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Rae & Cheloi
Hello and welcome to our site of travels, misadventures and lifestyle! I'm Rae Argallon, traveling the world with Cheloi Marasigan. Hope you find this blog exciting and trigger the inner traveler in you. Say yes to adventures. - R

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Baguio, Benguet, Philippines

BAGUIO, BENGUET: TRAVEL GUIDE (DIY ITINERARY + BUDGET)

12 MIDNIGHT

It was a six-hour trip from Sagada to Baguio. We only have one thing in plan on that province: a booked homestay at Tam-awan Village. From the bus terminal, we took a taxi going to the village. We booked this little native Ifugao hut as our home for the night.


10 AM

We intended to wake up early that morning to explore Baguio, instead we woke up at 10AM and found people having a tour in the village. We decided to have brunch at Farmer‘s Daughter Restaurant. An organic resto just adjacent the village.


TAM-AWAN VILLAGE: GARDEN IN THE SKY

It was indeed a garden in the sky. It is a 20-minute drive from Burnham Park. It’s a little farther compare to other tourist attractions. Aside from it’s cold urban Manila counterpart, it is also worth it to know Baguio’s heritage.

As we head back to Tam-awan when we thought we could join in the groups of people watching an ethnic performance. 





Tam-awan Village occupies several hectares of land along the northwestern part of the city. Although it is far out (and up), it gives you a view of Baguio City and West China Sea. It wasn't called Garden in the sky for nothing! It also showcases different kinds of Cordillera huts. Some of it has anitos or deities sculpted along these huts. The village has a little gallery and craft stores.



Anaba Hut

Although most home-stay and hotels are located along Burnham Park, we picked a rather different kind of accommodation. We booked this little Ifugao hut. It’s as if we were playing “bahay-bahayan.”


BURNHAM PARK

Burnham Park— a well-known park in the Philippines. It is basically the center of Baguio City, surrounded by famous and important establishments. A lot has changed since my last visit here. When I got out of the bus from Sagada, I wasn’t quite sure if I were really in Baguio. It was more urbanized than I remember.


We thought of ways to kill time, so we walked around Burnham Park and found a street full of bikes next to an improvised skateboard rink. Although I’ve never learned to bike, we decided to give it a try.

We rented a 2-seater bike.




LOTS OF WALKING

We were trying to save up our last money so we did a lot of walking. I mean, it was cold, it was sunny yet the heat’s still bearable, and what’s the best way to enjoy a foreign place than to walk around observing the scenes at each end— and you’ll never get lost in Baguio again.



PANAGBENGA FESTIVAL 2016

Panagbenga Festival, or Flower Festival, is a month-long event in Baguio. It means “season of blooming” occurring during the month of February. Lots of events, parties and dancing happen on this month. It is one of the most-awaited festivals in the Philippines— with floats beautifully covered with flowers, accompanied by colorful dancers and live festival music at their annual opening. So Baguio is pretty much busy during February. We arrived just in time for the closing ceremony of the Festival.







ITINERARY

DAY 1: IFUGAO
DAY 2: SAGADA

DAY 3: BAGUIO

We basically had nothing planned for this place, but here are our expenses:

Brunch: 90PHP | Lunch at Farmer’s Daughter Restaurant
Tam-awan Village: free | since this is our accommodations, we get free entrance fee to this cultural village
Tam-awan Village to Baguio City Proper: 15 minutes via taxi | 70PHP; 35 PHP per person
Burnham Park: free
Bike rental: Good for 1 hour | 50PHP; 25PHP per person | Bike at Burnham Park, P50 per bike
Dinner: 50-100PHP for a complete meal
Baguio to Manila: 6 hours via Bus | 445PHP | Ride a Victory Liner at Baguio City Proper
Transportation: It’s easy to roam around Baguio. We did a lot of walking to lessen our expenses, but taxi fares ranges from 50PHP-200PHP.
\
Total: 705PHP per pax

For the complete itinerary, click here

Here’s a video compilation of our 5-day trip to Cordillera.



FOOTNOTES:
Photos taken with GoPro Hero 4. Some shot by Cheloi Marasigan | Baguio City, Benguet | February 2016 | Updated August 2018

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