View of the Ocean Coming From Baguio

We finally had a clear day coming down from Baguio that allowed us to see the ocean.

You can see the white caps along the shore line. These shots were taken at the side of the mountainous road.

Another great shot showing the beautiful vegetation!!

A shot zooming out so you could see the surrounding country.

The Flower Garden

We have two sweet little Filipino women living next door, Jean and Victoria. Victoria (80 years old) has a passion for flowers and she is also blessed with a very green thumb. They must have around 100 pots with every kind of plant you could imagine.

Yes, these are orchids. They are a common flower here and easy to grow with many varieties.

They require no special treatment or tending, they just need water during the dry season.

Dangerous Driving

Driving down the mountain from Baguio is dangerous business. The bus drivers here are very scary, they drive way to fast, pass when there is not enough room to get back in their own lane and will NOT move over for oncoming traffic if they are int he process of passing. You either move off the road or you get hit. The rule here in the Philippines is the bigger the vehicle the more rights you have on the road so the bus wins!

The buses are not always in the best of repair, sometimes the breaks go out or they are going way too fast to make the curves coming down from Baguio. We have seen many bus accidents along the road when traveling to Baguio. This one was lucky it had a hill to stop them from going over the edge. When accidents in buses happen there are usually many casualties. I have no desire to ever ride in a bus here!

Nothing They Can't Haul!

We always see something interesting as we travel around the mission.

I will never cease to be amazed what they can put in a Jeepney. Talk about a versatile vehicle, this is one of the best.

Going for a Ride

This was so scary to me I had to get a picture, no one would believe this.
Not only did this little boy ride on the back with his Dad but there is a smaller child in front of him in a small basket.
Notice the dad's grip on the little boy, the one in front is on his own because Dad has his hand on the handle bar.

Road Art

This is a huge lion head as you head down Kennon Road toward the lowlands where we live. You will notice how big when you see the little shops right beside it! They have interesting things like this on major roads and many of them about this size.

I thought these two action figures were interesting, just another interesting sight we see driving down Kennon Road.

Traveling Kennon Road

Kennon Road is one of the three roads that go to Baguio. It is still under going a lot of repair work from the Typhoon Peping last October, 2009. Many places are still just one lane travel, each direction has to take turns.

Kennon is a much windier road and more dangerous during the rainy season. During the rainy season it has lots of mudslides that take out huge portions of the road. During the typhoon last year all roads going to Baguio were closed for 3 days, no one was going up or down.

When travel resumed one direction was allowed to travel till noon and coming the other direction from noon on. Road repair is still ongoing.

Leaving Sagada

This bridge had a sign at the start saying only one vehicle at a time on the bridge. GREAT!!
We are very high in the mountains and fog is rolling in.

Great shot of the fog coming in.

Notice the line where the road USE TO BE, there is about a foot of more dirt on top of the damaged road, which is where we are driving . Doesn't inspire a lot of confidence does it?

Scenery As We Drive

This creek runs right under the highway.

It's common to see a truck full of people, many times in are all sitting on the edge like some of these people are doing.

A Mango tree along the side of the road.

More exotic flowers growing wild.

The Valley Below

There was just something about this valley that made you think the people who lived down there were so lucky to have this quiet little valley all to themselves.
The river runs right through the valley, their source for pure drinking water.

A beautiful place to live and work.

View from the road down into the valley.

More Sagada Shots

Ya think?!

We saw many damaged roads on our trip, many of which we had to drive over. Most of the damage is caused by mudslides from too much rain.

This show is taken from the edge of the road above looking down into the valley below.
There are just no words to describe how beautiful this country was. The Filipino people have a hard life but they have some of the most beautiful green country I have ever seen!

Looking down to the valley below.

Mountain Views of Sagada

This is looking down from the road at the quiet, isolated valley below where the people that farm the land live. It just looks so peaceful and quiet.

Homes are terraced just like the farm land.

Filipinos build their homes very close to each other.
This gives you an idea of just how close they actually are to each other.

This bridge helps connect both sides of the valley to the mountain.
There are also roads down there among the terraces.