The Beauty of Baguio Beckons

The mountain road to Baguio City, one of the most beautiful places in the Philippines, is narrow and tortuous, clinging to sheer cliff faces that hang over misty stone valleys and rushing rivers.

It must have seemed incredibly daunting to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Filipino engineers and construction workers who spearheaded the effort to build the road in 1903.

More than 2,300 workers from dozens of countries hacked out the highway that slices across the mountains of Benguet. Hundreds died from malaria or plunged to their deaths in its majestic vistas.

The pine forest mountains around Baguio City (elevation 5,000 feet) remind you of the Sierra Nevada range. The mountains have yielded up gold, copper and silver.

Like the flora, the weather there is most unlike the rest of the country. On Valentine’s Day the early morning temperature in Baguio was 46 degrees, which the Philippine Daily Inquirer called “bitter cold.”

One lady told a reporter: “My children refused to take a bath it was too cold. It was so cold I could not wash the dishes.”

Baguio (population around 320,000) is a tourist mecca of the Philippines and could sun itself on the same ledge as most European cities of comparable size as far as beauty and ambience are concerned.

You often hear the complaint that Baguio isn’t as lovely as it used to be. That it is too crowded, has too much traffic, has lost much of its charm. That may be true.

Nevertheless, it is still a beautiful place and well worth the visit.

The city boasts fine hotels, chic cafes and excellent museums.

A lovely chain of parks forms a green swath across the center city, Burnham Park chief among them.

The park was designed by the American architect and urban planner Daniel Burnham, who developed the skyscraper and designed and managed the hugely successful World’s Columbian Exposition (World’s Fair) in Chicago in 1893.

Progressive thought of his time held that government should help provide for citizens’ health and recreation. Large public green parks with gardens and an artificial lake were considered a necessity for a modern urban environment.

I walked through the park at 7 a.m. on a bright, chilly morning and it was full of people.

They sat reading newspapers with steaming cups at the coffee stalls. Others enjoyed breakfast. People were playing chess, taking boat rides on the lagoon or kicking soccer balls on the athletic fields.

Surrounding farmers grow strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, cucumbers and other crops including sweet corn. Walking through the city you constantly see kids eating corn on the cob on a stick and vendors with woven baskets of strawberries on their heads. Strawberries, Sir, they call out, fresh strawberries.

Everywhere you catch the scent of all manner of pine trees. The blue pines as they are called closely resemble spruce.

Orchids, roses, wild sunflowers, poinsettias, bougainvillea, huge dahlias, hollyhocks, daisies and marigolds flourish.

Weeping bottlebrush and pink and white angel trumpets line the lagoon with its graceful swan boats. Everyone is smiling.

I heard throbbing boom box music and wandered over to an area where at least 100 people, mostly women, were dancing and singing, getting their morning workout. Nearly all of them wore bright colors.

A snaggletooth street character wrapped in a blanket mimicked them, pretending to dance and pivot about for the amusement of passers-by who applauded him. He no doubt hoped to cadge a handful of pesos for a few free drinks.

I stood there thinking where else could I see so many happy people enjoying life at 7 o’clock in the morning?

Filipinos could teach Americans a lot about joie de vivre.

JW