After killing time in SM Mall of Asia, we proceeded to the Florida Bus Terminal in Sampaloc, Manila, so we could be seated. We were heading to Banaue en route to Sagada. Strategically, we bought our tickets in the morning for the 10:45pm schedule so that we could reserve seats ahead of time.

We met fellow travel blogger Marcos and chatted a bit. He was on a different journey but we were to meet again in Baguio after 3 days. We boarded the bus and in no time, we began our 9-hour trip.

March 3, 2011
Manila to Banaue to Bontoc to Sagada route

Pink Florida Bus from Manila to Banaue

Coming from my shift at the office back in Cebu, I was awake for more than 24 hours already. I did it on purpose as I wanted to sleep through the night. True enough, I was knocked out even before we passed by the North Luzon Express Way (NLEX). The travel went by fast; when I woke up, we were already in Banaue.

fog or clouds?

At 6:30am I could see the thick fog and the clouds from the window opposite my side. I didn't even notice that we made a stopover at Nueva Vizcaya; I only realized this when a couple of companions wore bonnets on their heads which they bought there for about 50 bucks a piece.

arriving in Banaue

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and still keep your full-time job!

In one of my blog articles last month, I discussed how I was able to travel to 4 countries within 4 months and still maintained my full-time job in a BPO company. I’m writing this entry as a second part of that blog post.

Seldom do people know that apart from those 4 countries, I also traveled to 8 local destinations in a span of 8 months. It started in August of 2010 and ended during the first week of March 2011.

“Ed, I have a question; have you resigned from Company X”?

Friends and former colleagues would ask me this question because it seemed like every Facebook status message that I posted within those months, I’d point out that I was in a different place. Even I couldn’t believe the feat that I just achieved.

In the previous article, I talked about Booking Ahead, Filing for Vacation Leave, Planning your Itinerary and Saving Money. Here are some more travel tips you might find useful.

How to Travel to 4 Countries and 8 Local Destinations within 8 Months
and still keep your full-time job:

• Combine your Vacation Leaves with Your Days Off. Given that I only have an average number of vacation and sick leaves every year, it would be crazy to think that all the days that I went out were filed using my VLs. Simple mathematics would show that the number of days is not enough to cover for the acquired spots. That’s why it would be wise to use your rest days together with your vacation leaves. If it’s possible, holidays can also be combined. Let me summarize my travels during those instances:

August 2010
3 days – Bohol (August 21-23)

September 2010
9 days – Hong Kong and Macau (September 1-9)
3 days – Boracay (September 11-13)

October 2010
4 days – Manila (October 1-4)
4 days – Malaysia (October 16-20)

November 2010
5 days – Iloilo and Guimaras (November 25-29)

December 2010
Was just spent in Cebu.

January 2011
8 days – Thailand and Cambodia (January 18-25)
4 days – Davao

February 2011
4 days – Zambales (February 28-21)

March 2011
5 days – Sagada (March 2-7)

Pretty extreme, is it not? If you manage your leaves, you’ll have longer time to travel.

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Toploading from Banaue to Bontoc was an adventure itself as we headed our way to Sagada, Mountain Province.

Imagine the wind brushing the sides of your face. You see a spectacular view of the mountain and rice fields. You inhale the scent of tall pine trees and see a couple of waterfalls every now and then. You and your companions talk and laugh to let the time pass while you enjoy the sight of nature in its pure form. You feel that everything is in place and you think that you have the best seat as you travel to your destination for a few hours.

Now, insert reality.

The weather was freezing cold and it didn't help that it had been raining since morning. I was getting slapped by rainwater as the vehicle maneuvered itself on the slippery road. I sat on my slipper which was improvised as a cushion because the metal rails were too uncomfortable to use as a seat. One hand grasped on the same railings as support to keep me from falling whenever a cliff appeared. The other one clutched on to my balls because my body was seeking warmth from the cold climate. Instead of having meaningful conversations, everyone was silent and wondering when we'll reach our next stop.

with Tofi, Carla, James and Doi – all smiles at first
We didn’t know what was going to hit us.

Toploading on a jeepney from Banaue to Bontoc wasn’t really what I expected. We were on our way to Sagada, Mountain Province and we decided to sit on top of the vehicle in order to experience how it felt to ride like the locals. We’ve seen a number of bloggers talking about their stories but we had to try it first-hand.

Tofi, that’s a cliff in front of you.

How convenient that the rain began when the jeepney started to depart! We couldn’t back out as it was already full inside. To think that we had the first choice to stay inside the vehicle because we arrived at the jump-off point early. But then we gave our seats up for other passengers because we thought top loading was an extraordinary passage to undertake. We weren’t wrong though.

mountain falls on the side | holding on for life – I used my slippers as cushion for our buttocks.

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