Baguio Day 2

November 02, 2013

This is the 2nd part of the Trilogy of my self styled Baguio Tour. You may view the 1st part in this post:

Baguio Day 1

• 06:55 The 2nd day of our tour starts with an early Budget Breakfast at Cafe by the Ruins, another highly recommended restaurant at down town Baguio. One thing I observed upon arriving in the beautiful city of Baguio was the great number of utility type taxis, and these cabs were unlike the traditional sedan type at Manila. The taxi models I saw were Isuzu Crosswind, Mitsubishi Adventure, Toyota Avanza, Toyota Innova, Toyota Revo, and a few Toyota Vios, Kia Rio, and a Toyota Yaris.
• 07:00 Unfortunately the cafe was closed so we instructed our driver to get us to Session Road near Our Lady of Atonement Cathedral a.k.a. Baguio Cathedral. We ate at Jollibee before going to the pink cathedral.
• 07:20 There was a long set of stairs before you reach Baguio Cathedral if you take the entrance along Session Road. After taking some photos and exploring the perimeter of the cathedral (we didn't enter because there's a mass), we started the descent and called a cab to go to Lourdes Grotto since my companions don't want to walk all the way to the loading station bound to Lourdes Grotto.

Stairs going up to Baguio Cathedral

Baguio Cathedral view from the side

Front view of Baguio Cathedral

• 07:45 Touchdown at Lourdes Grotto. The grotto is famous for its 291 steps to the altar. The 2 ladies with me started to feel the pain of the climb when they were about halfway to the top, I can't blame them since they just traversed the stairs going up to Baguio Cathedral. If you don't want to climb the whole set of stairs or you're incapable, there's a winding road that a vehicle can pass up to the final set. The road also acts as the Stations of the Cross. At the end of the sacrificial climb is the famous grotto built last 1858, there was a tile at the top that celebrated its centennial last 1958. There's also a nearby souvenir shop beside the parking lot. We descended Lourdes Grotto thru the winding road so the girls can check out the souvenir shop along the way. We walked up to the intersection where jeeps pass going to Tam-Awan Village. Unfortunately, during our waiting time of about 10 min all the jeeps that pass were full so we chose to ride a taxi going to Tam-Awan Village.

The start of the 291 steps to the Grotto

Halfway there

A portion of the winding road that acts as Stations of the Cross

Lourdes Grotto

• 08:40 Touchdown at Tam-Awan Village. The village is an exhibit of ancient Ifugao Huts and their traditional display of art. Entrance fee is 50.00 php for Adults and 30.00 php for students/ children/ senior citizens/ people with disabilities. The teller will give you a map of the village so you can plan on how to explore the place. There was a place where picture taking was prohibited, it was inside a native hut near the cafe. You can also book a hut at Tam-Awan Village if you like to experience sleeping in one of those Ifugao Huts, I think I heard the fee they charge was 550.00 php per head and the huts were good for 3 with its own comfort room beside it. After exploring Tam-Awan Village we planned to go to Arko ni Apo but it was closed at that time so we went back to Burnham Park (Burnham Park is commonly known as Plaza when you check jeep routes) because Mimi's shoes was damaged. We were thankful there were plenty of Ukay-ukay stores around Plaza. We were able to find a replacement in no time. Afterwards, we went to the loading station of jeeps bound to "Km 6 Asin Road". The fare was 11.00 php per person.

Entrance of Tam-Awan Village

One of the art galleries at the village

You can wear Ifugao clothes for free

There are many Ifugao huts built at the village

Bamboo bridges

The Dream Catcher

Ifugao Huts that can be occupied by tourists

Ifugao fireplace complete with stone sits

Photo with an employee wearing the traditional "Bahag"

• 11:00 After what we thought was forever, we a finally arrived at BenCab Museum. The museum is owned by national artist Benedicto Reyes Cabrera. My goal was to have a picture with the famous artist, unfortunately he was not at the museum at that time. Entrance fee for the BenCab Museum was 100.00 php per person. An additional 100.00 php each if you want to go to the Eco-Trail and 100.00 php standard rate to have a guide. The guide fee is per tour regardless of how many you are in the group. We decided to enjoy only the Museum as we have lots of experience with actual Eco-Trails when we climb mountains. The 4 levels of the museum is divided into different galleries classified as Cordillera, BenCab, Erotica, Indigo, Bulol Installation, Contemporary Art, and Maestro. There is also a viewing terrace on the lower levels so you can appreciate the rice terraces inspired landscaping. You may also like to dine at Cafe Sabel, we didn't since we still felt the sting of last night's Hill Station.

 BenCab Museum

 Fifty Shades of Sabel

Eco Trail viewed from the terrace, at the right is Mr. Cabrera's house 

An artistic table at the gallery 

My favorite artwork located at the gallery hall

 A sculpture at the Erotica Gallery

The Banaue Rice Terraces inspired garden

 The Bulol Installation

 The Cordillera Gallery

 The Philippine Contemporary Gallery

The painting of the child in white cloth is my 2nd favorite artwork 

The garden and cafe with fog

Cafe Sabel 

• 12:45 After disembarking from the jeep from Asin Road we walked the length of Burnham Park to the Acupan - Balatoc Jeepney Station. We ate at a nearby Jollibee before waiting for a riding the jeep.
• 13:20 The trip going to Balatoc was dangerous! The road was narrow and there were many blind spots. Luckily, jeepney drivers here were adept at driving thru these curves but I didn't dare to take a nap during the long ride. The landmark that you are near Balatoc is the police checkpoint, after the checkpoint alight at an area where there is an intersection of the road going back from Balatoc. Be alert and never hesitate to tell the driver to stop at Balatoc Mines.
• 14:05 Balatoc Mines Tour. This is the only mine tour in the Philippines organized by Benguet Corporation. Luckily we arrived only a few minutes ater the cut off which is 14:00. The tour was very informative and the experience was not something other tourist destinations can offer. Outside the tunnel we saw a lot of mining equipment displayed with their names. Then we entereda mining tunnel and became miners for the length of the tour complete with boots and a hard hat. We tried using the drilling machine and Ms. Alma (our tour guide) introduced us to "Anaconda". The highlight of the tour was when Manong detonated a dynamite and we felt the impact! Ms. Alma later explained that miners do this everyday and they experience the blast of 20 dynamites at a time when they mine. At the peak of its time, the mining here can produced a gold bullion every 2 days equivalent to around 40 Million php. After the tour we met an unlikely celebrity with his date outside but they missed the cut off so they returned to Baguio with a gloom on their face. 

Entrance of Benguet Corporation

Orientation room of the Balatoc Mines Tour

The Statue of the Three Miners

Footbridge going to other mine tunnels

The toilet car

A display of common mining tools

The dynamite storage car

At the entrance of Balatoc Tunnel

Inside the mining tunnel

A pigstye, a support for the tunnel ceiling

A monkey using the drilling machine

Piles of rock from the blast used as support for the tunnel

A picture with our 2 time best miner of the Philippines

Ms. Alma, our guide, with sacks of blasted ore at her left side

We were given certificates after the tour and a souvenir "chapa"

The Balatoc Mines Mini Museum

Back at the entrance with Sir Ramon Bautista

• 15:10 Jeeps seldom pass the road, lucky for us after 30 min of waiting we saw one and it was not full.
• 15:45 Philippine Military Academy. We alight in front of PMA before going back to Plaza. There was no entrance fee but you need to leave a valid ID as it is a Military Base and strict monitoring of visitors is being implemented. The main attractions at PMA were the marching of the cadets that happens every Sunday ( we went on a Saturday so we didn't witnessed this one), various relics and memorials of World War II, and a giant monument of the traditional cadet hat.

Fort Gen. Gregorio H. del Pilar 

 Philippine Military Academy

Gen. Gregorio H. del Pilar as background 

 A monument of a PMA cadet's paraphernalia

 One of the Howitzers displayed at PMA

 A mini tank!!!

 An armored personnel vehicle

 A Bofors anti-aircraft gun

The Korean War Memorial 

 An infantry fighting vehicle

The Alumni Memorial

• 16:45 We really planned to got to the Lion's Head at Kennon Road but the taxi cab driver we rode into was hesitant to get us there so we just decided to go back to Plaza and explore the park.
• 17:00 Burnham Park. This was actually Part 2 of our Burham Park exploration, this time there was still some sunshine left and we tried the famous swan boat (ours was actually a duck) ride at the Burnham Lake (Boat ride cost 150.00 php per ride, I think there's no time limit). After the boat ride we rented bicycles (rate is 40.00 php for single, and 50.00 php if there's a side car), I suggest you rent bicycles at the side of the park and not the ones at the south part. The ones at the side are new, more colorful with better design and they offer the same price.

 A sculpture at Burnham Park

Our duck boat 

 Rowing at the lake

 Dusk coming at the lake

Night biking at the park

• 18:30 After the fun filled boat and bike ride we went to Rizal Park on our way to Cafe by the Ruins to continue our failed breakfast. After looking at the price of the meals we decided to try out Oh My Gulay. Haha

Rizal Park Monument

• 19:10 After a 30 minute search for the well hidden Oh My Gulay, we finally found it at the 5th Floot of La Azotea Bldg. The bldg is in front of the south end of Porta Vaga Mall, the entrance of the bldg is near a handicapped crossing. The 1st floor is a diner and a dealer of gadgets. Oh My Gulay is a vegetarians paradise, the restaurant can also be called a masterpiece. Every corner of the place was meticulously designed from different parts of old houses and it was a wonder how they fitted together. The place does not serve any meat (even meat bits) as their name suggest, but their dishes were really tasty and value for money. This instantly became one of my favorite restaurants at Baguio.

 The 5th floor entrance of Oh My Gulay

 A decor beside at the upper floor

A portion of Oh My Gulay Resto

Oh My Gulay Restaurant 

Our vegetarian dinner!

• 20:20 We went to SM Baguio after the feast at Oh My Gulay as it was a common saying that every vacation is not complete unless you visit the SM Mall at that particular place. Good thing we did this because SM Baguio was a bit different than the conventional shipping container designed SM's. SM Baguio has a giant tent at the top that act as a viewings deck, and from here we saw the night view of Bauio. I was not able to take some photos at the viewing deck, my bad.
• 21:30 Back to Base after a long walk from SM Baguio to Vicotry Liner Terminal thru Session Road .

Total Expenses Summary:
Note: This Summary is good for 3 persons

• Taxi (Base to Session Road)                  P    71.00
• Jollibee Breakfast                               235.00
• Taxi (Baguio Cathedral to Lourdes Grotto)         55.00
• Taxi (Lourdes Grotto to Tam-Awan Village)         58.00
• Tam-Awan Village entrance fee                    150.00
• Jeep (Tam-Awan Village to Burnham Park)           24.00
• Jeep (Burnham Park to BenCab Museum)              33.00
• BenCab Museum Entrance                           300.00
• Jeep (BenCab Museum to Burnham Park)              33.00
• Jollibee Lunch                                   201.00
• Jeep (Burnham Park to Balatoc)                    75.00
• Balatoc Mines Tour fee                           750.00
• Jeep (Balatoc to PMA)                             24.00
• Taxi (PMA to Burnham Park)                       103.00
• Boat ride                                        150.00
• Bike ride                                         90.00
• Oh My Gulay dinner                               788.00

                    TOTAL                        P 3,140.00

Thanks for reading!!! Feel free to leave some comments.