Instead of taking the 10PM bus to Baguio the night before, our lazy butts decided that we would wake up late and take the 8:15AM bus instead. This was the biggest mistake of our Northern Luzon trip.
Partas looks clean and great from the outside, but the bus kept bobbing up and down which caused me headaches; I say the shocks are the culprit. I prefer the Autobus buses. And Partas buses stop multiple times and they unload people/baggages so slow! Blasphemy! The Autobus to Vigan stopped only once and the conductor practically threw us out of the bus when it was time to get off in Bantay.
The ride to Baguio was scenic though. The bus just kept climbing and climbing to greater heights. Ang ganda! We finally got to Baguio at about 3:30PM. Famished, we opted for the Jollibee right on Gov. Pack Road (where most of the bus terminals were). This is when we decided that we would stay in Baguio overnight instead of going to Bontoc and arriving at past 9PM that night. This was the second biggest mistake of our Northern Luzon trip.
Since we didn't research Baguio (since we didn't plan on spending a night here!), we were lost cows. The last time I was in Baguio was in 2002 and of course, I was with family with our private vehicles and I didn't have to worry about finding accommodations or finding my way around. We walked down Session Road (oh, so this is Session Road) and checked out a couple of guesthouses. They were all overpriced for what they were. Finally, we decided to follow Lonely Planet and find the Red Lion Inn on Wood Road.
It was only a Php7.50 jeepney ride away...behind SM Baguio. Red Lion Inn doesn't win any prizes for its ambiance. It had a clean private bathroom and it was P800/night so we took it. I had a sheet to cover the bed with so I didn't care much plus we were only going to spend one night there, so no worries. The staff was helpful as well.
Since it was nearing nightfall, we decided to just veg in SM Baguio instead of checking anything out. The climate, as always, was cool so walking was no big task at all (Tell me to walk to SM Megamall here in Manila and I would have to think twice about it). It seemed like Team Unity was following us because they had a welcoming party at El Cielito Inn where all their banners were hung outside (In Vigan, there was a welcome banner for them too).
In SM Baguio, we were sucked back to our usual Manila lifestyle. Walking into a modern mall was the third biggest mistake of our trip. This was when Lilian said to me, "Huwag na kaya tayong tumuloy sa Banaue?" Ahh crap. We had been keeping tabs with our expenses since the first day of our trip and we were averaging Php1,000/day so far. Since we had planned on a 7-day trip, we were on track to spend Php7,000 which was out of Lilian's budget for the trip. I, on the other hand, had just received my severance pay, so I could keep on going.
By the time we were getting ready for bed, I told Lilian, "I know I'm going to regret it, but sige, huwag na tayong tumuloy sa Banaue." Ahh crap again. If the Banaue Rice Terraces could scream, they would've made this sound: NooOOOooooOOOOoo!!!!
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