Who says you can’t enjoy the cool climate of Baguio on a weekend? Victory Liner is definitely victorious in capturing the route to Baguio that there are buses rolling off every hour for 24 hours. But we were not just there to enjoy the cooler weather as I along with friends Oggie and Erick are joining the Columbia Eco Trail Run at Camp John Hay. It’s good thing we bought tickets earlier to get our preferred seats since the Victory Liner station at Malibay Pasay is still packed with passengers heading out of Manila.
We left Manila 11pm, and usually, a night’s ride is faster making the trip barely over 5 hours. As planned, we took a cab to Mines View Park from the bus station. I like the convenience of taxi cabs in Baguio as the drivers are easy to talk to and more cost effective if you’re in a group. The don’t have aircons, but who needs them in this cool clime.
At this time of the morning, the shops are closed, everything is quiet, I was not even sure if the park is already open or where the entrance is. It’s been years since I’ve been in the park. I think I was in grade school last I caught sight of the view here. “Bukas na po! Deretso kayo (It’s already open, just go straight)” the guard told us. It was dark and the light wasn’t efficient enough to illuminate the stairs. But we did make it to the main view deck safely with our headlights or should I say in my case, my phone screen lights.
I enjoy the tranquility of this vast sleeping world I’m seeing. In this modern age of sleep-deprived society, a good night’s rest is a luxury. And Baguio seems to still have them under this darkness. I take in the cold as I wait for a bit more light to show us the mountains and landscape of Benguet. Slowly the sky gets its colors and a strip of red orange cloud was above the mountains. It’s was still a scenery to be awed, no matter how marred some parts of the landscape with houses and structures. Soon other photographers and tourist came so we packed our things and left at the resounding sound of “wow” from the Koreans there.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
