La Trinidad in Benguet: Of Strawberries, Vegetables and a Valley
October 02, 2011
The bustling town of La Trinidad in Benguet is usually a side trip destination for Baguio tourists who fancy picking fresh strawberries straight from the farm.
Originally inhabited by the Ibaloi-Igorots, it's now home to various cultural groups, including my dad and his siblings who saw their childhood through in the valley.
It's now populated and the value of the land had skyrocketed. Say in 2011, it's PhP 10,000 per square meter at Km.6 that's 300 meters away from the highway. Even the steep mountain which seems un-inviting for a kid like me then two decades ago to pace up and down everyday, now witnesses dense neighborhoods. But again, where you call it home, it does not matter.
Reminiscing my childhood (nostalgia's in the air!), I miss those times we would trespass on farms sneaking few pieces of strawberries and lettuce heads, God knows how far we'd reached. The farms used to irrigated by small streams where we catch tadpoles (and as darkness falls, the resident frogs serenade the neighborhood by their coordinated croaking). As soon as we reach Pico, the streams/ irrigation canals were lined with calla-lilies which we cut a stem or two each. Those were then before the farms have now commercially grown with buildings.
What to do in La Trinidad, Benguet:
Admittedly, I am yet to explore the nooks of La Trinidad as much as my brother is doing, so I could only give a limited list here:
1) Pick strawberries from the strawberry farm.
2) Buy fresh vegetables from the Trading Post.
3) Check the Benguet Museum at the Capitol
4) Have dinner at Kalei's Grill in Km 4.
5) Pass by the Bell Church at Km3.
6) Walk to Balili ascending up to Tawang for a good view of the valley
The Strawberry Festival is annually celebrated around the month of March . It was in this festival in 2004 that the municipality baked the world's largest strawberry cake and got recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Minus the strawberries, here's an overview of La Trinidad valley in Benguet:
Originally inhabited by the Ibaloi-Igorots, it's now home to various cultural groups, including my dad and his siblings who saw their childhood through in the valley.
It's now populated and the value of the land had skyrocketed. Say in 2011, it's PhP 10,000 per square meter at Km.6 that's 300 meters away from the highway. Even the steep mountain which seems un-inviting for a kid like me then two decades ago to pace up and down everyday, now witnesses dense neighborhoods. But again, where you call it home, it does not matter.
Reminiscing my childhood (nostalgia's in the air!), I miss those times we would trespass on farms sneaking few pieces of strawberries and lettuce heads, God knows how far we'd reached. The farms used to irrigated by small streams where we catch tadpoles (and as darkness falls, the resident frogs serenade the neighborhood by their coordinated croaking). As soon as we reach Pico, the streams/ irrigation canals were lined with calla-lilies which we cut a stem or two each. Those were then before the farms have now commercially grown with buildings.
What to do in La Trinidad, Benguet:
Admittedly, I am yet to explore the nooks of La Trinidad as much as my brother is doing, so I could only give a limited list here:
1) Pick strawberries from the strawberry farm.
2) Buy fresh vegetables from the Trading Post.
3) Check the Benguet Museum at the Capitol
4) Have dinner at Kalei's Grill in Km 4.
5) Pass by the Bell Church at Km3.
6) Walk to Balili ascending up to Tawang for a good view of the valley
The Strawberry Festival is annually celebrated around the month of March . It was in this festival in 2004 that the municipality baked the world's largest strawberry cake and got recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Minus the strawberries, here's an overview of La Trinidad valley in Benguet:
5 COMMENTS
"Say in 2011, it's PhP 10,000 per square meter" - is very expensive
ReplyDeletemore than this time..
Deletewhen we visited baguio in 2006, I was hopeful that I will experience strawberry picking but I was disheartened to see that the farm was empty and flooded. the farmers told us that they just harvested the crops a week ago kaya babalik ako sa norte para lang mamitas ng straberry.
ReplyDeleteHi Master,
ReplyDeleteThe land costs are ridiculously high if I may say. It's so congested yet each one wants a part. That if you want to own one you have to offer a good price. There's demand kasi. On other parts, parang the value of land doubled just in the past five years...
Hi Carla,
It be so nice to see you post pictures when you visit back. Hirap talaga pag tag-ulan ka magvisit, with the overpopulation, clogged na ang drainages heading out the Balili river kaya binabaha na rin ang Trinidad.
I remember there was a river in Bayabas where we'd take cold baths in the mornings. I miss those days...that river was so clean back then.
ReplyDelete