Video: We Bring You the Philippines - Part 2

Hi fellow adventurers. Only a few months after our very first trip in the Philippines, we went back to the Filipino archipelago hoping to do more explorations during the Lunar (Chinese) New Year Holidays Celebrations.


This time, the plan was to explore a new area (Sagada) then to return in Baguio and to finish with the infamous Mount Ugo, which has been haunting us since our very first trip there. You would have probably missed it so if you are interested here's a link to the full report published on Pinkbike. While Sagada is in itself a reward for a 12h commute from Manila (5h from Baguio), the road that leads to the town is scenic and breathtaking. You will be treated to mountainscape, rice terrace and roadside waterfalls. Sagada is on the bucket list of almost every traveller.


Sagada, a very popular place among the Trekkers and the local population was highly recommended by the local riding community. The area has a great potential for mountain bikes, but you must be prepared to spend hours in the saddle pedalling up. To be honest we were pretty frustrated and disappointed by the couple of days spent there, the trails shared with us by the locals were too short to suit our huge appetite for long singletracks. We would definitively need to explore further to find more suitable enduro tracks.


I reckon our experience with Mt. Ugo made us greedy! Please don’t blame us - imagine 17 kilometres of flowy natural singletracks in a national park where virtually no foreigners have ever had the opportunity to ride. It is a great privilege that the local riders have decided to share them with us. Big up to Aky, Dennis, Charstow, Ging, Jordan, Kmaxx, Lee, Nathan and Sean

Good Morning Manila !

Our journey starts with a quick stop over in Manila, capital of the Philippines. Before heading north we seize the opportunity to get some insights of the best and the worst from this gigantic megalopolis.


Warm Up riding in Camp Johnny

Our journeystarts at 4:45 AM. You want to leave Manila and its crazy traffic before 6 am or get caught in the rush hour. We reach Baguio before noon. After a nice lunch at Camp Johnny we are having a welcome warm up ride on the Yellow Trail.




Beautiful Sagada!

The weather from the end of February is perfect, it's the beginning of the dry season and we don't have to worry about the monsoon or typhoon (in worst case scenario), it was the right time to head up to the cute little city hidden in the mountains. Sagada is the home of the infamous Downhill Mayhem and is very popular with the local riders. The local riders would stick on their downhill tracks and leave us pretty frustrated as we were longing for longer enduro trails. Well we have to deal with it and may come back later to conduct some further exploration.

Those are the infamous Sagada's rice terrace with are much greener in the raining season

Sagada, a cute and little village hidden in the mountains

This is how picturesque Sagada can be

Sagada has a huge potential for MTB

Random riding pictures from Sagada

Funny little Filipino dude claiming who his kingdom

Oldies but goodies, travelling in the Philippines is as vintage and authentic as this old truck

Nothing beats Ugo!

Next Stop, Mount Ugo is by far the best ride in this part of the world. The ride down starts from 2150m above sea level down to to 400m - through pine tree forests, rice fields, sometimes cheered by the local people. Can you imagine 17km of flowy singletracks, going down the mountain for at least 2h from top to bottom? Oh did I mention you'll have to hike and pedal up about 3 hours to get at the top ? This trail is not for the faint at heart.

Gates to Heaven or Hell?

One hell of a view on the Benguet province

One of the fantastic berm blasting among hundreds along those 17 km of natural singletracks


FT chasing the Filipino cattle


A contemplative experience


The Philippines are a fast developing country, seize the opportunity before every singletrack turns into concrete roads


The monkey bridge at the end

Our VIP shuttle


We had an amazing time again in the Philippines but were pretty disappointed with Sagada. It actually took me a long time to understand this big frustration. It was very difficult to find the right words to write about it and I was actually still working on this report while traveling back from another trip (in Indonesia) … between two flights, weeks after the end of our second trip in the Philippines, months after the first one. Travelling in South East Asia (or Asia) can be confusing but will always intensively rewarding as long as you keep an open mind. No matter what your background, lifestyle, riding preference, we all have different expectations. Please be humble and always bear in mind that you will be evolving in a very different (the third) world with different cultures, traditions and rules. It can be pretty challenging but it will provide some of the most authentic cultural experiences and human interactions on the planet.

For us mountain bikers that means that the amazing natural singletrack we have been riding a few months/years ago will eventually be paved, turned into a wider track or a concrete path, you can never presume what will happen next! The next report will cover our exploration of the some of the most actives volcanoes in Indonesia

Stay tuned for more adventures and bike trip reports with adventurewelike
Instagram: @th1r0
FB: @adventurewelike
Video: @lv38prod Photos: @lv38prod & myself

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MENTIONS: @yinro @lv38prod

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