Baguio City Trip: Fun in the City of Pines

Being one of the popular escapes from the excruciating summer heat in Manila, Baguio City was our holiday getaway choice.

Fact: experiencing Baguio in a summer holiday means waging a war with the rest of the vacation-minded people. You have to search for inexpensive and less known accommodations, find enjoyment even in crowded parks and wait longer for your turns. All these, of course, are aside from battling the temperature we are unaccustomed of.

GETTING THERE

                People will always take advantage of a very long weekend to visit their provinces. So to avoid long lines and indeterminate seating chance, we have already reserved our seats in Victory Liner two weeks before the scheduled trip. The additional charges are reasonable than relying our fortune as chance passengers.

                Travel from Baguio to Manila will take around 6 hours with 2 bus stops at Tarlac and Sison, Pangasinan. Victory Liner also offers a luxury trip which shortens the travel time from 6 hours to 4 hours. Aside from shorter travel time, these luxury trips have more comfortable reclining seats, food in wheels, and comfort rooms inside the bus.  There are no meal stops for luxury trips. However, because of the holidays, these luxury trips are instantly fully booked even weeks before schedule, so we ended up boarding regular trips to Baguio. We arrived at Baguio at around 12nn, 2 hours more than our expected time or arrival. The delay is largely attributed to the traffic congestion along EDSA and the long lines in the expressway toll plaza.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Burnham Park. Burnham Park maybe one of the most popular park here in the Philippines. There is a wide range of activities that can be enjoyed while in Burnham Park. There is a long stretch of stores offering bike rentals and may be used to roam around the park. But navigating through an enormous number of people makes this activity a hassle rather than fun. Instead, we opted for sailing or paddling the small boats. The rental price of boat was high, but since we were riding in a group, the cost has somewhat lessened.

Sunflower and the sun rays in Baguio

Boat paddling in Burnham Park

For people who are not into physical activity, you may just walk around the park and buy streetfoods such as manga and bagoong, inihaw na pusit, isaw, ODOC (One day old chick), singkamas, balut, kwek-kwek, corn, and lots of other famous street food.  Burnham Park may also provide the flora-interested people a basic meet and greet to the adorable flowers of Baguio.

Tuba Hot/ Warm Springs. Thirty to forty-five minutes from the city proper of Baguio, to the municipality of Tuba, are warm hot springs and resorts. A jeepney can take you to these resorts or you may just hire a taxi for a fixed rate of P500.00. There are greeneries and breathtaking road paths on your way to Tuba. If you are riding a taxi, you may request a quick stop to take pictures of the lush green forests and the majestic morphology of the Cordillera Mountains. Before arriving at Tuba, you may also stop and purchase souvenir materials at some of the authentic wood-carving stores. Prices in these stores are a lot cheaper than those sold at souvenir shops in Baguio. The trip will also let you experience totally dark tunnels. These are really just short tunnels, so there is nothing special about it aside from the minute-long total blindness.

Upon arrival, you will be confused with the plethora of resort choices. Based on travel blogs and recommendation of locals, we chose Riverside Hot Spring Resort because they have more pools, amenities and facilities. For a minimum entrance fee of P100.00/head, you got the chance to enjoy at least four separate warm and wide swimming pools with slides which feeds more fun during swimming. Their cafeteria also offers an interesting and delicious-sounding menu, which you, unfortunately, have to check for availability first. The resort also has rooms for those who intend to spend the night in the resort. 

One of the wide swimming pool in Riverside

Mines View Park. “You’ve never been to Baguio if you haven’t visited the Mines View Park”̶  this is what my first timer friend said upon joking that our Mines View Park will be cancelled. Mines View Park will always be incorporated in any Baguio itinerary especially because of the presence of many and cheap souvenir stores. Because of different themes available in the park, bulk of the pictures we took in Baguio was shot in Mines View Park. One popular photo opportunity is with the big, tamed, and fluffy St. Bernard dog. You may also have a picture with the pink-haired horse or with the native Igorots wearing their traditional costumes. Or if not yet contented, you may transform yourself into a native Igorot by wearing their costumes and posing like a native warrior, complete with spears and shield.

View from Mines View Park

Wright Park. Wright Park is the only park we visited that offered horse riding. The accumulated price for an hour horseback riding trip was expensive. We were just lucky to waive the P300.00 for the guide’s fee and paid only the horse fee worth P600.00/head. The trip is highlighted by the unique protrusions of pine trees from the ground. These are combined with the hazy atmosphere to create an environment similar to temperate countries. The trip also makes you appreciate nature with the vastness of the green forests blanketing the complex topography of Cordillera. 

Horses in Wright

Ukay in Harrison Road. Joining the mob choose garments in a pile of ukay is another experience in Baguio you should never miss. When the clock strikes ten, Harrison Road closses and transforms into a den of second hand branded clothes. Hundreds of tourist and Baguio locals nflock this road-long agora to search a branded garment they can flaunt but paying less than half of its original price. If you are a skilled ukayero who knows to haggle, a branded jacket may cost you only P50.00.  Also, a good deal of original or class A bags, shoes, wallets, and other apparels can be found within the long stretch of ukay stores.

Ukay Ukay in Harrison Road

GATRONOMIZING

The streets of Baguio are proliferated with different street foods. In Burnham Park alone, you can plan a food trip to taste the different native delicacies of Baguio. Within the perimeter of the park, you will be able to buy streetfoods such as grilled corn, isaw, balut, kwek-kwek, inihaw na pusit, bananaque, vegetable lumpia, etc.  The ODOC or the one-day-old-chick is also a must try in Baguio. These are deep fried whole baby quail chicks that have been “harvested” before they could make it to their second day.

Baguio is also famous for its fresh and cheap fruits and vegetables. It is known as major producer of cabbage, broccoli, and beans. Strawberries are also a major product of Baguio and are used in different ways. Aside from the bottled strawberry jams and preserves, strawberries are mixed with caramel and are used as syrup in taho.

The city also boasts of restaurants that offer traditional and foreign dishes. One of the cheapest yet delicious restaurants in the city is Good Taste. It has a great variety of dishes ranging from vegetable to meat dishes such as sweet and sour. Other restaurants which are worth trying are Kubo Grill and Le Fondue that invites amateur bands at night to serenade their customers. The restaurant is a good place to chill and enjoy a few bottles of very cold beer. If you are looking for a restaurant that caters good tasting traditional Filipino food, you must try Kubo Sawali.