Baguio spots pt.2 - Burnham Park, Mines View Park, Baguio market

continuation of "Baguio spots"

Burnham Park - Boating

We only went to Burnham Park to kill time because it was only past 12pm when we went back to City and our hotel room is not yet available. I love how family/barkada friendly the ambiance here. There’s also a part (Rose garden?) where you could sit on stone benches with flowers surrounding you. And this is when how I wish I live in Baguio. I even seriously considered studying in Baguio that moment just to have a reason to live there and get to experience hanging out at the park. Haha! 

White roses <3

Anyway I don’t have a lot of photos in there because it’s too mainstream. Haha! Chos! I bet you could see a lot better photos when you google “Burnham Park”. There’s so much you could do there. Some of these are bike riding, horse riding, boat riding, picture taking with native costume, football and the list goes on. They even have music playing all over the park. Haha! 

Anyway, we only went there again just to kill time so we decided to go boat riding because it was the first thing we saw. And we were offered a deal, unlimited boat ride for only 100php. Sold then! Haha!

Price varies so you may want to walk around the lake to compare prices and I bet that unli ride for 100php is the best deal that time. You may add 50php if you want someone to row the boat for you.

Mines View Park

Mines View Park is a bit far from the center of the city but only a jeep ride from Baguio Market. Going there, you may take the jeep located in the street in between Harrison Rd. and Session Rd. Landmark would be BPI and McDo. Taxi ride going there would cost approx. 80php. The jeep ride took us 20mins. and only cost 10php. Botanical Garden, Teachers Camp, The Mansion and Wright Park are also along the way in case you wanted to stop by those places.

There are also a lot of stores selling pasalubong here so you could also do your shopping here. There are also some restaurants/eateries along the entrance. A lot of souvenir stores are also located here, selling wooden sculptures, brooms, pots, shirts and other native stuff.

These St. Bernard dogs are the added attraction here. You may take a photo with them for 50php/ 4 shots. I paid for a photo even if I just want to cuddle this cute, huge dog. haha! But I guess they will let you touch them even if you don't pay for a photo.

There this pink haired horse you could ride on and take a photo with. I think it was only 20php, not sure though.

From here, you could see the beauty of the Cordillera mountain range, though more concrete houses on mountains are already a part of the view.

 Feel the mountain breeze up here.

Baguio Market

Baguio market is located at lower end of Session Rd. and near Abanao Square. You can buy here lots of souvenir and more sweets to take back home. Fresh vegetables, meats, fish and other more fresh produce are sold here just like what you get from local public markets.

I suggest that you DON’T BUY STRAWBERRIES here unless you really don’t have time to go to Strawberry Farm. Strawberries are priced at least 120php/kilo. They won’t let you pick from the bunch, though there’s some who would let you choose but for a higher price. The strawberries are just rolled out from the storage basket to the fruit stand. And definitely, a lot of lamog/ spoiled strawberries are already in your pack when you buy. In short, it’s just a waste of money.

Don’t forget to buy these native longganisa! A must-try is their Tocino flavor longganisa! The best!

Vigan longganisa 120php-130php
Speial Hamonado 120php/kilo

Tocino longganis 120php/kilo

You could also try the ukay-ukay or wagwagan, as they call it, at Hilltop. Just walk towards the upper direction and ask the locals about it. I wasn’t able to score anything because we already have a handful of plastic bags when we decided to check it out and it is too tiring going up there. Bring some stock of energy when you go roam around the market place. And also I suggest you bring a big eco bag to save the hassle of plastic bags in both hands and also to save Mother Earth. yea? :)

And that’s all folks! Thanks for reading! I would most definitely go back to Baguio sometime this year because I wasn’t able to go to Harrison Rd. Night Market!!! Aah!! I was already tired that night and took a nap when we got back to the hotel and, unfortunately, I slept till the next morning! Wth. Anyway, I hope I could go back soon.

Side notes:

I believe January is the best month to visit Baguio. The December breeze is still there. It was absolutely apparent when we got there and from the moment we took off the bus, every spot in me shivered. BRR! I can even see my breath in the air as we speak. Haha!! The coldest point was always in the morning while in the afternoon it is already a bit tolerable and the chilly weather goes back as the evening sits in.

If you don’t want crowds of people around when you visit, don’t go there on December (Christmas break) and February (Panagbenga festival). Summer in Baguio is already not that cold unlike in the past so don’t expect much when you go up in between March-May.