After what seemed to be one of the most STRESSFUL weeks at work, me and a couple of Bisaya friends escaped to the country's summer capital (although it's not summer) for a change of environment.

This was my third time in Baguio – and I really thought I've seen more or less everything that the city has to offer. I was wrong. Similar to Cebu, and I guess to any city for that matter, there is always a charm that lies deeper than the usual tourist attractions. This was the visit that made me realize that – and in the process, I got to appreciate and love that city on top of the mountain more.

Apologies – as my DSLR is still not fixed as of the moment, most photos are taken by my mobile phone + my friends' mobile phones.

Kennon Road

We left Makati at around 8AM already because someone had too much fun drinking last night (yes, ME). I had one of the worst hangovers and I couldn't drive – so Gil and Yeni took turns in driving all the way to Baguio. Yes, we brought North because we wanted to have the freedom to go anywhere we like without having to worry about transportation. The ride going there was long since we took the route less traveled, a.k.a. ALTERNATE ROUTE to Baguio – which passed through the rice fields and farms of the huge province of Tarlac. Our drive was specifically slow because of the many Kuliglig that ruled the rural streets we passed. I was half-asleep, nursing a really bad hangover at this time but I thoroughly enjoyed the view outside. I guess living in Manila for 5 years does that – it makes you forget how it's like to live a simple life, and it really felt like I haven't seen rice fields and carabaos for the longest time!

Finally, we got out of the inner roads and reached the national highway. We drove all the way through Pangasinan and La Union, until we finally – unexpectedly – ended up at Kennon Road. You see, there are two ways to get to Baguio – the safer Marcos Highway or the more perilous and known as one of the most dangerous roads in the country – Kennon Road. We really planned on taking the safer road but for some reason, we ended up at Kennon. I've been to Baguio twice before but the roads that we took did not at all look familiar. I was amazed by the big river that ran along the road, together with its big rocks – that I literally wanted to stop over to take photos! We were greeted by lush forests, waterfalls – it was indeed nature untouched – at its best! Yes, the roads were more narrow, and there were even areas where road developments were done to the point that there's only one lane available for vehicles – but I have to say that Kennon Road should be the road to take when going to Baguio. The view is just breath taking! I didn't regret getting lost and ending up taking that road. 🙂

Again, apologies – my pictures don't do justice! Haha. I wasn't even able to take photos of the wide river and the different waterfalls that we passed by. I was to awe-struck to bring out my phone. Haha.

Great looking rocks!

Rolling hills

You can read more about Kennon Road here. Posts of the rest of the weekend escape to follow! Watch out for those. 🙂