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Vast greenery on both sides greeted me when I opened my eyes. I just woke up from a quick nap, one of a handful naps I made on this road trip. My attempt to guess where we were on this side of the planet was futile. I’ve only passed that road six times in my entire life, I think. Yeah. Six times. And all of those times were at night. Well unless that is the same road you pass by Clark, Subic and Pampanga, then the number would be nine. And being raised in the central part of the archipelago, no one should make the mistake of asking me directions on the northern region of the country because all I’d do is give you a blank stare.
fields of green and a mountain at a distant
So where am I headed, you ask? Baguio.
Yes. The land of pine trees and cold nights. The summer capital of the Philippines as what it’s fondly called. My companions and I embarked on this road trip to visit Baguio for a reason.
To eat strawberries.
In July.
Nah. Just kidding.
But that was one of the goals though.
To hoard strawberries and eat those juicy red fruits.
roadtrip to Baguio
We actually left Manila late. We targeted to leave at 6am to avoid the traffic but my companions were taking their sweet time. Anyway, there’s really no rush for at that moment time was our ally. As for me, since I couldn’t let go being a night owl, I comfortably dozed on and off the entire time we drove to Baguio and just woke up in between to see where we’re at. At some point, we pulled over a certain place to have breakfast at McDonalds.
This trip marked my 5th time to set foot in Baguio. The first one was back in 2011 when we stayed less than 12 hrs after exploring Sagada. The most current trip was last December, when I played tour guide to Sagada for a close friend. But to tell you honestly, in those five times, my Baguio experience is only limited to what you can readily see along Session Road, SM and Burnham Park. The only reason I set foot here is when I visited Sagada thrice and then Kalinga once. Within those times, I’m only treated to early morning fogs or late night chills so this road trip was extra special in the sense that I’d finally get the chance to experience Baguio.
my seatmates in orderly chaos 🙂
Before the trip, I was informed we’d be visiting the iconic landmarks of Baguio and boy was I excited. Since we brought a car with us, my first request was for us to drop by the famous Lion Rock of Baguio City at some point since public buses don’t ply the route where the huge monolith sits. My companions instantly assured me that the lion’s head will be the first thing we’ll be seeing since we’ll be entering Baguio via the Kennon Road. Yay! And with that, I went back to sleep.
Baguio
I guess the change in the altitude and the constant sways of the car woke me up. If an hour or so ago I was seeing green fields, it was the sight of mountain ranges that greeted my sleepy head the next time I woke up. We were already cruising a narrow road uphill. This must Kennon Road, I thought to myself. At that instant I knew that we were almost near our destination.
