When you study abroad, it is necessary to take a chance to relax and enjoy Baguio. This time I will introduce two attractions in Baguio – Camp John Hay and Aran Cave.
CAMP JOHN HAY
Camp John Hay is a former US military base. It has many facilities and a four-star hotel. Here, you can rent a venue for a BBQ party or try extreme activities at Tree Top Adventure. In Tree Top, you can try Canopy and Funicular ride, Superman ride, and Tree Drop. However, we did not choose these exciting options. Instead, we went trekking to see the landscape of Baguio.
In addition, we also experienced horseback riding, which is cheap for PHP250 for half an hour. One hour is for PHP400. You can control the horse yourself but if you are afraid, the stable boys can follow and assist you along the way. They can also teach you how to guide your horse to turn and how to speed up the run. We took an hour ride to take advantage of the scenery.
After finishing all our activities, we went to the center of John Hay that has many restaurants. It is recommended to dine at the restaurant of the hotel. The foods are delicious and the price is not expensive. The cake shop there is also worth a try. The advantage of studying in the Philippines is that the tuition is cheap and the price of a good meal at a restaurant is very low, almost NT$200 or NT$300.
ARAN CAVE
Another attraction I want to introduce is Aran Cave. This attraction is a spot that my Reading T. Leizel highly recommended to me because there is not much information on the Internet. At first, I wasn’t that much interested. I didn’t expect that it would become my favorite attraction! Most of the stalactite caves I’ve been to in other countries before having trails. There is no difficulty getting there but in the Aran Cave, you have to have a lot of energy. It is more like a cave exploration. You have to wear wading shoes, headlights, and helmets. These are available for rent.
As soon as you enter the cave, you will need to use your headlights immediately. It is very humid and slippery inside so you have to be careful when walking. A tour guide will lead us to climb, wade, and move forward. On the difficult or dangerous places, the tour guide will be there to assist you.
There are two waterfalls in the cave. You can swim directly there. It doesn’t matter if you can’t swim because there is a rope that you can hold on to.
The entire activity took about 3-4 hours. Since the ground is too slippery I have slipped and got my clothes and body dirty. But this was a special activity. If you want to enjoy outdoor activities, you can go to Aran Cave.
Apart from having fun, here are some tips to take note of before going there:
- When you go into the cave, bring only your valuables. Bags cannot be brought inside.
- Remember to wear dark-colored clothes. After climbing caverns and rocks, your clothes will get dirty.
- Bring a light-weight jacket to bring with you inside if you cannot handle the cold.
by Rezia
