A Day in Baguio

“Off we go, into the wild blue yonder….” Well, almost. :-) This weekend we girls and Mom took a road trip up to Baguio City with the Santos family (friends from church). We did a bit of sightseeing together, and they also took us shopping for some clothes.

Unlike down here in Angeles City, Baguio has many thrift shops with a good deal of discounted clothing. So, of course we couldn’t pass up that opportunity to go shopping with our friends! :-) From sunrise to sunset, we enjoyed our time in this mountainous city and its cool, crisp air. :-)

While we were in this City of the Pines, we visited a local wet market. (The picture on the right is literally wet, but only part of this market was outdoors. Most was inside.:->) We had so much fun shopping around in this gigantic marketplace. There were numerous stalls, where vendors sold varieties of fresh foods, goodies, and plants as well as souvenirs and household items. Many of the stalls sold the same things too! It’s a wonder how they can make a living when all the people next to them sell the same products. That’s probably when customer loyalty comes in. :-)

All kinds of people filled this market. Vendors invited crowds of customers to their stalls, little boys constantly offered to carry our bags in hopes of earning money (some were quite persistent!), and occasional homeless strolled the grounds simply begging for money. What we liked most about this market was the fact that it was very clean—probably the cleanest market that we had seen in a while!


After our clothes and market shopping, we visited a nearby weaving store and factory. Before shopping in this store, we toured the actual weaving factory below in their basement. After seeing many ladies hard at work, we appreciated all the scarves, blankets, and other materials that they sold in the store. :-)






Downstairs, around 10-20 handlooms lined the whole room. At each loom sat a lady, who feverishly worked to create a design with a gigantic ray of colored threads, various tools, and a series of steps. It was so fascinating to watch! They were all so talented and moved with such confidence and speed.









Of course, after we saw how weaving was done we had to go check out the items for sale in their store. :-) We enjoyed shopping around and looking at the varieties of weaved goods that they sold. We saw brightly colored bags, soft scarves, intricate bookmarks and tablecloths, as well as various blankets and pillows.



We were amazed at all the different kinds of products that could be created from the same kinds of threads and tools. It was fascinating to see the creativity in each item. :-)

We had such a wonderful day and really enjoyed our trip to Baguio with our friends. They were extremely thoughtful as they sacrificed their entire day to take us all the way up to Baguio and drive us around town. :-) We were so touched by their kindness and eagerness to take us up there. They are already excited to take us on another trip somewhere in the Philippines--whenever that may be! Such sweet people...:-)