Baguio

Baguio is one of the major cities in northern Luzon, and was the site of a visit by us for a couple days earlier this week.  About a 4 hour drive north of Manila in the Cordillera mountains, the city was established by the colonial Americans in the early 1900's as the "summer capital of the Philippines".

Sitting about 5,000 feet up, temperatures are about 10 - 15 degrees F cooler than Manila.  Though still tropical, its very mountainous with pine trees everywhere giving the city its other nickname, "city of pines".  You can easily see why it's such a popular destination for Filipinos trying to escape the summer weather.  I wore long pants the entire time I was there, and a jacket much of the time!  What a treat.

To get there, you drive north through the central plains of Luzon, the "rice bowl" of the country.  Though flat, the scenery is beautiful.  Then its an hour drive up the twisting, winding, zigzag road along river valleys into the mountains and finally to Baguio.

Thanks to Tony's connections, we had a corner suite at the Baguio Country Club, one of the city's choice places to stay.  Views overlooking the golf course and mountains were very peaceful and the place was great.

The city market is well known and a great resource for local goods and crafts.  Because of the higher elevation, vegetables and strawberries are plentiful and cheap.  Hand made wood crafts and colorful fabrics from the nearby mountain tribes are also popular.  We stopped at several local handicraft shops along the street, and took a taxi to the Easter Weaving Room where you can see local artisans weaving all sorts of colorful fabrics.

For any former Peace Corps volunteers out there, the Vallejo Hotel still stands.  It's been renovated and is now Casa Vallejo, but all the charm has been retained.  The Pines Hotel, though, is long gone after burning down in the 80's and has been replaced by a large shopping mall.

Camp John Hay was a major American R&R center up until the bases closed throughout the country in the 80's.  It's still a major tourist and recreation center today, and was a great place to walk around and see the panoramic views.  It also has one of the best golf courses around.

Baguio is also a jumping off spot for trips farther north to see indigenous peoples of the area and the amazing 2000 year old rice terraces.  We'll be back.  

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