ll call them if I have to.
On New Year’s Eve, I will be traveling back to Baguio and celebrate the beginning of 2015 there. I guess I just really wanted to be in a more populated place on New Year.
The next day I will be traveling to Laoag or Vigan. This depends on the availability of a hotel in Laoag. I’m thinking of just staying in Laoag and will just go on day tours to Vigan and Pagudpdud. I really want to see the Kapurpurawan Rock Formation too.
I will be leaving Laoag on Sunday night. I will be taking the plane from Laoag to Manila. I don’t want to risk taking the bus and get stuck in traffic on the night of the end of everyone’s Christmas break.
I will wait it out in a cheap hotel near NAIA (I haven’t decided which one yet) until my flight back to Bacolod on the afternoon of January 5.
This will be my longest solo trip so I can’t wait to be lost and get awkward in the process. 🙂
The Awkward Traveler 