Travel: Baguio Trip 2018

26 November 2018

So after two years, we're back in Baguio again.  This was kind of a spur-of-the-moment trip so we didn't really have any concrete plans about where to go or what to do.

What was definite was our lodging during our trip and we booked at Camp Riverside 2600.

We just went to the usual spots and stopped at the Lion's Head and Tam-awan Village since we haven't been there before.








Going to Baguio, this time we traveled via Marcos Highway because Kennon Road was closed.  I thought we were headed straight for Camp Riverside 2600 but Patrick had other plans.  We headed to the Lion's Head, backtracking from the City Center.

I was so nervous all the way until we reached the Lion's Head thinking we'd be pulled over or something.  But there were some vehicles going the same way and returning to the City Center so we thought it was okay.  We just needed to be careful.

Upon reaching the Lion's Head, there was no one else around.  We got the perfect shots :)

But it's quite scary to see the destruction caused by landslides... It's no wonder they closed off Kennon Road.

Anyway, now that we've been to the Lion's Head, we went straight to Camp Riverside 2600 to check-in.  At this point, there was a bit of a drizzle which was perfect :)  The cabins were so cute :)

Kids loved the loft.  It was their area :)  I was just a little bit nervous about them falling over :)

The place was so quaint and picturesque that you can't help but take selfies even though you're not a selfie person :)  I did a review here if you want to check it out :)

The Cafe

The River

Getting ready to have lunch

 Anyway, we just settled in for a while and let Patrick rest from the long drive.  We had dinner at Good Taste which we had tried before and it's a good choice for great tasting food at affordable prices.  Here's a sample of what we had:

Molo Soup - very refreshing

Fried Rice

Beef Curry 

Lumpia Shanghai

Now that we were fortified with dinner, it was just in time for us to go to the Harrison Night Market.  This was what was great about going during off-peak seasons.  There's less people around so were able to maneuver the market rather easily.  Of course, there's still a crowd but that's understandable given products were priced at P10!

Here we were after buying our stuff, walking through Wrigley Park in the light of the full moon :)

We woke up late considering we were up late last night.  Thank you Camp Riverside 2600 for the kitchen in our cabin, we were able to eat our leftovers from Good Taste for breakfast :)  The last time that we had leftovers we weren't able to take them out because there was no way for us to reheat them.

Our next stop was Tam-awan Village which was 20 minutes away from our lodging.  It was pretty tiring and we were there for an hour, hiking amidst the art pieces and Ifugao huts.

After that, we went to the Strawberry Fields hoping this time for some strawberry picking.  Alas! it was not meant to be.  The recent storms disrupted the strawberry harvest season.  We ended up just buying the packed strawberries and a few strawberry wine bottles.  

Lunch today was at the Good Taste again.  What's funny is that everytime we come to Good Taste, we end up getting sent to a different floor to be seated.  So far, we've been seated at the 6th Floor and the 2nd Floor.  There were that many customers!

Oh and we also passed by Good Shepherd for some Ube Jam but we decided against buying at that time because we feared it may spoil if we didn't bring it home immediately.

We also passed by Garcia's Coffee in the Baguio Public Market.  They've really become popular that numbers are needed to make buying coffee orderly.  I couldn't see the numbers at first because they were behind the post hehe

I was so tired that I ended up resting and sleeping as soon as we got back in the afternoon.  The kids were excited about the bonfire that was scheduled for that night.  I was disappointed that I wasn't able to go but at least they were happy with the experience.

The next day was our last day.  We savored our complimentary breakfast for two at the cafe.  The kids had our leftovers from dinner at the Cafe last night.  We were given complimentary breakfast because yesterday there was a brownout that lasted from 9AM to 5PM.  Though it didn't bother us since we were out anyway, we did appreciate the special treat :)

With Patrick busy taking photos of the Mazda CX-3 for his article, Dylan and I went to the new and soon-to-open extension of Camp Riverside 2600.  To get there, we had to cross a bridge, so exciting! :)

The new place, the Bontoc Mansion, can be rented exclusively and may include the cabin next to it.  It's good for bigger families.  The place is gorgeous! :)

I had nothing else to do since I've already packed our stuff so I was just chilling outside the cabin and relishing the Baguio air :)  

Upon checking out, we asked Kuya Anjo for a selfie with us :)  He and Kuya Arnie made our stay so comfortable and their service was exemplary! :) They were the actual highlights of our trip :)  Thank you so much!

Camp Riverside 2600, we'll see you again for sure!

On our way home, we traveled to Manila via Naguilian Road.  Waze pointed us in this direction presumably because Naguilian road was the Main Road near Camp Riverside.  It was a longer more scenic route but there were two other alternate roads that can cut travel time too.  Unfortunately, we didn't drive along them LOL

Man, we arrived in Manila after about 6 hours on the road.  Boy, were we tired.  Satisfied with our trip but exhausted.  I can't imagine how Patrick felt since he was driving.. :)