Resto Review: People's Lodge and Restaurant, Banaue

Before going back to Manila, we had a couple hours stop over in Banaue which gave us enough time to look around their Public Market to try out some of their local snacks and buy some souvenirs.

We decided to eat dinner at the People's Lodge and Restaurant which had a great panoramic view of some terraces and the city.

I ordered their set meal People's Rice (Php 160) which includes a cup of mountain rice, vegetable chopsuey, fried chicken, asparagus soup and a piece of banana. It was a tasty meal but nothing out of the ordinary.

My husband ordered their Pork Adobo (Php125) and a cup of their Rice (Php 25). Their adobo was pale in color and not saucy. The meat was chewy and sauce was just so so.

Dining here was not pleasant because their staff were snobs and not that attentive but I can commend that their food portions were generous for its price.

This is part of our 4D3N Banaue-Sagada Adventure. Read more about our trip in below links:

• Conquering Sagada with Travel Factor
• The Banaue Road Trip
• Trek to the Scenic Pongas Falls of Sagada
• Sagada Cave Connections
• Lake Danum at Sagada
• Sunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint, Sagada
• Sagada Walking Tour

Read about our food trips in Banaue here:

• Hidden Valley Restaurant
• People's Lodge and Restaurant

Read about our accommodation and food trips in Sagada here:

• Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn
• Pinikpikan Haus
• Strawberry Cafe
• Salt & Pepper Restaurant
• Sagada Brew
• Sagada Lemon Pie House
• Masferre Restaurant
• Bana's Cafe
• Yoghurt House

The Banaue Road Trip before Sagada

Planning to go to Sagada? There are two options to go there from Manila, one is via Baguio (which is faster because it's through the expressway) another one less traveled option is via the scenic route of Banaue. We chose the later and chartered a jeepney from Banaue going to Sagada.

The long ride is very well worth it. Enjoy the cool breeze, the fresh air and breathtaking scenery. Be in awe as you see the famous Banaue Rice Terraces for the first time.

Experience riding on top of the jeepney for an added adrenaline rush and really let the cold wind brush through your face. The view on top was amazing regardless of how painful our butt got after the trip.

But hey! it's all about the experience - at least you get to say that you were able to go on a road trip in Banaue topload-style!

This is part of our 4D3N Banaue-Sagada Adventure. Read more about our trip in below links:

• Conquering Sagada with Travel Factor
• The Banaue Road Trip
• Trek to the Scenic Pongas Falls of Sagada
• Sagada Cave Connections
• Lake Danum at Sagada
• Sunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint, Sagada
• Sagada Walking Tour

Read about our food trips in Banaue here:

• Hidden Valley Restaurant
• People's Lodge and Restaurant

Read about our accommodation and food trips in Sagada here:

• Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn
• Pinikpikan Haus
• Strawberry Cafe
• Salt & Pepper Restaurant
• Sagada Brew
• Sagada Lemon Pie House
• Masferre Restaurant
• Bana's Cafe
• Yoghurt House

Resto Review: Hidden Valley Restaurant, Banaue

After 9 hours of travel from Manila, we finally arrived in Banaue at dawn. We were dropped off by the bus in front of Hidden Valley Restaurant. It was a little restaurant located along the high way and was near Dangwa and Ohayami Bus stations.

We still have at least 3 hours more travel time to reach Sagada so we want to have a heavy breakfast before we head out to our next destination.

We both ordered their Filipino Breakfast meal (Php 115) which was rice with fried egg and your choice of longganisa, daing bangus or bacon. Each meal already comes with coffee or tea. I also added one order of their Banana Pancakes (Php 65).

My husband had their breakfast meal with longganisa. Their longganisa had their own distinct taste to it, it was savory with a bit of sweetness and spiciness. I on the other hand ordered their meal with daing bangus. I was disappointed to find out that it was not boneless. And their daing lacks of saltiness.

Their banana pancakes were really thick, well I guess that's expected since it is filled by slices of bananas. Pancake itself was just ordinary for me nothing special it just had bananas.

Meals here are quite expensive but there are not that many options around either. You will have to ride a tricycle to their market for more choices.

This is part of our 4D3N Banaue-Sagada Adventure. Read more about our trip in below links:

• Conquering Sagada with Travel Factor
• The Banaue Road Trip
• Trek to the Scenic Pongas Falls of Sagada
• Sagada Cave Connections
• Lake Danum at Sagada
• Sunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint, Sagada
• Sagada Walking Tour

Read about our food trips in Banaue here:

• Hidden Valley Restaurant
• People's Lodge and Restaurant

Read about our accommodation and food trips in Sagada here:

• Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn
• Pinikpikan Haus
• Strawberry Cafe
• Salt & Pepper Restaurant
• Sagada Brew
• Sagada Lemon Pie House
• Masferre Restaurant
• Bana's Cafe
• Yoghurt House

Conquering Sagada with Travel Factor

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere but just don't know how. You keep procrastinating on going on a trip because you don't know how to create an itinerary or don't know how much money to bring. Fret no more because there are now lots of travel agencies that offer all-in carefree tours at affordable prices.

I have always wanted to see the rice terraces up close but had always considered going to Banaue or Sagada quite far fetched. So we decided to go to Sagada through the help of a travel company called "Travel Factor". For only Php 4,950 you can now conquer Sagada without all the hassle of making the itinerary, the reservations and all the works. Their package includes the following:

• Roundtrip Aircon Bus: Manila - Banaue - Manila
• Roundtrip Chartered Jeep: Banaue - Sagada - Banaue
• 3D/2N accommodation in Sagada
• Day 1 Lunch, Day 2 Breakfast and Lunch, Day 3 Breakfast
• Private Jeepney during tours around Sagada
• Environment permits and entrance fees
• Service of local guides and cave guides with lamps
• Service of the tour director
• Travel Insurance
• Travel Factor ID and T-Shirt

We were not able to follow the itinerary as it is posted on their web site due to weather conditions but we eventually covered them all on the next day.

Day 0 - MANILA - April 30, 2014 (Wednesday)

Time	Itinerary
09:00 PM	Meet up at Ohayami Bus Station at Fajardo St. cor. Lacson Ave., Sampaloc Manila
	* Ticket price from Manila to Banaue is Php 450

Day 1 - BANAUE - SAGADA - May 1, 2014 (Thursday)

Time	Itinerary
05:00 AM	Arrive in Banaue
	We were dropped off at Hidden Valley Restaurant and ate breakfast there. (own expense)
07:00 AM	Travel from Banaue to Sagada
	Side trip at Banaue Rice Terraces
11:00 AM	Arrive in Sagada
	Check in at Indigenous Handicrafts and Inn
	Lunch at Pinikpikan Haus
	Desserts at Strawberry Cafe (own expense)
02:00 PM	Trek the rice terraces and see Pongas Falls
	* unfortunately we can not visit the Bomod-ok Falls because of an ongoing tribal ritual * skipped sunset viewing due to the rainy weather
06:00 PM	Back in Sagada town proper
07:00 PM	Dinner at Salt & Pepper Restaurant (own expense)
	Hot Chocolate and desserts at Sagada Brew (own expense)

Day 2 - SAGADA - May 2, 2014 (Friday)

Time	Itinerary
07:00 AM	Ate breakfast at Pinikpikan Haus
	* skipped sunrise viewing due to the rainy weather
09:00 AM	Started the Cave Connection Adventure. We went into Lumiang Cave and came out of Sumaguing Cave
02:00 PM	Late lunch at Pinikpikan Haus
	Desserts at Lemon Pie House (own expense)
05:00 PM	Went to Lake Danum to see the sunset but there was none because of the rainy weather
07:00 PM	Dinner at Masferre Restaurant (own expense)

Day 3 - SAGADA - BANAUE - May 3, 2014 (Saturday)

Time	Itinerary
04:30 AM	Sunrise at Kiltepan Viewpoint
06:00 AM	Breakfast at Bana's Cafe (own expense)
09:00 AM	Trek to Echo Valley to see the hanging coffins
	Visit the St. Mary's Escopal Church
11:00 AM	Early lunch at Yoghurt House (own expense)
	Free time to shop for pasalubongs
02:00 PM	Chartered jeep ride back to Banaue
	Side trip at the Sagada Weaving
05:00 PM	Arrive in Banaue
	Free time to go to the market place
06:00 PM	Early dinner at People's Lodge and Restaurant
07:00 PM	Bus ride back to Manila

Day 4 - MANILA - May 4, 2014 (Sunday)

Time	Itinerary
04:00 AM	Arrive in Manila

Meals in Sagada start at Php 200 above if you're going to eat in restaurants along the main road. But if you are interested in eating local food you can go to Centrum building's basement for carenderias.

PROs:

• Afford-ably priced package
• Friendly and accommodating coordinators
• Comfortable ride
• Enough free time was provided for us to be able to explore the town
• Meet new people

CONs:

• Bus station is cramped.
• There were too many participants during the tour that we were not able to hear the tour guide's orientation when we were visiting the sites. These are only on the ocassion that our group was joined together with another group of more than 30.

Are we going to avail another Travel Factor package? Yes, most probably we will but we would definitely be asking how many people are going to participate next time. We were just lucky during our trip that we were only a group of 11 plus our room has its own CR.

Overall, we had a blast in Sagada even with a few bumps and bruises along the way. We are proud to say that we have conquered the adventures of Sagada!