Baguio Botanical Garden

I love flowers, who doesn’t by the way? :) And I mean not just flower bouquets but the blooming ones, just like growing in a landscaped garden setting. That’s why I was so excited to visit the Botanical Garden when we had our Baguio tour.

The weather was unpredictable that day that it actually rained an hour before we visited the place. Still with rain showers, we visited the garden and we were welcomed by the natives who were so pushy to draw us to take pictures with them, with their costumes and of course for a fee.

The area was relatively huge but I was disappointed that the garden had only few blooming flowers.

We roamed around the garden and we found some cute structures too.

There’s also a horse where in you can ride for a photo shoot. There were also some stores and souvenir items for sale in the area but I wasn’t able to take photos as I was busy searching for blooming flowers which was ironically a few in this famous garden. *sigh*

Read more »

Posted in: Baguio

Lourdes Grotto in Baguio City

Lourdes Grotto is another famous tourist spot in Baguio City, especially among Catholics.

There were vendors in the area if you’d like to buy some candles and flower garlands to pay homage.

The grotto is located uphill so one must climb the 200+ steps to reach the top. Yeah, it’s quite a long hike but who says we can’t stop to catch our breath and took some photos?!

After reaching the top, we had our moment of silence and said our prayers. We also spent some time appreciating the view uphill of the City of Pines.

And yes, we had our photo op with the natives also. Charged is Php5 per person, Php5 per native and Php5 per shot!  And if you’d like to wear head dress like us, it’s another Php5! So, how much we paid with this photo? Just do the math, okay? :D

Just as we were thirsty from the hike, we were delighted that Manong Taho was just downstairs ready with his famous Strawberry taho for only Php15.

Read more »

Posted in: Baguio

Tam-awan Village: A glimpse of Native Cordillera Community

It’s unplanned that it would be our first destination in our DIY Baguio tour and it turned out that visiting the Tam-awan Village was indeed a great way to start it. A recreated native village, it showcases native collection of Ifugao and Kalinga huts positioned in a manner like that of a traditional Cordillera Village.

How it started
The Chanon Foundation created this village to let those people who haven’t had the opportunity to explore the native Cordillera region experience how the native community is. They started to recreate this village through reconstructing native Ifugao houses. The indigenous houses were placed like that of a typical Cordillera village.

Ifugao Huts & more

For an entrance of Php50 per adult, we were able to explore the recreated village. There’s a map given on how we should explore the area but we were not able to trek up into the view deck as it has been raining days before our visit, it was so slippery and muddy plus we were all wearing slippers.

Nevertheless, we just enjoyed and walked around the Ifugao huts and wonder how they managed to live in such cute little houses.

Alang Hut

Dukligan Hut

The place is also an artist’s haven. A lot of artworks, such as paintings and sculptures, from Filipino artists are displayed in the Art Gallery and are also for sale.

Bugnay Gallery

There’s also a café in the village if you want to grab some snacks and chill a little.

Cafe

The Verdict
Visiting Tam-awan Village made us appreciate the culture and community of the natives in the region. It was indeed a great way to start our first Baguio exploration. I just hope that this recreated village would be properly maintained to continue its goal in letting us experience the indigenous Cordillera community. I would highly recommend this place to those who are in, in appreciating culture and arts and for those who are not, for them to appreciate it.

Read more »

Posted in: Baguio