Baguio. the Summer Capital - Part One

In 1909, Daniel Burnham was asked to design a plan for a summer capital in the Philippines; this was the same year he laid out the Chicago plan. Busy year! Chicago has several celebrations for it this year; I celebrated by visiting Baguio over the weekend (I also learned that Burnham laid out Rizal Park in homage to Washington, D.C. – the Rizal Monument does look a but like the Washington Monument, now that I know that).

I work up at 6:00 – again – to get an early bus, but instead, I waited at the bus terminal until almost nine (which I was told was unusual). How nice to have lived so close to the bus station in Azrou! Here each line has a separate terminal and none are particularly close by – but at least on the way home they have a drop-off near the mall. When I told the PCMO I was going (to check to see whether I needed malaria pills) they said I would be spending more time getting there and back than there. I told them I was used to it from Morocco. And with the ability to travel at night here, I could stay a lot longer than if I went down to Erfoud and back for an overnight!

I had a book from the Peace Corps library with me – “Table of Contents” by John McPhee, a compilation of New Yorker articles from the early ‘80s (those magazines are now in an old age home…). There was a nice synergy when, in an article about Bill Bradley, someone asked the then-Senator about the situation in the Philippines. The bus was over-air-conditioned, but I had been told to bring a sweater and blanket, so I was prepared. The ride was nice – through flat country with rice fields and criss-crossing rivers, and then winding up into the mountains – I thought of the ride to Erfoud and how different it was, there all rock and sun and here all green and fog.

And rain! Tropical Storm Nando went through and hit Northern Luzon particularly hard. I was glad I didn’t let the rain stop me last weekend but it was an issue this weekend. There’s a lot to do in Baguio, much of it outdoors – perhaps I will make it back there sometime when it isn’t raining. There’s a village made up of relocated Ifugao (mountain people) houses that is too muddy to visit when it’s wet. There’s Camp John Hay, originally built for American R&R and still a lovely park with great views. There’s a botanical garden. And there are some hilly hikes. I have a couple of other trips to the north in mind, so it’s possible that I will get back to Baguio for a day – but if I don’t, that’s all right.

I was prepared for the cold on the bus but not for the chilliness when I arrived. Chilly! I knew that the mountain destination where I’m headed for Thanksgiving would have sweatshirt temperatures, but I didn’t anticipate that for Baguio. My lightweight sweater would have been enough had it not been raining, but cold and wet meant being cold and wet, especially when in the course of walking around, everything in my bag (including the John McPhee book!) got soaked.

Rain or no, I had a wonderful time and it was just the getaway I was looking for after the long hours of the Housing Forum, the road trip and the Leadership Conference. To be continued!