Short Detours

It takes a village to create flowers. Residential buildings in Sitio Stone Hill, Botiwtiw and Sadjap of Barangay Balili are transformed into a huge canvas to create a Favela-inspired mural masterpiece. The place now calledSTOBOSA Hillside Homes Artwork was the largest community artwork in the country and the first in the Philippines. STOBOSA stands for the three sitios. The project to paint 200 houses in an area of 18,000 square meters is a component of the Department of Tourism – Cordillera Administrative Region’s Rev-Bloom Urban Redevelopment Tourism project initiated by Director Marie Venus Tan. It was made possible through a partnership with La Trinidad-LGU, Davies Paints, the Tam-awan Village Artists, and the Km.3, Balili Community. The mural was unveiled today, June 23, graced by Department of Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr. The design concept was created by Tam-awan artists ...

Mt. Pulag is the third highest mountain in the Philippines with an elevation of 2,926.047 meters above sea level. It is the highest mountain in Luzon and the landscape of the surrounding provinces can be seen from the summit during the day. Lights in distant communities are visible at night.  Its unique beauty with many characteristics that change as you reach higher elevation - from pine forest to mossy jungle, and finally the vast grasslands - has the locals calling it the "playground of the gods". There are several routes to get there, from easy to hard trails. The easy route is via Ambangeg with class 1-2 trail and difficulty or 3/9, takes only 3 to 4 hours walk from the ranger station in Babadac to the camp site (4.9 kilometers). Then another hour hike along the grasslands to the summit (2.9 kilometers). The best time to be at the summit is at dawn when the valleys and smaller mountains around Pulag are covered with a sea of clouds, giving you the impres...