Baguio’s hidden gems: Kidlat’s wonderful warren, a secret gallery and tales of Atok
Every time I visit Baguio, there are new gems to uncover and more stories to deepen my appreciation of this Cordillera wonderland.
Baguio’s most visited landmarks are hard to miss—just follow the traffic to Mines View and Good Shepherd, both on Gibraltar Road; Burnham Park and SM Baguio. Almost everyone has memories of horseback riding at Wright Park, where steep but picturesque steps take you up to the artificial “lake” in front of the Mansion. While there are obvious favorites, there are gems hidden off the well-travelled paths that will turn your visit into an adventure.
It took us less than four hours to drive up on Christmas Day, and we counted eight waterfalls and four steel bridges on Kennon Road. By arriving at five in the afternoon at Lemons and Olives on Outlook Drive, we avoided the long queue and enjoyed a trio of frozen yogurt desserts in addition to the grilled lamb chops and seafood we always order.
The next day, we left at seven in the morning to drive through a scenic route of blue mountains, clouds and pine forests to get to Atok, best known for its flower farms. You will never tire of visiting the Northern Blossom farm because the flowers vary from season to season and so does the arrangement of the trail. I never leave without pots of herbs or succulents, strawberries and veggies grown right in this municipality.
But we gained a deeper appreciation of Atok’s place in the Cordilleras when we revisited the next farm, Haight’s Place because Susan, the great granddaughter of founder Raymond Guy Haight, regaled us with her family’s history as we waited for our yummy lunch.
Raymond Haight was a US soldier who arrived in the Philippines during the American occupation. Diagnosed with tuberculosis, his doctors told him to find an elevated area with cold temperatures in order to get well. He found his future home, his bride and his cure in chilly Atok.
Seeing that the plateau was suitable for planting he ordered vegetable and flower seeds from his family in Pennsylvania, and Susan Haight says the vegetable and flower farms of Benguet are her family’s legacy. The owner of Northern Blossom is in fact the eldest granddaughter of Raymond’s adopted Igorot son Celo. The flowers grown in Atok supply Dangwa market in Manila as well as the annual Panagbenga flower festival in Baguio. The Haights also helped create the rock “tunnels” on the roads too close to the cliffs, which have aided travelers from way back.
We filled our tummies with Cordillera specialties like smoked pork that tastes amazingly like bacon, feasted our eyes on hectares of flowers and enjoyed temperatures much colder than Baguio. We bought heritage balatinaw black rice, honey produced by Susan’s nephew, balms made with lavender grown on the farm and passion fruit.
Driving back, we missed Good Shepherd by a few minutes, and the next morning our caretaker took an hour and a half to queue for our ration of two jars of ube jam. Good Shepherd has never quite recovered from the lockdown and its offerings are limited. But one spoon of that ube jam is all it takes to realize that no one makes it better than they do.
Nearby Mines View has continued to mushroom like crazy, with more and more stalls sprouting up in every possible corner. Together with the Mansion this is the area most crowded with visitors and vehicles snake slowly by. The line of people trying to enter the viewing points of Mines View extends a few hundred meters and only the determined will get to see that lovely expanse of blue mountains, buy potted plants and pose with amiable St. Bernards.
By contrast, the Baguio Public Market on Magsaysay Avenue and nearby Session Road were a calm oasis, even at the height of the holiday season. You can find the same handicrafts and souvenir products, but in addition you have Tantamco’s, which is also famed for its ube and strawberry jams plus peanut brittle. To compare Good Shepherd and Tantamco’s is like contrasting bananas and mangoes; they are very different yet equally good.
From the handicraft area, skip the first vegetable section where tourists congregate and prices are steeper. Head north instead, still within the same covered hall, and the further you go the less expensive the fruit becomes—strawberries, locally grown blueberries and, at the right season, persimmons grown in Sagada. Right after the fruit section is the rice section, and if you continue looking north you’ll see a small entrance to an alley filled with flowers. Here is where you buy your astromeria, carnations, roses, statis, daisies and so much more at bargain prices, even in peak season.
From the flower alley continue north past the poultry section on the right. You will come across the first of two coffee stores, Garcia, and a short distance after that is my suki, Umali’s. I have been buying coffee from Umali’s for more than three decades.
Umali’s also marks the entrance to the Hangar Market, which is right across and is marked with a bright sign. You have now come to where the locals shop for vegetables and it is clean and orderly. This is where I buy my son’s favorite button mushrooms and all the fresh veggies you can dream of.
An unsuccessful attempt to dine at Outlook Drive's Amare La Cucina, which is always full, led us to an old favorite, the Outlook Grill at the Grand Sierra Pines Hotel. The tables at the restaurant were all reserved but the staff invited us to try dining at the hotel’s Atrium which had the same menu. This was serendipitous, as our table was located between the garden, which later had a colorful light show, and the elegant atrium of the hotel.
Waiting for our dinner we walked and discovered that the Christmas tree was set on top of a koi pond, and the walls of the hotel were lined with paintings of Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo and National Artist Fernando Amorsolo. Seeing our interest, the hotel staff invited us to the second floor to a most special gallery—it is here that the hotel owner shares his precious collection of Amorsolos, Anita Magsaysay Ho, Botong Francisco and Arturo Luz with hotel guests. Outside the gallery, there are even easels of the popular colorful “lowbrow” by young Baguio artists. What a feast for the soul, and yes the food was delicious as always!
Still, another Baguio jewel not to be missed is National Artist Kidlat Tahimik’s Ililikha, an ultra-creative space tucked away on Assumption Road just off Session. “Ili” means village and “likha” means to create. Kidlat Tahimik has created an entire village of assorted cafes, art displays, and nooks and crannies selling crafts made of leather, crystals, wood, crochet, and more—all of this in a warren of recycled materials, repurposed into a maze where every corner is a discovery. Not surprisingly, Baguio artists work, sell their merc,h and hang out here. It is a joy to explore, the coffee is amazing and you have many casual, quirky dining options.
From there we walked up peaceful Session Road, buying our requisite strawberry shortcake from Vizco’s and trying their delicious pistachio, strawberry, and Oreo ice creams. We headed to Loakan Road to visit the Palaganas Bakery where locals buy loaves of raisin bread and other old-fashioned bakery goods. The raisin breads are out of the oven by 11 in the morning, they are sold out by noon and they are very different from Baguio Country raisin bread, yet equally delicious. But we were able to buy a big bag of kabayan, the buttery specialty of the Cordilleras, which looks like a muffin that collapsed and rose again, somewhat like a hat.
The next time you’re in Baguio I highly suggest you veer away from the usual haunts and explore these secret gems. I have not even mentioned the BenCab Museum, the Mt. Cloud bookshop, the Rebel Bakeshop on Naguilian, Arca’s Yard on Ambuklao, Hatch Coffee, and other places we love to revisit. Baguio may seem like a small town but it is loaded with charms, and that’s what makes it a perennially fresh place to visit.
