Right away, when we arrived, this city reminded us of Medellín, Colombia, a very pretty city whose nickname is “City of Eternal Spring.” Like Medellín, Baguio is situated in, out, up, and down several steep-walled valleys nestled in the tops of the cloud-veiled Cordillera mountains. Like Medellín, this city is verdant green, and is famous for its crisp, cool climate, and get this, its pine trees. In the Philippines, this place is known as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines.” Because its highest temperatures hover around 75 degrees, this place is a favorite vacation spot for Filipinos and tourists from around the world, plus it is simply a very beautiful city.
People do not just happen to go to Baguio; there are only two choices: go by bus or drive. We chose to take a private car for a shorter drive time. The road is excellent from Clark International Airport, but the 3-to 4-hour drive to Baguio winds and twists through the steep mountains. Towards the end, we enter the clouds, and traffic is surprisingly very heavy. The ride will be two hours longer and just as treacherous when we leave here in a few days, heading to Manila.
Baguio is on the island of Luzon, the largest and most populated of the Philippine islands. Manila is on Luzon as well. I was expecting to find a small mountain village here, but no, Baguio is a vibrant city with heavy traffic, crowded markets, lovely parks, and 400,000 residents. Up to a million people are here during high tourist season, but despite being a prime vacation destination, this heavenly city is also Northern Luzon’s key city for commerce and education.
During WWII, on the same day of the Pearl Harbor bombing, Japanese bombers also attacked US Camp John Hay, a popular R&R sanctuary for Allied soldiers here. During their occupation, they turned Baguio into a headquarters for an important Japanese general until their surrender to Allied forces in 1945. After the war, the camp was reopened and remained a peaceful place for R&R for many years. In fact, Stan took a bus here in 1970 or so from Olongapo for three glorious days of rest and relaxation. Now, a highly urbanized city in the clouds, this community still hints of a former military presence, especially at what is now Teachers Camp. Although the simple but adequate area set among the pines resembles military barracks, it was established in 1908 as a vacation site and retreat for American and Filipino teachers. Names like John Hay and Leonard Wood grace Baguio’s parks and boulevards.
Oh, what a relief it is! The temperatures here are such a welcome respite, but Stan and I find ourselves dodging rain and walking through mist almost every day. We don’t mind. Starved for weather decent enough to allow us to stretch our legs on long jaunts, Stan and I have walked and walked during our time here. We’ve clocked 5 miles or more every day exploring. We’ve visited the city market, the unusual Igorot Stone Kingdom, and the Philippine highland Tam-awan Village. The highlight so far is the Baguio Botanical Gardens. Oh, lucky us, almost everything is in bloom right now: the cacti, the palms, the orchids, the hydrangeas, and so much more. Baguio’s gorgeous botanical gardens do not occupy a huge space, but surely, it is among the best-designed, most lush, and well-tended garden parks we have strolled through in a long time. We had ordered a Grab, the Philippine version of UBER, to get to the park, but because it was still early in the day when we finished, we returned to the apartment on foot. Ahhh, how rewarding it felt to burn some cals as we put our legs to use traveling up and down the green hills here, while getting a close-up view of this colorful, historic, cloud-shrouded city.
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