This beat allowed me to visit remarkable places in my eight years of stay here. I’ve been to Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, even China. As for local travel, I’ve seen Mayon in person, the Taal crater before it redesigned itself, and the farthest one was Davao back in June. I still have two in my local bucket list and luckily, Isuzu crossed off one of them.

Isuzu invited me over for a camping trip with the new D-Max. Me, who was not even a boy scout, will go camping? But I couldn’t say no because the destination is a dream - Sagada in Mountain Province. And the camping part will be courtesy of Overland Kings so it will surely be a blast.

The drive to Baguio was a mix of flavors. The first part was bland as we went through expressways to get there faster. Kenon Road gave us our first taste of challenge as we zipped through its corners while enjoying the scenery. We had our quick fill of lunch at the Baguio Country Club and once done, we were off to Sagada.

I didn’t check the route we’ll be taking prior to the drive so I was surprised once we were on Halsema Highway. It was my first time there and good lord the road was taxing. It seems to be following the natural curve of the mountains instead of cutting through it, which is why there are so many corners. There are also uphill and downhill sections despite us generally going higher in altitude. The last bit of challenge was the weather as there are dry and rainy areas, as well as zero visibility portions thanks to the clouds.

All of these, combined with the local traffic of Halsema Highway meant we can’t really speed up. This brought our travel time to almost five hours to our campsite in House of Sol.

The new Isuzu D-Max and mu-X units provided shelter for us thanks to the compact tents by Overland Kings. Some were on the roof of the units while some were at the sides, which are bigger and taller. Inside were fairy lights, a night light that doubles as emergency light, and USB powered fans. Aside from those, they have two large tents that served as our living room and lounge.

In addition to that, we were treated to delicacies from Baguio Mountain Man and Sarsa Kitchen during our whole stay in Sagada. The only challenging parts of the camping were the mud and narrow bathroom stalls. But then again, this is very comfortable for the first camping trip in my life.

I love sunrises and sunsets, especially if seen in its natural environment. So when Isuzu offered to see the sunrise at Kiltepan Peak at 4:30 AM, I eagerly said yes. Most of the road going there was already paved but the end portion is still a dirt road. Thankfully, the Isuzu D-Max had no problems going over the muddy areas and brought us to one of the best spots in Sagada. Seeing the sun rise behind the mountains, above a sea of clouds, is definitely a core memory. We spent the day with another great feast from Chef Chavi and Sarsa Kitchen, then visited the Sumaguing Cave and Church of the Mission of St. Mary.

We left the House of Sol camping grounds at around 9 AM the next day. This time, we’ll go the long way to Ifugao and see the Banawe Rice Terraces closer before heading down. The drive going there wasn’t as complicated as the ascent to Sagada, but the roads were just as treacherous. Only we didn’t get to see the man-made beauty of Banawe because a certain road was closed. We had to settle down defeated and headed for lunch in Cafe Angelo at Solano, Nueva Vizcaya.

After that was a long drive back to Petron Bocaue. I think we finished lunch around 2 PM and the only stops we did were bathroom breaks. Not even a pasalubong run was done. But since we were on rural roads, we got caught up with the traffic especially in the afternoon. We didn’t arrive at our end point until 11 PM.

Some D-Max Nuggets

I have to give props to the D-Max comfort in these long jaunts. From the nicely weighted steering wheel that didn’t make my arms numb through the zigzags, to the very comfortable seats front and rear especially during our way back, the D-Max aced this venture to the top of the mountains.

I noticed though that even in the mountains, the Around View Monitor and Autonomous Emergency Braking are very useful. However, many of its other advanced features are put to waste. Rural roads and mountain roads are so small that there’s no use for Blind Spot Monitoring, for example. Moreso with the Lane Keeping Systems, Adaptive Cruise Control, and Automatic High Beam. Maybe Isuzu can re-asses these advanced driver assist features and see if they can make a cheaper LS-E variant with less ADAS, which might be fruitful for their regional fans.

But the best part of the D-Max lies in its powertrain. I am so envious of its engine that’s always waiting for my next input. No matter where you are in the rev range, it will give you immediate power if you step on the throttle. It won’t buckle under the steepness of the road. You won’t even have to floor it because even the slightest force will give you more grunt. Combine this with its performance on muddy jungle roads and the D-Max really planted the idea in my head that my next car should be a pickup.