The viewdeck of Kennon Road provides a relaxing stop for travellers.
MANILA, Philippines — Start daydreaming about summer and you immediately get visions of coconut trees, beaches and bikini-clad girls throwing frisbees to men in board shorts. However, our tropical country which looks like summer all year long chose the extreme opposite for our summer capital. And even if urban-dwellers come back over and over again to Baguio City, its distinct charm never fails to capture our fascination for cold and air-conditioned places.
I remember the first time I went to Baguio, when my mom tagged me along with her for the Advertising Congress. The words I threw were “Wow, anlamig!” “Wow, andaming Christmas trees!” and “Wow, may kabayo!” Those were the times when you wouldn’t mind riding an Isuzu Gemini taxi with its windows open.
Baguio hasn’t changed much since then. But recently, I had the chance to discover the story behind one of its age-long offerings which many may have often disregarded. Kennon Road, a zigzagged road which offers a breathtaking scenic view of lush mountains and waterfalls, has a story which could have been a perfect model of world peace.
Kennon Can!
The reason why I went up to Baguio was to help out and take videos during the launch of the Kennon Global Marathon slated for April 15, 2012. A scenic uphill run which spans up to 21 kilometers, this is definitely more than just a fun run. There are also other alternatives for less athletic individuals, such as the 3km and 5km stretch.
So what’s so special about the Kennon Road? Aside from opening Baguio City to the world, this 41.2 kilometer-stretch is actually the biggest engineering project of the USA of its time, which was constructed from 1900-1905. And what’s even more shocking is that around 2,300-4,000 workers from 46 countries worked for the sole purpose of building that road. Not one, not two, but 46 nationalities! Wow, what an offer! We’re not the first OCWs after all.
It is said that the workers used to have fun weekend bonding nights together. And even in a setting of intense cultural disparity, even if they spoke different dialects and would have conversed through sign language, they were able to unite under one chief—Col. Lyman W. V. Kennon.
Now why would America allot more than USD2,000,000.00 (take note, that amount was during the turn of the 20th century) just to build a road leading to Baguio City? The answer was quite simple: It felt like home to them and its unique beauty had to be shared with the rest of the world.
Soon enough, they must have gotten tired of the long travel time just to get to that place we now know as Baguio City. So they followed a carabao trail to create the Kennon Road. There are a lot more details included in this story, like the change of leadership from Captain Mead to Col. Kennon, the mistake which turned into the famous zigzag road, and the workers who died of malaria.
An article written by Ernesto R. Zarate, FPIA entitled “Kennon Road and Baguio,” published in GoBaguio.com gives a comprehensive story of the Kennon Road. According to this piece, Cameron Forbes, the governor-general of the Philippines during that time placed a bet with Col. Lyman Kennon on getting the road done by January 30, 1905. And upon accepting the challenge, all workers exerted more effort to support their chief. Come January 29, the workers stood along the road and cheered as Col. Kennon drove in a carromata straight up to Baguio.
Wow, world peace!
Good Morning Baguio
Morning broke on the day of the launch and everything in Baguio looked like a beautiful dream. We stepped out of Villa Mia Apartelle, a cozy and affordable hotel located at Dominican Road near the Lourdes Grotto. Before the official program started, I hung around the famous Lion’s Head, watching tourists stop and take their photos by the huge rock, which, by the way, was once just a giant piece of limestone rock that was believed to be a guardian of Baguio.
And then there he was, the man I have been anticipating to see since I learned that I would be going to Baguio the strawberry taho vendor.
I’ve never tried it before that moment but it was definitely a great 15-peso worth of heaven. The soybean curd sweetened by natural syrup and strawberry chunks melted in my mouth and warmed me up as I enjoyed the cool air of Baguio.
As I was indulging in strawberry taho, a gentleman wearing a crisp button-down polo shirt with neatly waxed hair approached me for a chat. Apparently, his name is like those of characters in Mexican telenovelas Vladimir Cayabas.
He bid goodbye by saying, “I have to go, magbabahag lang ako.”
And a few minutes after, Vladimir, who’s a school administrator of NIIT, came out wearing his traditional bahag, ready to perform their traditional dance for the program. It is amazing how the people of Baguio take pride in their heritage and culture, something which the rest of our countrymen should emulate.
After the ceremonial run and the official program, I had the opportunity to eat an authentic pinikpikan for lunch. This popular Cordillera dish has a unique method of preparation which includes the light beating of a live chicken, to keep the blood inside it.
But more than being a flavorful dish, the preparation of pinikpikan is actually a ritual of the Cordillera tribes which helps them determine their next courses of action. They believe that fate and luck can be foretold by the chicken’s liver and bile after the light beating.
The tribal priest reads this. If the liver is covering the bile, it is called calub and if the bile can be clearly seen, it is called cherwey. The latter means good luck and it gives a go signal for hunting, planting and other ventures. But when the preparation results into calub, the whole process is repeated until they achieve the cherwey.
Nighttime came in the city of Baguio and our host for a dinner meeting picked an incredible restaurant as its venue The Hill Station Tapas Bar and Restaurant. It is located at the Casa Vallejo, on Upper Session Road and there was a remarkable creativity poured into the development of the dishes.
Opening our palate was the Tuna Tataki with light wasabi mayo. It was a pepper-crusted half-smoked tuna sashimi that simply explodes with flavors. Another personal favorite was the Crispy Duck Flakes which is a slow cooked duck, flaked and fried, then served over laing sa gata. It offered different dimensions in texture and flavor as the saltiness of crispy flakes beautifully blended with the sweet coconut milk cooked into the smooth taro leaves.
Meeting Manong Nars
For our last day in Baguio, before we headed back to Manila, we were honored to be guests in the home of a very inspiring and remarkable man named Narciso Padilla who is also known to his peers as Manong Nars. His lovely cabin was perched at Tam-Awan, Benguet and it has a beautiful view of the breathtaking lush mountains of the Cordillera.
According to him, he bought that land some decades ago when it only cost R2.00 per square meter. Beside this cute cabin with a uniquely-shaped roof was their bigger home, which houses his office filled with memorabilia, plaques, trophies and photos of his accomplishments.
“These remind me of how hard I worked,” Manong Nars said.
And true enough, Manong Nars has been one of the most-loved people of Baguio especially with his notable civic works for the youth and sports. Some of his accomplishments include bringing the first Philippine team to the Special Olympics wherein they bagged medals despite being a rookie team, holding a marathon for the blind which were led by clappers, and training a lot of our national athletes.
Manong Nars in now 80 years old and he lives with his wife in that adorable home. He definitely still looks athletic and he still works for the development of sports tourism in Baguio City among other advocacies. I will always be inspired by his personal motto: From dusk to dust, if nobody does, I must.
Baguio is home to a lot of outstanding individuals who live with passion and heart for the betterment of our society. When in Baguio, a positive sense of pride in heritage, amazement in culture, appreciation of God’s natural gifts and the drive for excellence can be clearly felt.
City-dwellers are lucky to have access to this beautiful city so that once in a while, we are able to escape to pine-filled paradise. And driving along Kennon road, as we enter and exit Baguio City, we get to enjoy a scenic journey which is as fun as the destination.
