BAGUIO

 BAGUIO  

Baguio or what is also commonly known as “City of Pines” is a city in the mountainous area of Luzon and is geographically located within Benguet province. This is one of the famous destinations in the Philippines because of its cool climate hence being dubbed as “Summer Capital of the Philippines”.

I can talk about its history, but all that stuff is pretty much available in the internet, so I’ll jump off to my experiences and the places worth visiting.

We only had 1 day to tour around Baguio due to time constraints, so we chartered a van to take us there and take us back to the airport in Clark. We were picked up at our hotel at around 2 o’clock in the morning. A quick stop at a gas station in La Union to grab coffee and empty our bladders. It took roughly 3-4 hours from Clark to Baguio including all the quick stops. In my own opinion, if you want to explore Baguio and stay at some spots to just enjoy the cool breeze and while away time, it is best if you spend at least 3-4 days there. However, 1 day is quite okay if you are not planning on a long time stay and just want to see the tourist spots and take photos like what we did.

We were not able to visit all the destinations in our itinerary due to heavy traffic during our visit (yes, traffic can be worse in Baguio too!), but at least we’ve visited mostly of the major spots.

Here are the places we visited:

Lion’s Head -Kennon Road-
(under renovation during our visit)

Burnham Park

Camp John Hay

The Mansion

Wright Park

Botanical Garden

Diplomat Hotel

Mines View Park
(entrance)

The beauty of touring around Baguio and visiting their tourist spots is because they have no entrance fees. If I were to cite my most and least favorite of all these spots. I will have to pick Camp John Hay as my top 1, and Botanical Garden as the last on my list. If I were to go back there, I will surely visit Camp John Hay again, and just sit under the humongous trees and relax to my heart’s content. Why Botanical Garden is last? Well, maybe I was just expecting too much. We have different opinions, so I’d say see for yourself and be the judge.

Truly, it was one short-crazy-whirlwind-but fun kind of day! From the previous night’s lack of sleep due to our year end party, then straight to our early wake-up call for our early departure to Baguio, and lastly to a very fast drive going back to CRK airport because we have a flight to catch. I can only thank God for sustaining us all throughout.

Lastly, whatever happens, never miss their famous strawberry and purple yam taho (soy pudding). LOL.

I will most definitely visit Baguio again someday. To God be the Glory!