Way Back Home to Baguio

Silver Surfer and Superman Zipline

Way Back Home

I really miss those times when I had the luxury of visiting my hometown, Baguio, monthly.  I guess being in the nation’s capital gets you tied up with so many things like work, travel, sports, adventure and others.  I can now count the times I’ve gone home in Baguio and in 2012, that number dwindled into “1”… Yes, just 1.  It took me 8 months before finally finding time to go home though a series of unfortunate events (read here) prevented us from having the holy week there.  After four days in Singapore, I ended up on the road to spend the remaining three days of the long weekend in Baguio City.  So the road way back home was filled with potholes that felt like a video game as you had to shift from left to right just to avoid the potholes and the element of rain had us also weaving through some floody areas but eventually we have arrived. Hello Rainy, Misty, Windy and Cold Baguio City!!!

Up in the Air

Tree Top Adventure

The highlight of the trip was a tree top adventure in Camp John Hay. The last time we were here (read here), it was raining a bit so were only able to try the Superman Zip Line so this time it’s time to try the rest of the package.  We took package C which included the the Trek, the Skywalk and the Superman and Silver Surfer Zipline.  The rest took the Canopy Ride and Funicular Ride.  For detailed pricing, I lifted this from Baguio Tree Top Adventure website (click here).

The Cost of the Adventure

Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer with Arvin

The first ride we took was the Silver Surfer which had you standing on a ledge while holding on to a bar and being flung diagonally across a 70 meter path.  The tough part was when you reach the bottom of ride as it would shake you a lot harder as the ledge adjusts to a steady position before going back up.  You had to go through this in 3 cycles.  Air Surfing is definitely the new way to fly.

Superman

Stuck on a Zipline

Superman was up next.  The Superman had you flying backwards on a 200 meter path and then flying back to the home base in the Superman position. You really had a nice view of the mountains and the pine trees.  Easy?  I find this ride easier than the Silver Surfer, however, we were in for another twist.  After we were done in the flying backwards part, there was a sudden brown out which had us stuck in the tail end of the ride.  So we spent more than 5 minutes up in the air being manually pulled back to the start area.   Exciting, isn’t it?  Good thing we never panicked and our reward, another ride at the Superman this time at full speed.  That was quite an experience.

Canopy and Funicular Ride

Canopy and Funicular Ride

My mom and aunt who are both seniors and my young niece was able to ride the Canopy a Funicular Ride which just means its one of the safest ride you can experience.  The Canopy Ride takes you to several Canopy Stations riding a cable chair at a slow motion.  It’s one of the better and easier way to appreciate the view.  The Funicular Ride is like a simple train ride from the top to the bottom canopy station.

View from the Skywalk

Food… Food… Food…

Food Unlimited

One of the reasons I should probably limit my visit to my hometown is that we get to eat too much.  Oh well, what’s a few pounds gained when spent with the family.  Upon our arrival, we had all the ready to eat cooked food at Chia’s.  We also had a Chinese Style Dinner at Rose Bowl.  This was the long delayed birthday celebration of my sister after our April trip didn’t push through.  The usual family favorite, a lunch at Rimando’s after our zipline adventure.  Naturally, we had a bigger appetite from being stuck in the air for so long.  Lastly, we had pizza, pasta and chickens at Yellow Cab in Camp John Hay for dinner.  Not to mention the regular Vigan Longanisa and Tuyo we had for breakfast.  That’s really eating too much.

Of course, what’s a family gathering without a round of drinks.

The Regular New Lucban Gang

The time went by so fast and the three days and I didn’t even have the luxury of meeting former friends but I should be back on the cold climate of Baguio in a few months.  And yes, I did attempt to do a high altitude run as this is the best place for it. High Altitude Run I’ve used the word attempt as just after about a kilometer and a half of running, the cold hard rain came pouring in.  The cold hard rain does send shivers to your system so went back the same distance back home.  I should really try to search for a good race in my hometown.  In a few months perhaps when I find my way back home… AGAIN.