Manila is a huge, congested, and noisy city filled with smog, so I caught a bus North to escape to the hills. Baguio turned out to be a small, congested and noisy city filled with smog. I think it’s the jeepneys: essentially an ornately decorated stretch jeep with a long passenger cabin, emitting great clouds of diesel fumes.
But Baguio has its upsides too: it’s much cooler, and it has a leafy Park in its center with open spaces, fountains, a lake packed with boats, and even a bumper car ride. It seems that everyone is out in the evening to enjoy it. Baguio also has the inevitable outdoor markets. As a city it’s otherwise pretty desolate though, and almost all the restaurants I found are US fast food chains or local copies. Well, I only went here because it’s the gateway to the Philippine Cordilleras…
