Farm-hopping in the Highlands
With the mercury not dropping anytime soon, weary lowlanders look up to the mountains literally for a cool respite from the sweltering heat. And with the successive rollback of oil prices and the growing use of electric vehicles, a drive up to Baguio isn’t as scary as few weeks back.
New EV models from VinFast and BYD can easily cover the entire distance, plus the fact that there are charging stations in Baguio which will your range anxiety.
Apart from the cool climate the whole year round, what keeps visitors coming back to the country’s Summer Capital are the new sites and experiences within and beyond its boundaries.
In March, it hosted the 9th International Farm Tourism Conference of the International School for Sustainable Tourism which put the spotlight on the must-see agri-related destinations in the neighboring municipalities.
And while Baguio itself doesn’t have farms, it is the gateway and hotel hub in farm hopping and roving in the Cordillera ranges. Below are some of the top-of-mind highland hideaways.
Pitstop 1: Tuba. A suburban town and a backdoor access to Baguio, it has a new gold mine for foodies and social media fanatics—its wide array of farm-themed restaurants, boutique lodgings and Instagrammable chill out spots.
Located along Asin Road in the middle of a scenic pond and garden is BenCab Museum which houses the artworks of National Artist Ben Cabrera and pampers guests with a visual and gastronomic treat.
Not too far away is Um-a Farm of noted healthy food advocate Elmer Macalingay who is also behind the series of Restoreant 101 outlets which is known for vegetarian dishes. It takes pride in its farm-to-table cuisine with its ingredients freshly-picked from the farm plots.
Pitstop 2: La Trinidad. Baguio’s next-door neighbor and the provincial capital of Benguet, its immensely-popular Strawberry Farms has been the pioneer of farm tourism, decades before it became an industry byword. Guests would swing by the sprawling plantations managed by the Benguet University to choose and buy strawberries at a much cheaper price, and get the chance of personally picking them.
Smaller farms which offer curated tours to visitors are Farm to Cup DIY Brew Bar which offers brewing methods, allowing customers to experiment with grinding their own local beans, and the Lily of the Valley Organic Farm Training and Assessment Center a 2-hectare mountain resort of vegetable plantation by the river. It also has back-to-basics accommodation and camping grounds if you want to rough it out under the stars.
Other notables are the more conventional Cosmic Farm, DarJane’s Gardens boasts of 12,000 sunflowers planted on a 1,500 square-meter field, and Garden nen Ines, a pioneer in the area, which is a vast plantation of anthuriums and some 60 types of ornamental plants. The latter also has function rooms for events and trainings, and simple but decent homestay-style rooms.
There’s also Living Gifts Nursery which started with international exotic cactus varieties, and evolved into a flower garden and coffee shop
Pitstop 3: Atok. A scenic two-drive away along the Halsema Highway, Cordillera’s main thoroughfare, takes you to this town which is among the “salad bowls” in the highland region. Not too long ago, it was just known as a stopover by road trippers for snapshots at the “Highest Point Philippine Highway System” marker and a snack break at the nearby eateries before motoring to Sagada
Atok still has that role, but its attractions have certainly leveled-up over the years with pitstop-worthy hangouts—Northern Blossom Flower Farm and the Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Park, just a few minutes away
The former is an amazing maze of flowers and succulents spread over 2.5 hectares of sloping gardens, which placed this quiet town into the map of plantitos mountain motorists. It also boasts of a delectable and hearty combo lunch paired with the aromatic upland coffee.
The latter is perhaps the closest you can get to the sought-after cherry blossoms of Japan because of its cool weather and bright-colored flowers.
Not to be missed is Mt. Olis View Point, the new iconic photo opp spot which is punctuated by two giant Igorot stone statues.
With agricultural attractions coming into the picture, a journey to Baguio and the Cordillera highlands has become a complete experience of family, fun, food, faith and … farm.
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