Adventures in Baguiolandia: Around the City of Pines!

Travelling with 7 people requires a super early wake up call! On our 2nd day in Baguio, we were not able to go to all the tourist spots in our itinerary because some of my travel companions woke up late plus the traffic around the city was worse but that didn't stop us from having fun! If you plan your trip in Baguio during Panagbenga month make sure you have 5 days vacation in the city because the traffic takes a lot of time in your travel.

Let's start our day shall we?

READY TO GO!

WE RENTED A VAN FOR PHP 2,800.00 FOR OUR TRANSPORTATION AROUND THE CITY. THE PERKS OF BEING A BANKER: ONE OF OUR CLIENTS PAID FOR THE VAN RENTAL! =)

The start of our 48th hour in Baguio City was the LAPERAL WHITE HOUSE also known as the haunted house. To get inside the house, there is an entrance fee of Php15.00 which is also a donation to the Baguio-Benguet Bamboo Initiative's Ifugao Bamboo Carving Exhibit. One friend who used the comfort room in the bamboo museum felt a sudden warmth on her nape when she went used the comfort room. Personally, I didn't feel any spookiness. Maybe the best time to go inside the White House is around 5:00 - 6:00 PM to experience something creepy! After we viewed the bamboo museum, we went inside the house and took pictures.

BAMBOO DISPLAYS

STRIKING A POSE!

SMILE!

AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE WHITE HOUSE HAVING THAT FAKE SCARED LOOK.

Next on our list is the BOTANICAL GARDEN. Right at the entrance were real native Igorots who were willing to take a pose with a fee of Php 20.00/each but we decided to just take a photo of the signage because there were around 10 natives so that would cost us Php 200.00! There is NO ENTRANCE FEE when you get inside the park.

NATIVE IGOROTS.

There were native Igorot costumes that we could rent for Php 20.00 for photo ops. And so we were stuck in picture taking in Igorot costumes for like an hour! Haha!

RENTED AN IGOROT COSTUME FOR PHP 20.00

We stroll around the garden and went inside the Japanese Tunnel. There was nothing much inside the tunnel. The government could have posted a history or pictures or Japanese statues inside the tunnel to make it interesting for us and to feel the war ambiance inside the tunnel.

ENTRANCE OF THE JAPANESE TUNNEL

We started touring the city around 11:00 AM already so we didn't have that much time. We finished at the Botanical Garden around 2:00 PM and we only have visited 2 tourist spots! =( After Botanical Garden, we proceeded to THE MANSION. The Mansion is used by various Philippine presidents for official engagements in Baguio City.

AT THE MANSION.

We were supposed to visit Wright Park, Camp John Hay and Mines View Park but due to our time constraint we decided to just proceed to the PHILIPPINE MILITARY ACADEMY in Loakan Fort Gregorio del Pilar. There is an entrance fee of Php 20.00. Before we got inside the academy, there were war tanks displayed for photo ops.

ONE OF THE WAR TANKS DISPLAYED.

COURAGE. INTEGRITY. LOYALTY.

Around 5:00 PM, they conducted a flag down ceremony inside the PMA grounds. One soldier manning the entrance told us to stop and pay our respects to the Philippine flag. I can't explain how I felt that time. Patriotic feels just flowed being in a place where men and women sacrificed their lives in protecting our nation.

HEADQUARTERS.

WEEEE!

A Baguio trip will never be complete without a picture of strawberries!

A STRAWBERRY FARM JUST BESIDE THE PMA GROUNDS.

The PMA was our last stop. We went back downtown Baguio City to check in to our transient house for the night. We stayed in PHILOCA TRANSIENT HOUSE. They charged us Php 400.00/each person for a room good for 8 persons. After we put our bags, we went out and looked for a place to dine.

Baguio has a SM mall ---- with no aircon! I thought we should check this mall out and indeed there were no air cons. It was colder during our 2nd day in Baguio with an average temperature of 10 - 13 degrees during that night. It was like haven! SM Baguio is located uphill so it was much colder.