Almost everyone knows that the Phillippines is a tropical country where the weather is mostly hot and way hotter in the summer. To temporarily escape the hot weather in the summer Philippine citizens converge on one of the well-known summer destinations in the country, Baguio City.
Known as the City of Pines, it is well-known for its cold weather all year long and became way cooler during the Christmas season. It sits 5200 feet above sea level its lowest recorded temperature is 6.3 C (43 F) in 1961. Baguio City is also home to "The Mansion", the official residence of the President of the Phillippines during the summer.
The Mansion is located right at the center of the city near the two most popular tourist spots in the city namely Burnham Park and Mines View Park.
The Mansion
By the way, while on our way up to the city we came across a thick fog along the road so we stopped and take some photo of it for remembrance. This fog can only be seen during the morning and when the night is approaching. Vehicles tend to slow down during this time because the road is covered with thick fogs and the visibility is poor.
While I am posing for the photo below I can feel the coolness of the fog that is almost hugging me it feels like I am in front of an opened refrigerator. I always cherish this kind of moment because we only experience it when we travel to a place like Baguio City.
So, whenever I encounter such a moment I always make sure that I will have a photo of it for remembrance and show it to my relatives and tell them, hey, go to Baguio City, it's cold there, you'll enjoy it.
So, back to my travel story...
After taking some photos of The Mansion we now went on to our next destination which is the ever-popular Burnham Park where you can ride a boat or rent a bicycle or a cart then ride along the park. While at the park you can buy food such as Strawberry Taho, Strawberry Ice Cream and many more.
During summer this park is noticeably filled with people coming from all over the country to escape the scorching summer heat of the sun. Most visitors tend to stay for a couple of nights on the city just to visit all the tourists' destinations the city has to offer.
Over the years this park has actually evolved, back then the most popular ride that you can rent here are bicycles and a bicycle with a sidecar, now, the majority of the rides for rent are carts.
Burnham Park
After taking a stroll on a card and eating some strawberry taho and strawberry ice cream we now went on to our next destination, the Botanical Garden. As the name implies this tourist destination is mainly filled with plants, flowers, and trees that make the place even cooler and quiet you can only hear the sounds of an insect while inside the garden.
Although it is a garden, you'll be greeted at the entrance with a store selling different kinds of flowering plants. Though you may have seen numerous gardens in your life this garden still can offer some unique experience. Since it is in a city located 5200 feet above sea level it does make you feel different because of its cold weather and if you are lucky you may see thick fogs hugging the trees, plants, and flowers that you will see inside the garden.
A store at the entrance of Botanical Garden
Descending pathway of the garden
Inside the garden
A replica of the Golden Gate Bridge
Some flowering plants
Our next destination is a Strawberry Plantation just right outside the city proper. People are visiting the plantation for the chance of experiencing picking strawberries and also for some picture taking. I did enjoy picking strawberries since it is a new experience for me, and hey, I got to buy what picked so I picked the best strawberry fruit that I could find.
You can also find lettuce in the plantation, and of course, if you want to pick some lettuce then go on, and then pay what you have picked, fresh lettuces are one of my favorites but when we visited the plantation the lettuce are not ready to be picked so I just settled in picking strawberries.
But before we can enter the plantation we were greeted by stores selling some souvenirs, foods, brooms, keychains, and other novelty items. The stores are just sitting outside the plantation.
Behind me is some strawberry plants covered with plastics to protect them from the sun
Strawberries
Picking a strawberry
Here are the strawberries that I picked
All in all the city became a popular tourist destination because of its cold weather and many beautiful tourist spots just like the ones that I visited. But there are still tourist destinations that I was not able to see when I visited. I'll make sure that next time that I visit the city I will see them all.
That's all for now, until next time. Keep safe Guys.
I am an I.T. professional (Computer Engineer) working in a private company, a blogger, a father, and a husband.
