Journey to Baguio City

I managed to get a good night’s rest without the pleasant sound of water droplets in the distance. I got up to shower and while I didn’t have to stand in a puddle, it still had a curious feature. It appeared the ground wire from the heater to the water pipe had been cut and taking a shower was every bit of an adventure as hiking through the villages.

We were heading to Baguio City today on a scary road on the side of the mountain, but the parts that were falling off the cliff side were well marked so I was not worried.

My guide then told me that tomorrow when we get back to Manila we would have to change cars due to the license plate. The traffic is so bad in Manila that they have to limit when people can drive, and this is done based on your license plate. If your plate starts with a 1 or 2 then you cannot drive on Monday. If it starts with a 3 or 4 then no driving on Tuesday, etc.

We continued on taking in the amazing views.







We reached La Trinidad, or what they call the salad bowl. They have re-purposed the rice terraces to grow all kind of different vegetables, pretty much everything you would use to make a salad, with the exception of thousand island dressing.







I let the drone out to stretch her wings and these gentlemen were kind enough to give me a ticket. Well, not really, they enjoyed watching the drone and that paper he is holding is a report of a stolen motorcycle they were investigating.

With rice you typically only get two crops a year, with salad you can get a lot more with a lot more variety, resulting in better profits.







Getting ready for the next crop.

They used these carts and pulley systems to transfer supplies and their crops back and forth to the road, it sure beats carrying them. On a side note while it will hold your body weight no problem, they will not let you ride in them.

After a nice lunch, which was salad of course, we continued on to reach the highest point that the “highway” would reach.

Once we got back down to the bottom we found strawberries and this town was crazy about them. It kind of makes sense in that the Filipinos love sweet food.

This is actually run by the university. The strawberry is not native to the Philippines.



They also produced lots of different flavors of wine and you could sample them. I tried them all and they were all just awful.

We continued on to Baguio City, a small version of Manila with the same traffic problems. The red and white logo on the building on the right is Jollibee, a popular Filipino fast food chain like McDonalds. In fact, everyplace you find a Jollibee you will find a McDonalds next door.

I visited the local market which contained a lot of the same items and same smells.







I have traveled many places and in my travels have discovered many different names for the bathroom such as Wash Closet, The John, Restroom, The Bog, and The Shitter, just to name a few. In the Philippines they call it a Comfort Room. It would also seem that the word “clean” covers a wide range of definitions.

I then checked out the reading and walking sections of the market.





On the way out I passed the fish section.







I checked out the local Jeepney stand, each one trying to out do the next.



I found a local park where you could rent a boat or a way cool big wheels.



It was getting late and I had to go check into my hotel for the night, El Cielito Inn. This was an old military dorm turned in to a hotel and they did a very nice job. Great king size bed with comfortable bedding and a wonderful modern shower complete with fancy soaps and shampoos. After I cleaned up, I headed downstairs for a San Miguel and some food before calling it a night.