It is my childhood dream to one day visit the City
of Pines and be able to feel the cold weather and roam around the city. For
years, the scent and feel of Baguio were a reality to me but only in my
imagination.
Baguio is dubbed as the summer capital of the
Philippines. It is the perfect place to escape the scorching heat of the summer
sun. Hence, I feel so blessed to come to the city right in the middle of the
summer month of May.
It was three o’clock in the afternoon when our
group left Manila on board a passenger bus to take us to Baguio. It was a seven-hour
long ride but it was not boring at all. I have enjoyed the wide and smooth
expressways as we traversed from Manila to Clark all the way to the provinces
of Pampanga, Pangasinan and La Union then up to Baguio City. The sceneries of
wide agricultural fields and the countryside along the roads were captivating and
relaxing.
Serious and funny talks with our group mates and
eating with them made us ignore time and distance until we reached Baguio City.
We arrived there at 10 o’clock in the evening. The moment I stepped down from
the bus, I took my first breathe and had my first feel of the Baguio cold night
time weather. It was really cold as if the entire place has a centralized
aircon. Our host took us for a late dinner in a cozy restaurant. The food
tastes so good. Right there, we proceeded to our hotel and slept so deep the
entire evening without turning on the aircon.
The following morning, we got up early and braced
ourselves for a day long tour. Our first stop was the Baguio Cathedral. What a
beautiful postcard perfect view of the church. It is so romantic lovers would
fall in love with it and fell more in love with a partner. We went up through
several stairs and had some pictures taken at the crucified Jesus. The
cathedral’s ground was quite huge and the cathedral’s façade is
perfectly-designed like those in Europe. I went inside it and prayed; of
course, thanking God for making this childhood dream came true.
On a rented van, we rode our way to the Baguio
Botanical Park. We had some photos taken at the gate together with the natives
wearing the traditional Igorot outfits. Then off we went to the Mansion, the
summer residence of the president of the Philippines when he or she is in
Baguio. We had some photos taken but only at the gate because people are not
allowed to enter the compound.
Across the street, we had some photos on a standee of
Igorot male and female figures with our face on top. We also have some photos
with a gigantic and scary looking dog. All were allowed for a fee.
We proceeded to the Mines View Park which is a few
minutes away from the city center. There were lots of merchandise like colorful
flowers and souvenir items while walking our way to the famous viewing deck. It
was really a sight to behold standing on top looking down at the layers of
mountain ranges and ocean of greeneries below. The fogs were caressing the top
of the vegetation even as I have to lock my thick jacket as it was too cold. Then, it started to drizzle and so we have to
move quickly back to the entrance. We gathered by the ice cream parlor beside
the gate and tasted for the first time the strawberry-flavored coned ice cream.
Our next place to visit was the Bell Church, which
is a Buddhist Temple. Huge welcome landmarks tower the compound. Once inside,
you can see the tall and iconic pagoda but before reaching it you will be
walking on series of stairs alongside which are some Buddhist’s religious
figures. Bougainvilla mostly of red and pink were in full bloom adding more
vibrance to this place of worship for Buddhists. A few minutes from here is the
Tam-awan Village which we have explored as it features some traditional houses
of the Igorots. We even went up the slopes of the hill for a bit of hiking
adventure. Down the hill is a small store cum restaurant in which gallery of
paintings of some local artists adorned the walls.
We rode passed the highways going to the town
center of La Trinidad, Benguet. I was really amazed by the several kilometers
stretch of walls that shelter the Benguet State University (BSU). I would assume
BSU is one of the largest universities in the country in terms of land area. By
minutes passed 12 noon, we were already at the famous Strawberry Farm which is
located at the further end of BSU. What a huge farm it is. The strawberry
plantation is sprawled on a huge flat terrain where strawberries are planted as
far as one’s eyes could see. There were
these long lines of stores where we bought some processed strawberry jam and
other sweet products for pasalubong. While the farm is the farthest in our
itinerary, our leisurely trip did not end here. We are even off to some more
awesome spots as we went back to the city.
We passed by the picturesque Colors of StoBoSa, La
Trinidad, a hilly neighborhood of painted houses of varied hues as if turning
the entire the village into a living canvas. We took some photos while in the
middle of the hanging bridge and bought some souvenir stuff by the cliff’s
edge.
Minutes passed and we were already at the Stone
Kingdom, a newest attraction in Baguio. By its entrance are two giant monuments
of Igorot kings both clad in the traditional outfit made of loin cloth called
bahag with headdress on top standing tall holding a long dagger the edge of
which touching the ground. As I entered the man-made kingdom, I draw a sigh of
amazement looking up the structures of passageways going up the hillsides all
made of small-sized thousands of white coral stones symmetrically assembled on
top of the other. At the other side is what I presumed to be the kingdom hall.
These narrow stone pathways and kingdom hall were all carved on the slopes of a
hill encircling the expanse of the square. We slowly and carefully walked thru
the small paths layer by layer until we reached the highest point. I find it
quite tricky walking down the hill thru the narrow paths as just a small
misstep may spell an accident.
As if not yet contented with the little hiking
adventure, we went up to the overpass that connects the two sides of the hill
passing thru the square. While in the middle of the overpass bridge, we
observed that it was getting darker and we saw from the west side mounds of moving
fog carried by the gentle wind approaching from where we are. As it was getting
nearer, we hurried down the hill afraid that the thick fog might engulf us as
well as the entire place.
After a few minutes ride, we went to the haunted
Diplomat Hotel and found it to be dilapidated and nearing collapse reason why visitors
are no longer allowed to enter. We just satisfy ourselves walking around the yard
surrounding the building and just looked at it imagining how it may have looked
like when it was used as hotel and then later as hospital during the American and
Japanese periods and in the succeeding decades and today when maybe ghosts of
any kinds reside on it. Diplomat Hotel has been featured a lot of times on television
shows along with spirit questors, hence, it was me now wondering in real life
if horror stories in this haunted hotel were real.
To cap our day trip, we had an unplanned pilgrimage
to the Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto nearby. I took the more than 250 steps going
up the grotto. Along the staircases are some religious statues of saints and sorrowful
mysteries. I said little prayers while on a small stop on these statues. When I
reached the grotto atop the hill, I was so happy at my age I can still make it
and miraculously I have not felt any tiredness. I prayed for thanksgiving at
the foot of the tall statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. I have also prayed on my
knees on a chapel a few steps beside the grotto.
We went back to our hotel by dusk already. Tired as
we are, we slept early.
On our second day, we strolled around the Burnham
Park. It was a dream come true for me to be in this park that was named after
its designer Daniel Burnhan, one of the world’s famous urban planners who came
to the Philippines in the early period of American colonial period at the turn
of the 20th century. Burnham was also commissioned to design the city’s
centers of Manila, Cebu, and Davao. For us environmental planners, he is
considered as the forerunner of City Beautiful Movement. The park is huge enough
to accommodate hundreds of daily visitors. Its green expanse is dotted with
lines of pine trees, other native trees and long walkways. At the center is a picturesque
huge lagoon where one can experience boat ride. At one side of the lagoon, one
can wear for a rent some Igorot native costume. On the outskirts of the park,
one can ride for a rent on bicycle or little jeeps for fun. My group just enjoyed
ourselves walking around thru the pathways.
From the park, we walked our way to the Baguio Public
Market which I consider as the cleanest wet and vegetable market I have been to.
Pathways were spacious enough to accommodate huge number of market goers.
Vegetables sold were all fresh and reasonably priced as well as pasalubong
items. When we passed by a coffee store, I was allured by the coffee’s aroma
wafting thru that portion of the marketplace. On a thrift store, I bought a
used Adidas jacket that was lowly priced.
We rode on a bus that took us to SM Baguio. We spent
several hours there and bought some more items. After taking our dinner, we leisurely
walked our way from the street along the vicinity of the mall to the famous Session
Road now transformed into a long avenue of night stores selling used apparels
of all types. I bought myself a jacket. It was really a tiresome long walk
passing thru humongous people that crowded the stores. Once we got off from the
crowded stores, we turned to a stretch of food stalls gallery on an open space at
the Burnham Park.
It was already passed ten in the evening and there
were no taxis that were passing by. We decided to just walk our way to our
hotel. We passed thru a steep road up. Our feet were already aching even before
we reached the hotel. Laying my back on my bed, I felt so exhausted but it was
worth it. I will never forget Baguio. It was so cold and so cool and awfully a
wonderful city. If there is another chance, I would surely find my way to be
here again.
