31 Jan 2025
Our feedback is glowing. Marvin was an excellent guide: friendly, nimble and very organised. Our guide was also able to accommodate requests that we had during the tour, too -- to go to a restaurant we wanted to try, to slot in a visit to the museum -- on the fly. Everything worked like clockwork.
The company accommodated our request to see Sagada (for spelunking, i.e. traversing a 2-3h cave connection) on the third day, rather than to do more hiking. They are very responsive by email and willing to tailor your trip.
For the tour itself, it is an adventure tour. You see lots and leave with a better understanding of the place off the tourist route. However, that comes at the cost of sleeping on the bus there/back and enduring a few hours of steep hikes and rudimentary sleeping/showering. Pack lightly as you carry your own bag. The food is a perk if you like simple home-cooked meals and local flavours. Embrace all that, and it will be a memorable trip.
One more note: spending a night in Batat is brilliant—you get a different view of the famed terraces in the evening and then the next morning. Also, if the weather is bad, you have two shots at seeing them. The museum in Banaue was also great for the context of the indigenous traditions.