6 Things You Can Do Inside Tam-Awan Village, Baguio City

Tam-Awan Village is located at the outskirts of Baguio City at 366-C Pinsao Proper. Getting there by car may be a bit difficult, by taxi is the easiest as the place is known to taxi drivers and as usual, the cheapest mode of transportation is by jeepney.

According to Baguio Attractions & Historical Landmarks,

Tam-awan in the local idiom means "vantage point," an apt name for a colony of Cordillera Huts that sit on a hillside that affords visitors a magnificent view of the South China Sea on a clear day. 

The Chanum Foundation, Inc., started reconstructing Ifugao houses in Baguio with the intention of recreating a native village accessible to those who have not had the opportunity to explore the different parts of the vast Cordillera region in the Philippines, laying the houses out just like a traditional Cordillera village. Tam-awan Village is also a venue for art exhibits, workshops and other activities that showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Cordillera people.

Due to the temporary unpassable road at the end of Naguilian Road, a few kilometers to the heart of Baguio City, we found ourselves traversing the road less traveled going to La Trinidad, Benguet.

While nearing our destination, as shown by Waze Apps, and after a sharp curve I suddenly look on the right side of the road and saw the sign “Tam-Awan Village”. But, it was too late to stop…so we traveled a few meters more for Jonjie to find an area big enough to maneuver for a “u-turn”.

This is one classic examples of a “blessing in disguise”. I have been reading raves about the village on the web but it was never been part of our itinerary. And if not for the road construction at the end of the Naguilian, we will not be forced to the road that led us to Tam-Awan Village.

At the entrance, we paid a minimal amount: Adult = P50, Children = P20,Students / Senior Citizens = P30. After paying we were given a brochure and the map of the village.

My words will not be enough to describe the treasures that we found inside the village. And so, I will let the pictures speak for it. But be reminded that though pictures can convey the beauty of a place or an object, still it is best to see it with your own eyes…

Things you can do while inside the village:

1) Take pictures of all the things that caught your attention…it’s all worth it.
 
2) Be amazed with the collection of paintings and artworks by the local artists. Most are for sale…so splurge if you can.
3) Climb the stairs until you reached the highest area. (We were not able to, it will be one of our “things to do” on our next visit).

4) Eat at the “Tam-awan Café”. Since it was still early for lunch when we arrived, we tried their freshly brewed Benguet Blend Brewed Coffee at P30 (with a refill) with the huge Lady Finger cookies at P20.

5) Wear the ethnic Ifugao costume for free, but you can drop a donation, and take unlimited pictures with all the poses that you can do.
 

6) Stay for the night and experience how the ancient people live in the traditional Ifugao Hut.

How to Get to Tam-awan Village

By car -- from Burnham Park: take Harrison Road and go up Abanao Road and proceed to Naguilian Road. From Naguilian, turn right to Quezon Hill Road 2, which connects to Tacay Road. On Tacay Road, keep going straight till you reach a fork on the road, Take the road on the left and keep going until you reach Tam-Awan Village. See Map.

By taxi cab -- just tell the driver take you to Tam-awan Village, Pinsao Proper. All cabbies know where this visitor attraction is located.

By jeepney -- take the Plaza-Quezon Hill-Tam-awan jeepney or the Long-long via Tam-awan Jeepney from Kayang Street, behing and above the Baguio City Market.

0

Trip to La Union and Baguio City for Daniz' 9th Birthday

Daniz’s Birthday Trip started in 2011, a week after she turned 6 years old. It was an accidental weekend getaway in Cagayan De Oro and Bukidnon. On her 7^th Birthday, she chose Hong Kong Disneyland Adventure over a themed party at Jollibee. And on her 8^th, we braved the road to Las Casas Filipinas, a day after typhoon Santi brought havoc to Central Luzon. 

And it became an annual event…

For this year, we took advantage of the long weekend, a 3-day vacation, from Saturday to Sunday (October 4~6).

• Day 1: La Union with an overnight stay at San Juan Surf Resort

• Day 2-3: Baguio City with an overnight accommodation at Camp John Hay’s Forest Lodge Hotel

This Birthday Trip is both planned and unplanned. In a way, it was planned because we booked the resort and the hotel a week before the trip and we discussed the general itinerary: Mabalacat City (Home) using Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union (TPLEX) – La Union (Agoo, San Fernando, Luna, San Juan) – Baguio City – Mabalacat City. Unplanned because we did not have a specific itinerary of the tourist spots to visit…we just go with the flow.

Below are the sights along the way…

In La Union, we visited the following places:

• Stop #1 – Basilica of Our Lady of Charity in Agoo

• Stop #2 – St. William The Hermit Cathedral in San Fernando

• Stop #3 – Golden Society Food House

• Stop #4 – San Juan Beach in Brgy. Urbiztondo

• Stop #5 – Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Bauang (early morning of the following day)

During the initial planning of this trip, we inquire about the grape picking in Bauang, but unfortunately all grapes were harvested end of September. Along the way to Luna (passing San Juan), we saw the entrance to the Ma-Cho Temple but we decided to skip it because our “little surfer” is so eager to be at the beach…same reason why we also forego our visit to Our Lady of Namacpacan Church in Luna and head directly to San Juan Surf Resort.

The following day, right after we visited Bauang Church, we proceeded towards Naguilian Road to Baguio City. Our first time to use this road. It was an easy travel for Froggy, our old but reliable green car. But compared to Kennon Road...the road is not as smooth and small communities are already abound along the way.


At the end of Naguilian Road, just a few kilometers away from Baguio, we were advise to take a detour to La Trinidad…part of the road is under construction and the nearest detour is not passable by car, only jeepneys and big vehicles.

These are our stops in our 2-day stay in Baguio City:

Day 1

• Stop #1: Tam-Awan Village

• Stop #2: Mountain Maid and Training Center (Good Shepherd)

• Stop #3: Botanical Garden

• Stop #4: Carlo’s Pizza (Camp John Hay)

• Stop #5: Forest Lodge Hotel (Camp John Hay)

Day 2

• · Stop #1: 50’s Diner

• · Stop #2: Strawberry Farm (La Trinidad)

• · Stop #3: Easter Weaving, Inc.

• · Stop #4: Hannan & Apple (Burnham Park)

• · Stop #5: Wright Park

At around 4:00pm, we headed home through the Kennon Road. After about twenty minutes, we had taken a wrong turn because of the detour sign due to road construction.


Jonjie saw someone inside a big gate of what looks like a huge vacant area. When Jonjie asked for direction, he wave his hand to let us and we found ourselves in a runway. After leaving the area, we saw some signs “To Loakan Airport”.

And after a few minutes of getting lost, we are back on track. Below are the sights of the Kennon Road I took using my iPhone 4S while the car is running.

 
Our travel time from the Godspeed arch of Baguio City to the Welcome sign of La Union was one and a half hours. If not for the heavy traffic of more than an hour in Villasis, Pangasinan, we will be home in less than four hours.

Please wait for the related posts of this trip. In case you missed the link above, you may read the available posts:

• 5 Things That Makes San Juan, La Union Enjoyable
• Horseback Riding at Wright Park
• The Treasures of Tam-Awan Village

You may also want to read:

• Daniz is Turning Nine
• Birthday Wishes for Daniz
• 3 Ways Daniz Celebrated Her 9th Birthday

0

Horseback Riding at Wright Park, Baguio City

Wright Park is famous for its long rectangular shallow pool known as the “Pool of Pines”. The access road on each side of the pool is lined with tall pine trees and street lights. Flowering plants also lined both sides of the pool framing it with assortment of colors. All these make the Wright Park perfect for picture taking, plus the fact that the park is just across the Mansion.

But it's not just the "Pool of Pines" that the park is famous for, because horseback riding became synonymous with Wright Park.

At the far left end of the park, there is a wide stairway made of stones leading down to the stables of horses for rent.

For Daniz, this birthday trip to Baguio would not be complete without riding a horse and racing with the wind.

She may enjoy the paintings, old Ifugao houses and the many stairs of Tam-awan Village, she may love the Igorot costume and the photo op in Botanical Garden. She may have fun in choosing weaved bookmarks and coin purse and trying colorful bracelets at Easter Weaving, Inc. But still, there is nothing more exciting for her, in Baguio, than to be on a horse running fast along the appointed track.

And so, for the final league of our 2-day Baguio trip, even if we adults wanted to head for home, we had to stop at Wright Park for the “birthday girl”. We bargained with her that she should only ride for 30 minutes, the minimum, which means the horse can only use the inner oval. She did not like it at first, because she wants an hour ride on the outer oval…but she gave in eventually.

The rate is already fixed depending on the chosen route…so haggling is not applicable. Some horse handlers would just offer additional minutes, 15 at the most, but the price is the same.

As always, it should be a white pony with “pink” mane, with a strong request to the accompanying guide, she referred to as “Kuya”, to make the horse run…no walking.Daniz loves speed. If she feels that the horse is slowing done, she would tell the “Kuya” to make it run fast or she would do it herself by lightly kicking the horse on its sides and say, tsk, tsk, tsk.

During that 30+ minutes ride, her face would light up …her laughter can be heard every time the horse run fast or would go into gallop.

And her 2 days in Baguio City is complete…

Footnote:

• Wright Park was named after Governor Luke E. Wright, the architect of this long, shallow reflecting pool. Mr. Wright was a United States political figure. He served as Governor-General of the Philippines between 1904 and 1906 and also as Secretary of War from 1908 to 1909. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Edward_Wright)

0