A trip to Baguio….
The sun comes up at 6:30. The rooster next door has been crowing for
about 30 minutes.
Breakfast is cereal and juice.
Some laundry is set to soak. We pray and gather things for the day’s events.
When we load the car, we always
include some plants for Rose’ sisters. They are born to be gardeners too. We will exchange these for some there to put
in our yard. We load the small cooler
with water and ice in old Gatorade bottles.
It is already getting warm out. When the house is locked, I unlock the
gate. There is an inside lock that holds both halves of the gate for cars
together. There is also an outside lock for the small gate for people to pass
through. We then drive 100 feet past our neighbor’s houses and go through the
gate to the street. The street is about ten feet wide and paved with
concrete. It serves much of this
neighborhood. On the other side of the
street is an irrigation ditch four feet deep.
This morning there were few
little kids playing in the street.
Sometimes there are ten or more of them. They always wave and shout
hello. The neighbors are friendly. We wave and answer them. At the corner is a gas station and a bus
waiting shed. We turn toward Urbiztondo
and pass two tricycles and a cow. A
truck coming the other way has a heavy load of sand. At about four miles we
cross the bridge over the Agno River. The water is low. Some boys are swimming.
Others are fishing from a small boat.
We go through Urbiztondo and
turn to take something to a friend who lives past town. About five miles out of
town we turn into a narrow road into the barangay. Two miles further on we come
to their neighborhood. Here everyone
seems to be related. Americans and their cars are easily noticed. The little kids here shout and wave. The adults and older youth often stare. There are a lot of tricycles on the way.
These are the motorcycles with side cars attached. There are a few long jeeps and trucks on the
road today.
Our friend is a remarkable
lady. She was getting ready to go out
selling soup vegetables and rice from a small trailer she pulls with the only
four wheel ATV in the province. Street vendors are common. Her food is really
good. She quickly offers to share some with us. Rose becomes her first customer
for the day.
After leaving there, we take
the back roads to San Carlos. The back
roads are narrow. The main roads are wide enough for the traffic both
ways. Cars, trucks and busses are soon
backed behind a slow moving tricycle. It
is going twelve miles per hour and so is everyone else in line behind it.
Four miles later we have passed
everyone in line and come to the town.
Then with a lack of communication,
I drive to Dagupan. The detour at Calisiao is no longer much
problem. We stop for gas. Then I find
out that the trip to Dagupan was being postponed. We turn around and take the road toward Santa
Barbara and Urdaneta. This is 27
kilometers away (18 miles). We get there in about 35 minutes. On the wider highways we make much better
time. We have been traveling for two hours.
Rose and her sister want to detour to
Villasis to get some herbs at the market there.
It is fifteen miles south toward Manila. The market there has more
fruits and vegetables than I have seen anywhere. Most of these I know of and have eaten
often. Some I don’t know what they are
or how they taste.
We buy banana chips and apples
and some snacks. We have juice and water
in the car. The cr (comfort room) here is clean and neat. This whole market is clean. There are some
eateries. Here the traffic on the national highway is heavy. More trucks and
buses. When we get in the car, it is
hot. We run the aircon on high for a few minutes.
Turning north, we go through
Urdaneta. It is a small city with five colleges in it. There are some great malls here. Without the tricycles, it would seem like
some of California. Most of the signs are in English. There is a Mcdonalds, a
KFC and a Shakeys pizza place here. Rice
is served with every meal.
After Urdaneta we travel 20
miles north to Pozzorubio. (Spanish for red water). Then through Sison. These towns are near the
foothills to the Cordillera mountains.
The mountains can be seen ahead. They are five thousand feet high and
steep. There are clouds on top. We soon
pass through the corner of LA UNION province and start up Kennon Road. This is the most memorable part of the trip.
I would ask everyone to look
online for Kennon road. As we twist and
turn and climb, we wind up in line with trucks and buses and jeepneys. There are only two construction stops
today. They are rebuilding several
stretches and cementing concrete barriers along the way. With many cliffs above us and sometimes below
us, we drive carefully. The road is much wider and the bridges better than what
I remember from before. It takes an hour
to drive the forty kilometers to the top.
Finally after passing the lions
head and the last steep mile we are at the “City of the Pines”. Many of the pines trees are still here. The
city has grown by ten times in the last forty years. It is cool and misty here. The air is crisp.
There are a lot of flowers. And traffic. And trees, even bamboo and mangos.
The best map in the world and
gps will do no good if you don’t know where you are. Since Baguio is built in the top of several
mountains, all roads go somewhere. I wish that I knew where. There are many signs posted. If you don’t
have a guide, you will be lost!!!
Rose’s sisters and nieces know the city well. It is like no other place
I have ever been. I could live here
happily if I could afford it.
There is a mansion house for
the Presidential Summer retreat. There is the old American recreation base
called Camp John Hay. There are some nice hotels in John Hay today. There is the tourist corner called mines
view. This is near where Rose and her
family lived. On the north is Trinidad with the strawberry and vegetable
fields. There are shops that sell fine hand carved wood items. Others sell
beautiful silver jewelry. One notable one has hand woven clothes and
accessories. The market downtown
includes modern stores. This fills several blocks. People have gotten lost
walking around the market. There are
many street vendors.
In Baguio you are often going
up or down hill. During the rainy
season, you have to pay closer attention.
There is less traffic during the rainy season since more people are in
the lowlands during school. There are many good schools in Baguio, including
the Philippine Military Academy, a medical school, and an international
school. There is an airport further down
the hill, but why would someone fly when they can travel Kennon road.
Too soon we have finished our
deeds and set to return home. We always
look forward to the next trip to Baguio.
It is more than a vacation. It is an experience.
