My friends and relatives said Baguio City is so much beautiful way back then. Maybe that's one reason why going there isn't my priority when it comes to traveling. Pathetic me, I've never been to Baguio in my entire life.
But then came the month of February, the month of Panagbenga Festival - the annual flower festival which is gaining so much popularity among the tourists for roughly two decades now. My sister invited me to go to Baguio and watch the main event of the festival - the Panagbenga float parade. And so we did. With little planning and preparation, we head on to the bus terminal at Pasay City.
I know that a lot of people will surely go to Baguio at that time so I expected the worst. Unfortunately, the situation is worse than the worst I expected. All buses were fully booked so we ended up as chance passengers along with more than a hundred others.
So we wasted 4 hours waiting at the bus station and 8 hours traveling. Yes. 8 hours! (Heavy traffic at EDSA and an extra stop over as requested by a fellow passenger). A total of 12, it's the same amount of time I spent going from Manila to Sagada!
The moment we arrived at the bus terminal in Baguio, we decided to buy ourselves a bus ticket from Baguio to Manila to avoid sure hassle on Sunday. Then we went straight to our place (Terrace Heights Dormitory) and slept.
We woke up at about 5 o'clock in the morning to prepare for the Panagbenga street dance parade which will start at 7 o'clock. I never had the chance to take a look at the surroundings the night before so I wasn't able to notice the mountain of houses that can be seen from our place.
I'm not sure if I was so amazed on how it resembles a scene on the movie Fast and the Furious 5 or I was disheartened on how the mountain lost it's grace.
We stopped by at Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral for a short prayer and to prepare ourselves for the parade. I thought we were early enough to have a better spot along the roadsides, yet we found ourselves a few meters away from the sidewalks of Session Road.
As the street dance advances, the crowd starts to thicken so we decided not to finish the parade and head on to our next destination: Mine's View Park.
The cab arrived at Mine's View Park in no time. Before reaching the view deck, a long line of stores selling different products for pasalubong will surely catch your attention. But we decided to buy our pasalubongs once we're done visiting the park.
Going down the stairway, we were welcomed by a huge furry canine friend named Douglas. We didn't hesitate to take a picture with this cuddly Saint Bernard. How I wish we had one back at home.
Upon arriving at the view deck, we felt the fresh cold breeze and saw the spectacular view of the mountains which is said to be the site of Benguet's gold and copper mines.
Walking around the city, I can't keep myself from comparing Baguio to Manila. Obviously, the big difference is the climate. And I think Baguio is pretty much cleaner than the nation's capital. But there are lots of sites here in Baguio which is similar to Manila. Burnham Park is Baguio's version of Luneta; Session Road resembles Malate at night; Harrison Road and Bonifacio Avenue looks like Manila's Recto Avenue and Maharlika Mall is like Tutuban Center's long-lost twin.
We had Army Navy for dinner. A perfect reward for ourselves after a very tiring day. Then we went back to our place which marks the end of the day.
The main event of the Panagbenga Festival is the Float Parade which was held the next morning. After the said parade, we planned on going to the famous Camp John Hay.
Killed Bills
These budget itinerary covers our whole trip in Baguio City. (Panagbenga Festival, Mines View Park, Camp John Hay)
455.00 - Bus fare from Pasay City to Baguio City
20.00 - Taxi fare from bus terminal to the transient house (80 for 4 persons)
875.00 - transient house accomodation (3500 for 2 nights for 4 persons)
8.00 - Jeepney fare from transient house to Session Road
20.00 - Taxi fare from Session Road to Mines View Park (80 for 4 persons)
20.00 - Bottled water
50.00 - Picture taking with Douglas
95.00 - Lunch (380 for 4 persons)
150.00 - Souvenir shirts
20.00 - Taxi fare from Mines View Park to the transient house (80 for 4 person)
8.00 - Jeepney fare from transient house to Session road
10.00 - Jeepney fare from Session Road to The Mansion
10.00 - Jeepney fare from Wright Park to Session Road
350.00 - Dinner at Army Navy
20.00 - Taxi fare from Session Road to the transient house (80 for 4 persons)
8.00 - Jeepney fare from the transient house to Session Road
20.00 - 2 glasses of taho
17.50 - Taxi fare from Session Road to Camp John Hay (70 for 4 persons)
210.00 - Lunch at Filling Station
20.00 - Bottled water
17.50 - Taxi fare from Camp John Hay to Public Market (70 for 4 persons)
150.00 - 1kg of Strawberries
8.00 - Jeepney fare from Public Market to the transient house
20.00 - Taxi fare from the transient house to the bus station
67.50 - Large Lots'A Pizza (270 good for 4)
30.00 - Bottled drink
455.00 - Bus fare from Pasay City to Baguio City
Php 3034.50 - TOTAL
But then came the month of February, the month of Panagbenga Festival - the annual flower festival which is gaining so much popularity among the tourists for roughly two decades now. My sister invited me to go to Baguio and watch the main event of the festival - the Panagbenga float parade. And so we did. With little planning and preparation, we head on to the bus terminal at Pasay City.
I know that a lot of people will surely go to Baguio at that time so I expected the worst. Unfortunately, the situation is worse than the worst I expected. All buses were fully booked so we ended up as chance passengers along with more than a hundred others.
So we wasted 4 hours waiting at the bus station and 8 hours traveling. Yes. 8 hours! (Heavy traffic at EDSA and an extra stop over as requested by a fellow passenger). A total of 12, it's the same amount of time I spent going from Manila to Sagada!
The moment we arrived at the bus terminal in Baguio, we decided to buy ourselves a bus ticket from Baguio to Manila to avoid sure hassle on Sunday. Then we went straight to our place (Terrace Heights Dormitory) and slept.
We woke up at about 5 o'clock in the morning to prepare for the Panagbenga street dance parade which will start at 7 o'clock. I never had the chance to take a look at the surroundings the night before so I wasn't able to notice the mountain of houses that can be seen from our place.
 |
| This is not Rio de Janiero |
I'm not sure if I was so amazed on how it resembles a scene on the movie Fast and the Furious 5 or I was disheartened on how the mountain lost it's grace.
We stopped by at Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral for a short prayer and to prepare ourselves for the parade. I thought we were early enough to have a better spot along the roadsides, yet we found ourselves a few meters away from the sidewalks of Session Road.
 |
| Our Lady of the Atonement Cathedral |
The street dance parade started at around 7 in the morning. Dancers in colorful costumes started to pass our vision and a joyful ambiance just spread all over the place.
 |
| Panagbenga Street Dance Parade |
As the street dance advances, the crowd starts to thicken so we decided not to finish the parade and head on to our next destination: Mine's View Park.
The cab arrived at Mine's View Park in no time. Before reaching the view deck, a long line of stores selling different products for pasalubong will surely catch your attention. But we decided to buy our pasalubongs once we're done visiting the park.
Going down the stairway, we were welcomed by a huge furry canine friend named Douglas. We didn't hesitate to take a picture with this cuddly Saint Bernard. How I wish we had one back at home.
Upon arriving at the view deck, we felt the fresh cold breeze and saw the spectacular view of the mountains which is said to be the site of Benguet's gold and copper mines.
 |
| At the Mine's View Park |
After a short stop for picture taking, we climb back up to the stores and went shopping. Fresh flowers, strawberries and other fruits are lined up waiting to be bought. Different designs of shirts are displayed along the alley and very affordable jams and fruit preserves are available all over the place.
We decided to go back to our place after we had our lunch because we noticed that our hands are now full of heavy bags of pasalubongs. Along the way, we stopped by a wondrous art form - The Veteran Pine. A tall dead pine tree with amazing carvings on its trunk which is said to have lived for centuries.
 |
| The Veteran Pine |
After a 2-hour rest in our place, we decided to go back to Leonard Wood Road and visit the other destination listed in our itinerary: The Mansion, Wright Park and the Botanical Garden. Sadly, heavy traffic consumed a lot of our time.
 |
| The Mansion |
We were prohibited to go inside the Mansion so we just held our "photo shoot" from the gate.
That time, the sky is getting darker as the sun sets slowly behind the mountains. And the road is full of cars stuck in the middle of a heavy traffic. I realized that a lot of tourist went to the Mine's View park after the street parade. So we ended up canceling our visits to the Botanical Garden then just took a quick stop at the Wright Park.
 |
| Wright Park |
We arrived at Session Road tired and starving, thinking of the lost opportunities to visit Wright Park and the Botanical Garden... And the Strawberry Farm too...
 |
| Session Road at Night |
We had Army Navy for dinner. A perfect reward for ourselves after a very tiring day. Then we went back to our place which marks the end of the day.
The main event of the Panagbenga Festival is the Float Parade which was held the next morning. After the said parade, we planned on going to the famous Camp John Hay.
Killed Bills
These budget itinerary covers our whole trip in Baguio City. (Panagbenga Festival, Mines View Park, Camp John Hay)
455.00 - Bus fare from Pasay City to Baguio City
20.00 - Taxi fare from bus terminal to the transient house (80 for 4 persons)
875.00 - transient house accomodation (3500 for 2 nights for 4 persons)
8.00 - Jeepney fare from transient house to Session Road
20.00 - Taxi fare from Session Road to Mines View Park (80 for 4 persons)
20.00 - Bottled water
50.00 - Picture taking with Douglas
95.00 - Lunch (380 for 4 persons)
150.00 - Souvenir shirts
20.00 - Taxi fare from Mines View Park to the transient house (80 for 4 person)
8.00 - Jeepney fare from transient house to Session road
10.00 - Jeepney fare from Session Road to The Mansion
10.00 - Jeepney fare from Wright Park to Session Road
350.00 - Dinner at Army Navy
20.00 - Taxi fare from Session Road to the transient house (80 for 4 persons)
8.00 - Jeepney fare from the transient house to Session Road
20.00 - 2 glasses of taho
17.50 - Taxi fare from Session Road to Camp John Hay (70 for 4 persons)
210.00 - Lunch at Filling Station
20.00 - Bottled water
17.50 - Taxi fare from Camp John Hay to Public Market (70 for 4 persons)
150.00 - 1kg of Strawberries
8.00 - Jeepney fare from Public Market to the transient house
20.00 - Taxi fare from the transient house to the bus station
67.50 - Large Lots'A Pizza (270 good for 4)
30.00 - Bottled drink
455.00 - Bus fare from Pasay City to Baguio City
Php 3034.50 - TOTAL
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