Thursday April 18th – Manila

• Guests arrive at their own leisure and check into the Swagman Hotel in the Ermita part of Metro Manila (optional airport pickup)
• At 6pm the group gather to take the short walk to the “Hobbit House”, one of two bars in The Philippines to be serviced by midgets for dinner and drinks
• Overnight in Swagman Hotel

Friday April 19th – Angeles

• At 5am we join our private air-conditioned vehicle for the rest of our journey, a 2-hour drive to the San Fernando Area of Pampanga, stopping for breakfast on the way.
• On arrival we head straight out for the Cutud Lenten Rites festival, one of the biggest and most spectacular festivals in the Philippines. The action starts with a live action “show”, where Jesus is captured and taken to the crucifixion site. This goes on until around 3pm, with us arranging press passes so that our group can capture prime photos.
• Picnic lunch
• Following the end of proceedings, we head to Angeles City to check into the Wild Orchid Hotel, one of the most deluxe hotels in the city boasting the biggest swimming pool amongst other luxuries.
• Angeles City as a former US military base is equally infamous as a city of sin, and famous as the culinary capital of the country, so we head out for dinner, followed by the legendary Angeles Walking Street Bar Crawl
• Overnight at Wild Orchid

Saturday April 20th – Baguio

• After the early start of the previous day, we take this morning a bit more leisurely enjoying breakfast by the pool before setting of on the next part of the adventure
• We now set off for the two-three hour drive to Baguio, known as the summer capital of the Philippines due to its much cooler climate (you may even need a jacket at night), on the way we stop for a Filipino style lunch.
• We drop our bags at the hotel and head for a walking city tour dropping for some liquid refreshments before we start to get weird.
• The Philippines is not only famous for its religious devotees but also how very superstitious they are, so we go local by heading out on a genuine ghost hunting tour.
• In case we fail at finding ghosts, we head out for dinner and the famous Philippines spirit of Tanduay rum coupled with bad videoke.
• Overnight in Baguio

Sunday April 21st – Sagada

• We get up early for the 5-6 hour drive to Sagada, one of the most famous places in The Philippines stopping on the way for scenic photos.
• Lunch stop on the way to Sagada.
• On arrival, we check into our rural hotel for a brief freshen up before heading to the next part of our trip.
• After being met by our local guide we head out for a day of hiking around this historic city, with the main focus being on witnessing and picturing the Hanging Coffins, which are unique to this part of the Philippines, with our local guide giving a full explanation, and answering any questions we might have.
• We head back to our guesthouse for dinner, drinks and a relaxed night surrounded by mountain scenery.

Monday April 22nd – Currimao

• We take breakfast or a lie in at the guesthouse before heading off for the next part of our trip the 5-6 drive to the beach paradise of Currimao, this is one of the most scenic journeys we take with us making lots of picture stops to see the rice terraces and mountain scenery.
• We drop off for a local lunch.
• Early evening arrival at Playa Resort, where we will have a chance to relax after the long drive and kick back by the pool.
• We spend the evening drinking rum, having a beach BBQ and generally kicking back.
• Overnight in Currimao.

Tuesday April 23rd – Urbiztondo 

• We take the morning to relax on our beach before heading off for the day.
• We now do a city tour of Batac. Batac is one of those weird cities that as the birthplace of a dictator still hold him in very high regard, hence the “home of great leaders”. We visit the frankly crazy Marcos Museum about Ferdinand and Emelda, as well as checking out a few other choice places such as the Marcos University, and Malacanang of the North, the former home of the Marcos family. Unfortunately, his embalmed body is no longer here, but it is fascinating none the less.
• Lunch in Batac, famous for its local sausages!
• We then take the next part of our journey the 4-5 hour journey to the surfing beach town of Urbiztondo in La Union.
• Cockfighting might be controversial, and without doubt a bit cruel, but in the Philippines, it is a not only a huge event and culturally significant, but huge business. We stop on the way at one of the many provincial arenas.
• Dinner and drinks by the beach.

Wednesday April 24th – Manila

• We start early for the final part of our journey the 4-5 hours back to Manila.
• On arrival, we check back into the Swagman hotel, where we take lunch before heading back out.
• Manila might well be the centre of wealth, business and government in the Philippines, but it is very much a tale of two cities, with the slums that culminate in the rubbish collectors of Smokey Mountain living in abject poverty. We take a very sobering Slum Tour of Manila with our local guides, who will give a very in-depth explanation about their lives.
• Following the visit to the slums we take a short drive that almost takes us to another universe by visiting the Manila Hotel, the oldest and most deluxe hotel in the city, that also happens to serve great coffee and cocktails.
• We head for a last night dinner in Ermita before heading to Burgos Street to sample the many eccentric bars, before finishing at Ringside bar to watch midget boxing, capping off a truly extreme day in the Philippines!
• Overnight at Swagman Hotel.

Thursday April 25th – Manila

• End of tour with YPT able to offer further transport services, or for those heading onto the next part of the trip transfer to the airport.

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