The Altar Boys on a road trip...

Three days. Four towns. Thirty hours on the road. Five (former) altar boys. One fantab trip.

The long weekend saw five guys leaving the crazy city that is Manila. The destination: A number of towns up north. In particular - half a day in Banaue, a couple of hours in Bontoc, a day and a half in Sagada, and a few hours in Baguio before heading back to Manila.

The cast included a lawyer (Dennis), an ECE-turned-Marketing guy (Peter), another lawyer (Jeff), a logistics guy (Joseph), and a corporate slave (me).

It started with the idea of taking a trip together. Having been knights of the altar for several years, the guys usually each other during Catholic Church traditions. I say "the guys" because I rarely get to join them. Last time I got to go with them was the post-Christmas Tagaytay trip.

Anyway, this time, the plan was to get-together on a non-church related. Initially, the plan was to go to Vigan and Laoag. A few minutes of tossing ideas and the plan was completely changed. The new destination was much more challenging, adventurous and not really for the faint of heart - Sagada (with a couple of side trips).

Thanks to Facebook and to mobile operators, coordinating the trip was somewhat easy. A couple of mouse clicks, some taps on the phone's keyboard, a few minutes of voice calls and the lodgings, the bus tickets and the itinerary for the trip was arranged.

Friday night, the five of us met up at the Florida bus station along Lacson. At 10:30PM, we boarded the bus that read Solano/Banaue.

That was the start of the three-day adventure.

The following days were nothing short of a memorable vaction. Tiring, yes. But I have to say it was still very memorable.

I already took the Banaue-Bontoc-Sagada-Baguio trip several years ago. To give you an idea on how long ago it was, we were still using film to take pictures back then. Haha!

Even if I had taken the trip before, the places we visited still never cease to amaze me. I will not even attempt to describe in words the places we went to. No. The photos will do the talking. I am definitely be at a loss for words. If the photos caught your attention, then the next thing to do is quite obvious. Pick up the phone and start planning your trip.

What's better than looking at photos is actually being there to experience the real thing.

If I had to choose my favorite parts of the trip, I would definitely have to say the visit to the Kiltepan peak and having strawberry yogurt for dessert.

Watching the sun rise at Kiltepan peak was just fantastic. I can't remember a time when I saw a sunrise that moving. No wonder there is an asana for sun salutation. Watching the rays of the sun begin to cast its light on the mountains, on the sleeping villages below was awesome. If it weren't for the group of loudmouths who ruined the moment for me, the experience would have been completely perfect.

The yogurts, on the other hand, were also a favorite because they were a pleasant sweet treat after a long hike or a long walk. For just 75 pesos, you get a generous serving of yogurt. You have a choice of adding more character and flavor to it by topping the dessert with fruits, granola or honey. Gastronomic treat.

This post is starting to become lengthy. I'm going to cut this short now, and so you can finally get to the good part.

The photos. Haha! The ones above are just 10 of the 700(!!!) photos. All the others are on my Facebook account.

Enjoy!