Baguio City & Disappointment

The bus station that took us to Baguio was near the hotel that we stayed first in Manila. It was nice going to an area I already knew. We made it easily to the bus station and waited for our bus to leave. The waiting area was interesting because like many things in the Philippines it was open to the elements. Living in Seattle you find not many things are open to the weather that can't also be closed again. The bus station also had an odd combination of Internet and Massage upstairs.

I took some shots as we headed by bus to Baguio. It was nice seeing more of the city. The bus also play an unusual assortment of music and movies. Other than all of the entertainment being pirated, the first movie was a bit of a shock for me. You can see from the picture what about the movie was a shock to me :)

It took almost seven hours on the bus to Baguio City. We caught a cab to a near by hostel after getting off of the bus in Baguio City. The hostel was closed for maintenance. We had picked the hostel out of an outdated guide book. It pays to have a backup. We made our way to the backup...the hotel was full. We didn't know it but we arrived during a flower festival. The cab driver was nice enough to take us around to several hotels. All but a few were full and we went with the lowest bidder at Calalily Pension House. The place wasn't grand but it was well priced for the quality...just bring your own toiletries.

The next day, we went around the city a little. Cafe by the Ruins was recommended by the guide book and it had a good atmosphere. The food at the cafe was good but a little pricey. We made it to the main park after food, which was near by. At the park we caught some of the festivities. A choir sang both modern music like Lady Gaga and contemporary music. We also saw some dance troops and as we were leaving an orchestra was setting up. We made our way to a drug store for some pain medication for my cold, which was something similar to a market. We waited around a large counter and then gave our order. Later the cashier came back with my medication and we payed a very reasonable price. After I was feeling better we walked some more, than took a cab to the Botanical Gardens. The gardens were simple and plain. There were horses you could take for a ride around the place but it is so small it doesn't seem worth the price. A cave seemed an exciting option but was just a damp and very dark circle. There was some hope for the place, as a lot of it was under construction.

A view from within the City

Pictures from the garden (Botanical Gardens):

At the park festivities (Lady Gaga Tribute)

After the garden we made it to a small market area and purchased some veggie cookies. In the same area we found an English Pub and stayed a while. It made me feel like I was a little closer to home since everything had a familiar style and layout. We left early in the evening and went back to the hotel for some extra rest. Packing up after a long night of sleep, we made it out to the street more on time than usual. The trip to Tuplay/Acop was a cab ride to downtown Baguio City and a Jeepney ride from there. We were about to take part on a WWOOF adventure, as Peter met us and took us along.