On Wednesday morning I obtained a taxi and went to Camp John Hay. This was an American rest and recreational camp named for Teddy Roosevelt's Secretary of War. This camp was vacated by the Americans at the start of WWII as they knew they couldn't defend it from from the Japanese. Before they left, they had all the local Japanese rounded up and imprisoned here. Of course, once the Japanese arrived, they turned the tables and imprisoned the few Americans that remained as well as local Filipano American supporters. Then at the conclusion of the war, Gen Yamashita surrendered to US forces here.
In 1991, the US turned most of the camp over to the Philippines Government for development into a upscale hote, country club, etc. However the US still an ambassador's house here whose tight security won't even allow it to be view by the general public like me.
After Camp John Hay, I caught a jeepney back into town to the City Market. It Is a very large market (maybe the largest in the Philippines) but is geared solely for the locals and not tourists. Still it Is fascinating to see all that wonderful looking seafood, produce, etc. It makes me wonder why is it that countries like this can produce such much looking produce than the US?
After I bought some cut up pineapple and mango for a snack at the market, I walked over to the Baguio Cathedral which was built in the Wedding Cake Gothic style. It sits up above the city and has a steep staircase from the major road.
Baguio City itself is very hilly or mountainous. That is why the temperatures are so moderate here. For example, right now the highs are around 72F and the lows around 55F. So it is downright cold by Filipano standards!
I spend two nights at the High Point Inn in Baguio. It was a nice place but could have been much better if the owners would update things a bit. Any way, on Thursday morning I took the bus (2 hrs) to the city of Vigan. This is one of the oldest city in the Philippines. The old section of the city buildings combine styles from the Spanish, the Mexicans as well the Filipanos. I spent two night here at My Vigan Home. I booked this in advance as they had outstanding reviews but my review will not be so glowing. It was bad from a bad bed to a giant water bug in the bathroom. Oh well, it was in a grand old mansion that was converted to a hotel. The lobby and outside were well kept if you overlook the Christmas decorations that were still in place.
I found Vigan interesting but ran out of sights to see within a day. After you tour a couple mansions and a couple museums, there isn't much here except the charm. I did try the local empanada. It is made by putting a scoop of coleslaw or a raw dough circle. Then you pull a whole egg inside the coleslaw, pinch & close up the dough, and deep fried it. You can also add sausage in addition to the other ingredients. This does makes a good tasting snack but I found it way too greasy.
After two nights at My Vigan Home, I made my way to the city of a Laoag by means of a 4 hour bus trip. Here I got a room at the Tiffany Hotel. It wasn't great as it was a budget hotel but it was well located and was the best hotel I saw there. Of course, that isn't saying much.
The city of Laoag is rather dirty and doesn't have too much to offer the tourist. It's one big sight I'd the sinking bell tower. This tower was built by the Augustinian friars in the early 1600s. At time it was built, a man on horseback could easily ride through its front door. But as you can see from my pi, that is not the case today. A man would have to stoop to enter on foot today - assuming the door was ever opened anymore. I don't understand why they don't have this more commercialized as the door is chained and sits beside a busy road.
Although the city doesn't have many sights, it is the home area of Ferdinand Marcos. He was from the small town of Sarrat which is about 15 K to the east. Sarrat was also famous as Marcos' youngest daughter got married there in 1983. This well reported wedding ceremony cost over $10 million as they renovated the 200 year old church and had 3,500 workers tear down houses and reconstruct them so as to be in the old Spanish colonial motif. I didn't make to Sarrat but I did go to Batac.
Yes, I got a min-bus to Batac to see Marcos' Mausoleum. The bus conductor was supposed to tell me when to get off but he apparently didn't even know what a mausoleum was. Fortunately a lady behind me told me when. BTW, I am rather amazed that the ordinary Filipano's English isn't better than it is as all the formal education here is in English. Still I would guess less than half th people I have met are fluent in English.
Any way, I made it to see what is suppose to be Marcos' refrigerated corpse. I say it that way as many think this is simply a wax likeness. Whatever, the government here must be footing the bill for this as it is a free "attraction". Beside the mausoleum, there is a small museum deducted to Marcos. It was much nicer than I expected but as you might expect here, it portrayed him as a national hero and all around genius.
After the museum, I caught a jeepney to the small town of Paoay. Here I got to see a UNESCO listed church that was built in the earthquake Baroque style. Although it took 90 years to complete and was completed back in 1894, it looks much older from the outside - don't you think.
From Paoay, I took a trike to go to Malacanang of the North. This was a mansion Marcos built beside a beautiful lake that he knew from his boyhood. Then he named the new mansion after the presidential palace in Manila. The mansion has 7 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 2 kitchens, numerous studies, etc. Needless to say, it is quite nice. After I toured the mansion, I got the trike back to Paoay. From there, I got a jeepney directly back to Laoag.
I only spend one night in Laoag. But I debated where to go next as Sagada, my next real destination, is a town in the mountains not near much of anything. Despite after to backtrack yo Baguio, I decide it was best to go via the known route. I know I can take a minibus directly to Sagada from Baguio. The only possible ways involved catching a combination of buses, vans and jeepneys and making numerous changes along the way.
Thus on Sunday morning I headed off to catch a bus back to Baguio. I got at the bus station at 8 AM which looked to be just in time for the 8:15 bus which they show on their schedule. But atlas for some unknown reason, there was no 8:15 bus on Sunday. So I got the 9:30 one. Still, the trip wasn't as bad as I might have expected. I got into Baguio at about 4:45 PM. I had booked a room at the YMCA hostel which us near the bus station. I couldn't get back into the High Point Inn and both Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor liked this hostel. Well, another wrong pick. Although the room was very very clean, it was very spartan. To make matters worse, the Y had a big badminton tournament there and the announcer sounded like he was in my room. Once the tournament ended (about 10PM), they had a basketball game which lasted until about 11:30. I could hear each dribble of the basketball! The soundproofing was terrible. Also this hostel had no wifi anywhere!
Believe it or not, I decided to change hotels today as I want to rest up for my 6 hour bus trip to Sagada tomorrow. So now I am at the City Center Hotel. This is very nice, has wifi and just a couple blocks from where I need to pick up the bus tomorrow morning. I don't have any reservations in Sagada or Banaue, another remote town I plan to visit before I head back to the Manila area. I would call in advance but what what I read that won't do much good as they don't take reservations without prepayments and take no credit cards, In fact, there is only one bank in Sagada and none in Banaue, So I will need to stock up on cash before I head off on this adventure.
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