Baguio

I went to Baguio en route to Banaue on the recommendation of a friend.  I was disappointed.  It's really not a very interesting town, although there are some interesting sites to see there.  There is just not enough.  Perhaps it was just that as I arrived in town, I stepped off a curb and turned my ankle.

Baguio is nestled at the top of a mountain among some high valleys.  This is what greets the visitor to the Pines View Lookout.  It is a nice setting, I have to admit.

A short walk away, you can celebrate the view.  How?  What better way is there to do that than by taking your photo with the Incredible Hulk?  (For a small fee of course.)

Another short walk away (although I was told by the desk staff at the hotel that it was a long way and I would be best taking a cab to get there.  Why is that people in all these Asian countries have such an aversion to a tourist taking a long-ish walk?  Maybe it's just that if a tourist walks, there is no cab fare.), was the Philippine version of the White House.  It's called The Mansion.  It looks nice from the road.

Another short walk takes the tourist to the Baguio Botanical Garden.  I'm sure it looks better during a season with more rain, but this day, it seemed a bit forlorn.  One interesting part of the garden was the set of caves from the Japanese occupation during the war.    There are no lights inside, so if you didn't bring your own flashlight, you would be a bit out of luck.  Or, the friendly policemen in the shed next to the caves might take pity on you and offer the use of his flashlight to investigate.  Of course that would be for a price.  Sigh!  Even the police...  But if after the rental price is quoted, you hand the flashlight back and say that it's not that important to view the caves, he may well just say that you can borrow it for free.  :)  It pays to know what you will pay for and what you won't.

Inside the caves there were a bunch of alcoves, presumably for storage of stuff, or maybe people.  I'm not sure.  It's not explained.

Onwards on the walk, you pass this restaurant that seemed to be ridiculously proud of having "over 10 dishes to choose from."

But I suppose my favourite part of my time in Baguio was at the beginning of my walk, when I sat in a park and played with my camera, a flower, and a bee.  It turned out rather well, I thought.