The Mountain Trail, Benguet, Philippines

Sights and sites on the Mountain Trail.

The Benguet section of the 'mountain trail' traverses the municipalities of La Trinidad, Tublay, Atok, Kibungan and Buguias. Short parts of the highway also meander into Bokod, Kibungan and Bakun.

Sights on the mountain trail include Guerrilla saddle in Caliking, Mt Pulag, Ambuklao dam, the magnificent mountain ranges via the top deck in Topdac, the highest point of the Philippine highway system, the heights of Haights place, remnants of the Spanish trail, vegetable farms, etc.

Acop, Tublay.

Natubleng with vegetable farms on the mountainside in the background.

That's a picture of me as a young lad,

on the left side of the picture-

Half of the highway is for rocks only.
If you're in a ta-rock you may drive on the rocky transit lane.
But it's still in the curing stage.

A vehicle heavily laden with green gold.
Cabbages being transported to the markets.
There's too much side slope,
on the camera.

The Halsema highway winds its way around the rugged untillable rocky crags.

Side roads are just down on the side.

Where almost every mountainside nook and cranny has been cleared for vegetable farms.

Vegies. Did you have your allocation or dose today? 'Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT now. Give me holes in my vegies but leave me the birds and the trees - Please!'

"DDT is a highly toxic pesticide that was widely used. It was banned after it was proven that DDT was leading to the extinction of birds like the bald eagle because it affected the shells of the eggs and chicks couldn’t hatch. DDT was one of the first examples of chemicals introduced into the environment for one purpose ending up devastating a totally distinct, and at first seemingly unrelated part of the ecosystem."

DDT and other pesticides have long been banned in the developed world.

However, in the third world they are increasingly being used again.

Every thick jungle has been penetrated.

And every imposing Mt Rushmore has been tunnelled.

Tumpak. This is the Natumpukan half tunnel south of Sayangan.

Meat shop in Sayangan.

An abandoned irrigation channel carved out of the rock face of the mountain.

Local desperadoes waiting for the train.

The highest highway in the Philippines is way above the clouds in Cattubo.

The marker is decades old.  I used to keep it company.
In my day, I would sit with it and me and my friends would talk to it...

Abatan markets.

The sun once shone on Mt Shya-wen. Now instead of shining, it's shunning it.
These shorn mountains (above and below) were once beautiful,
thick with pines and streams flowing down from the heights.
Now they are even more beautiful, terraced for vegetables.

I'm back to hear their whisper, but the pines have been felled clear
With the summer days a-blazin’, thirstin' for some fallin' rain
Yes I am back a-weepin’, seein' bare mountains there
Trudgin’ along and longin', on the bends of the mountain trail

Mt Sia en.

One there were green hills kissed by the sun.

The scene as seen on the hills once green.

Now there are valleys where rivers refuse to run

(I'm not sure about Amburayan).

And the springs are silent, even in spring.

Rachel Carson has had us know.

It's time that government should implement more Natural Farming practices.

Sinipsip is right down the boundary of Buguias and Bakun.

The trail is dusty and the road is rough. Next time I'll catch the train.

Look out! But don't look down.

Come along and ride this trail.
Mountain Trail - Benguet section.

The  Mountain Trail (Halsema Highway) Bontoc-Baguio, Cordillera, Philippines.

the mountain trail, sabangan-bauko, mountain province

The Mountain Trail or Halsema Highway linking Bontoc to Baguio opened in 1930.

From Bontoc the Dalbago Road winds southerly -

All along the southbound odyssey, the trail pulls out of Balili...

Then Gonogon, and then Sabangan. Here the Dalbago Road becomes the D'Albagosa Highway.

Rolls along past houses farms and fields... and bridges.

You've probably seen and heard all these before, so I won't ramble for much longer.

There's also a branch of the Rural Bank of Sabangan in Sagada, methinks.

Martin, thou doth wonder too much.

I know a better viewpoint of Kalawitan, from up in Chonglian.

If only I took photos...

The 9th wonder of the world. When I saw this, I did a double-take. On the U-turn. Then looked again, for the second time around.A vegetable plot in the middle of the Halsema national highway in Sabangan. Only on the Mountain Trail...

We were driving through Pingad, and my tagalog friend with a lisp said:

"iwahan mo yong aho ha kalhada."

Kalawitan as seen from Pingad vantage.

But nothing beats the view from Mainit. Vintage.

Welcome to Bauko.

Maba-ay. Please buy as you come by.

Every day is market day in this town.

On the Internet, they say that the Mountain Trail is one of the world's most dangerous roads. Maybe.

Perhaps.

I do know it's one of the most scenic, terrifying thrilling, winding roads that I've seen. 

It's also among the highest, and through the steepest of cliffs.

This here ain't fake, or AI made. This is the real deal.

Many more interesting places and attractions of the mountain trail are off the main road.

They are well worth your time. Just ask these monitors.

Travelers checking out accommodations on Mt Data lodge. This government-owned establishment is probably the highest hotel in the Philippines. The importance of marketing is somehow lost with the denudation of the mountain, and fading with the wear and tear on the building, and the sign.

Yes, and do come again.

The journey continues...